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Beit Emanuel
Religion
Affiliation	Reform Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Synagogue
Leadership	Rabbi Chava Koster
Year consecrated	1954
Status	Active
Location
Location	38 Oxford Road, Parktown, Johannesburg, Gauteng 2193
Country	South Africa
Location of the synagogue in Greater Johannesburg
Geographic coordinates	26°10′08″S 28°02′42″E / 26.16891911255478°S 28.045129180472834°E / -26.16891911255478; 28.045129180472834
Architecture
Architect(s)	Harold Leroith
Type	Synagogue architecture
Style	Modernist
Completed	1954
Website
beitemanuel.co.za

Beit Emanuel, formally the Temple Emamuel, is a Progressive Jewish congregation and synagogue, located in Parktown, a suburb of Johannesburg, in the district of Gauteng, South Africa. The synagogue was established in 1954 and is one of the largest Progressive Jewish congregations in South Africa. It is an affiliate of the South African Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ), which is part of the World Union for Progressive Judaism (WUPJ).

History

There had been advanced plans for a progressive synagogue in Parktown since the early 1930s. After the arrival of Rabbi Moses Cyrus Weiler in South Africa in 1933, a plot was purchased on Empire Road, Parktown and Weiler hired Herman Kallenbach to build a grand synagogue with lush gardens and where Weiler would serve as rabbi. However, just as building work was set to commence, a neighbourhood petition circulated against plans for a synagogue in a residential area. Eventually a decision was made to sell the plot and buy a smaller 3/4 of an acre plot on Paul Nel Street in Hillbrow, where there were already synagogues such as the Great Synagogue and Poswohl Synagogue. Kallenbach used the same Art Deco design that he and his partners A.M. Kennedy and A.S. Furner had prepared for the Parktown site, but scaled it down according to the smaller plot size. Twenty years later, Beit Emanuel, was established in Parktown in 1954. The architect, Harold Leroith delivered a modernist and minimalist design.

In 1993 there were divisions in Johannesburg's Progressive community when Beit Emanuel's congregational rabbi, Ady Asabi declared that it and the Imanu-Shalom congregations would become independent and Masorti synagogues, breaking with the SAUPJ and Progressive Judaism. A court case ensued to retain both of the congregations under the SAUPJ. Beit Emanuel returned to the SAUPJ following an agreement and Shalom became independent and Masorti. Today the synagogue has moved away from the formality of conventional Reform Judaism and instead concentrates on prayers (ancient and modern) that encourage greater congregant participation.

In 1995, president Nelson Mandela addressed 2,000 people at the synagogue and made appeals against white emigration; "Don't leave, don't let us down. You have nothing to fear... My duty is to unite the people of South Africa. I have no time to indulge in party politics"

Religious tradition

Jocelyn Hellig, professor of religious studies and one of the best-known interpreters of South African Judaism, described the Progressive community as conservative in religious practice. This was also given as an explanation for the relatively modest presence of Masorti Judaism in the country. In 1986, the synagogue's US-born rabbi, Norman Mendel told an audience that Progressive Jewry in the country were leading the Jewish struggle against the "indefensible, immoral and evil." policies of apartheid. He said that Progressive Jews are opposing apartheid "against a backdrop of Jewish discrimination" from the Orthodox community. "There is day to day diminishment in the Reform movement in South Africa. Reform are considered a second class Jewish community," he added.

Notable members

• Helen Suzman, politician
• Jeremy Gordin, journalist

See also

• History of the Jews in South Africa
• List of synagogues in South Africa

References

1. ^ "Beit Emanuel". South African Union for Progressive Judaism. 30 July 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
2. "Congregations". South African Union for Progressive Judaism. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
3. ^ "Rabbi Weiler and the founding of the Reform movement in SA". Progressive Jews (South Africa). August 2019.
4. "Joburg – city of architects and dreamers". South African Jewish Report. 5 October 2020.
5. "Rabbi Ady Assabi". The Independent. 26 June 2003.
6. Dubb, Allie A. & Shain, Milton (1995). "South Africa". In Adler, Cyrus (ed.). American Jewish Year Book, Volume 95. The American Jewish Committee. pp. 360–369. ISBN 0-87495-108-9.
7. "Around the Jewish World: Elections Have S. African Jews Thinking About Crime, Emigration". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 25 October 1995.
8. Hellig, Jocelyn (July 1987). "The Religious Expression of South African Jewry". Religion in Southern Africa. 8 (2): 3–17.
9. Shain, Milton (February 2011). "Jewish cultures, identities and contingencies: reflections from the South African experience". European Review of History. 18 (1): 89–100. doi:10.1080/13507486.2011.543584.
10. "South Africa's Reform Jews Leading Jewish Struggle Against Apartheid". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 6 January 1986.
11. "Paying tribute to fierce, prophetic Helen Suzman". Business Live. 7 November 2017.
12. "South African Jewish journalist Jeremy Gordin murdered in home burglary at 70". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 1 May 2023.

External links

• Official website

v t e   Synagogues in South Africa
Active	Johannesburg Beit Emanuel Doornfontein Great Park Oxford Shul Temple Israel (J) Western Cape Beit Midrash Morasha Gardens Shul Marais Road Shul Muizenberg Shul Stellenbosch Temple Israel (CT) Durban Durban United Hebrew Congregation Durban Progressive Jewish Congregation Umhlanga Jewish Centre
Former	Inactive (still standing) Chassidim Shul Old Synagogue, Pretoria President Street Vredehoek Shul
Jews and Judaism Category

• 1954 establishments in South Africa
• 20th-century synagogues in South Africa
• Jewish organizations established in 1954
• Modernist architecture in South Africa
• Modernist synagogues
• Reform synagogues in South Africa
• Synagogues in Johannesburg
• Synagogues completed in 1954