A History of Cape Town Jewry by Louis Herrmann

(This brief Historical Sketch is composed mainly from materials compiled by the author in preparation for his forthcoming “History of the Jews in South Africa” and is published by permission of the Committee of the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation under whose auspices his work will appear—Ed. S.A.J.Y.B.)

THE Jewish community in Cape Town commenced its existence as an organised body on the evening of Friday, the 26th of September, 1841. But there had been Jewish residents in Cape Town long before that date, Jews, in fact, having been connected with the Cape of Good Hope from the very earliest period of South African history. There is a deeply interesting and romantic story to be told of the Jewish share in the remarkable explorations of the famous Portuguese voyagers at the end of the XVth Century, and there is little doubt that Conversos, or forcibly baptised Jews, were amongst the very first Europeans who set foot on the soil of the Cape. One of them, João Nunez, sailed with Da Gama on that brilliant first doubling of the Cape of Good Hope in 1497, and was actually the first of the Portuguese sailors to land in India. The Jewish pilot and interpreter Gaspar, called “Da Gama” after the famous Admiral with whom he sailed back from India, made three voyages round the Cape, and though we have no evidence that he landed in Table Valley, he did stay for some days at Mossel Bay in 1499.

For the next century the Cape became a portion of the Portuguese Indian Empire, and the ships of Portugal went to and fro between Europe and India to the exclusion of those of all other nations. Lisbon Maranos were deeply interested in the shipping and mercantile activities, and numbers of them who were not content to practise their religion secretly at home fled to India, where they soon established Jewish colonies. There the Inquisition followed them, Gaspar de Leão, the first Grand Inquisitor at Goa, issuing a proclamation in 1565 ‘‘To the People of Israel,’’ and claiming jurisdiction ‘in the name of the Church “over the Portuguese possessions in Asia and Africa as far as the Cape of Good Hope.’’ ‘Two years later Cardinal Enrique, the Regent of Portugal, prohibited Jews from sailing to the colonies, and made the captain of every ship responsible for any Jews discovered thereon. Nevertheless, Maranos continued to sail to India, to round our coasts, and to land occasionally on our shores though, after the massacre of D’Almeida and his men in 1510, Table Valley was not a popular landing place with the Portuguese. It was about the beginning of the next century, when Portuguese sea power was decaying and English and Dutch vessels were beginning to round the Cape, that Table Bay came to be a favourite anchorage. The first Jew definitely known to have landed in Table Valley and to have sojourned there for a time was body-servant and interpreter to Sir James Lancaster, who conducted the first fleet sent out by the English East India Company. Sir James landed in Table Valley in September, 1601, and spent seven weeks there with his crews under canvas recovering from scurvy. His interpreter was a Jew from the Barbary States who had long been resident in England. His name has not been preserved, though something is known of his not very creditable subsequent adventures.

With the Dutch East India Company, which begins about this date, the Jews of Amsterdam were closely connected, though the story of their activities in the India traffic via the Cape is not for this brief sketch. By the time the Honourable Company came to establish their refreshment station at the Cape—the embryo Cape Town—the Amsterdam Jews had become of considerable importance to the Company. Manasseh ben Israel, addressing Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, in 1652, the year of Van Riebeek’s landing, tells him that the Jews “enjoy a good part of the West and East India Compagnies.”

But though the Jews of Holland supplied capital to the Company and even at some periods were to be found in the Supreme Council amongst ‘‘their mightinesses” the Lords Seventeen, it was impossible for any but Protestants to enter the service of the Company as officers, or even as soldiers, so that such Jews as there were at the Cape between 1652 and 1795 did not openly declare their Judaism even if they did not actually undergo the rite of baptism. It is certain that there were Jews amongst the earliest arrivals at the Cape Station, as it is beyond doubt that there was a sprinkling of them in the thin stream of immigrants that continued to flow into the country throughout the rule of the Dutch East India Company. Conversion to Protestantism amongst the Jews in Holland was not so uncommon during these times as might be supposed, and more than one staunch Calvinist whose name figures prominently in the commercial history of Holland at this period was born of Jewish parents. The founder of Batavia itself, the greatest of all the Dutch governors—General Jan Pieterszoon Coen—is supposed to have been such an one.

The first clear indication of Jews amongst the Company’s servants at the Cape occurs in the Doop Boek, or baptismal register, of the Dutch Reformed Church in Cape Town. In 1669, Samuel Jacobson and David Heilbron, soldiers of the Company who were formerly Jews,’’ were baptised in the Church. In the following year two others, described as German Jews, embraced the Christian faith and ‘* were baptised with proper ceremony.’’ In 1673 Abraham van Prago (born at Prague) of Jewish parents, a soldier in the Company’s service at the Cape, accepted Christianity, and in 1690 Johannis de Souza did the same. How many Jews there were who did not come forward for baptism but held their tongues and conformed (for church-going was compulsory in the 17th century at the Cape) it is impossible to say; but a careful examination of the names on the Company’s roll leads us to suspect that some or all of the following servants or free burghers were of Jewish origin: Hessel Jacobs (1657), Jan Israels (1670), Jacob Rosendal (1668), Maycher Bedemans (1670), Jacob Isaach (1672), Mozes Davids (c. 1722), Jan Frederik Israel (1762). Early in the 18th century there is recorded a conforming, and evidently strictly religious, Jew in Cape Town. In 1709. one Henriques applies for a passage to Amsterdam with his slave in a Company’s ship, stating that neither of them is willing to eat the ship’s provisions in consequence of their being Jews.

There are no baptisms of Jews recorded in the 18th century, but the obligation to religious conformity had become less strict. Men and women came from Europe to Cape Town and the surrounding district, however, bearing the suggestive family names of Levi, Mozes, Abrahams, Israels, Lesar or Lazar (Isaac), Marks or Marx, and Elias, as well as Da Costa, Hendricks (Henriques), D’Oliveyra and other Portuguese-Dutch-Jewish names.

The beginning of the 19th century saw the Cape pass from the hands of the English who had taken it from the Company, to those of the Batavian Republic, which, with its Jacobin principles, passed an ordinance of religious toleration declaring that ‘‘all religious societies, which, for the furtherance of virtue and good morals, worship an Almighty Being, are to enjoy equal protection from the laws.’’ The principle was upheld when the British finally took over the Cape in 1806, and, for the first time, in that year we find amongst the settlers persons who may be set down unequivocally as Jews. Benjamin Solomon, an English Jew from Kent (a younger brother of the first Solomon who settled in St. Helena), came to Cape Town immediately after the British occupation in 1806. He was for many years Messenger of the Court in Cape Town. He died at Green Point in 1877 at the age of 91. Dr. Siegfried Frankel was the earliest Jewish settler who interested himself in the formation of a Jewish community. He came to South Africa in 1809 and practised as a surgeon at No. 9 Roeland Street. ‘After the formation of the first Jewish congregation he was accustomed to conduct the N’ilah Service each year on Yom Kippur until his death in 1846. Amongst others who settled in Cape Town before 1820 a few have been remembered by reason of some unusual circumstance connected with them. Isaac Moses was a town oddity, the butt of many jokes, a moneychanger who had been an officer in the garrison in his youth. He wore eccentric clothes and paraded the Heerengracht daily with a leather bag slung

round his neck and smoking a long German tobacco pipe. Joseph Suasso de Lima was another eccentric. He was a man of learning, a doctor of law, who came from Batavia with his wife in 1818. Lame and very ugly, he was continually involved in quarrels, defending himself and vigorously attacking his enemies with a satirical pen. At Amsterdam, where he was born of an old though impoverished Sephardi family, he had published a volume of poetry. At the Cape he wrote and published the first history of the Cape of Good Hope, edited a Dutch newspaper, “Versamelaar,” and sold Dutch books. He became a member of the Dutch Reformed Church and was engaged to teach the catechism to the slave children, though his Jewish origin was notorious. It is notable that he gave a generous subscription to the fund for founding the first Cape Town synagogue in 1849.

Isaac Manuel was a prominent Cape Town merchant who pioneered the export trade in hides. He settled in Cape Town in 1819. In later years, when the Jewish congregation had been formed, he associated himself with it, attended a Tisha B’Av service in 1843, and gave frequent donations to the congregation, though it is probable that both Isaac and Rebecca Manuel, his wife, had become connected with the English Church long before a Jewish congregation was thought of in Cape Town. One of their sons, Charles Manuel, was for many years a member of the Cape Parliament.

In 1820, when the British Government inaugurated a regular system for colonising the Eastern frontier, there were Jews amongst the British settlers. Three families at least found their way subsequently to Cape Town and took part in the formation of the early congregations: the Nordens, the Slomans, and the Nortons. The number of regular conforming Jews in Cape Town continued to be increased slowly from this time by settlers from England and Germany. There is reason to suppose that far greater numbers came, who did not preserve their identity and were quickly merged in the general population. At any rate we do not hear much of Cape Town Jewry until 1841, when the congregation was formed.

Before that date there is occasional mention in records of public affairs of men who are known to have been Jews. A typical instance is that of the foundation of the South African College (now the University of Cape Town). This institution was begun in 1828 by a committee representing the different religious denominations in the Cape. As there was no organisation of Jews, naturally they were not represented. Nevertheless, we find several Jews amongst the founders, Isaac Manuel, Maximilian Thalwitzer and Dr. Siegfried Frinkel amongst them. The students also in the first year of the College included $. Frankel, D. Frinkel, Lewis Norton, Saul Solomon, all sons of Jewish settlers. Dietrich Frinkel distinguished himself at the first distribution of prizes by thanking the president for the Latin prize, which was presented to him, in a neatly turned Latin speech which lasted for thirteen minutes and roused the admiration of the assembled public. Saul Solomon at the end of his second year at College in 1831 was the principal prizeman, and the other students demonstrated their approval and honoured him by carrying him all round the town at the head of a procession numbering some hundreds of students and their friends, This popular student grew to be the most brilliant and probably the most respected man who ever sat in the Cape Parliament. His career belongs to the history of South Africa, where not only do his talents shine amongst the brightest, but his character stands out amongst the most liberal and generous-minded of our legislators. Leaving college in 1832 he was apprenticed to Grieg, the printer, of ‘‘Freedom of the Press’’ fame. It was two years later that he embraced Christianity, as did his brothers Henry, Edward and Richard, who were at College with him. His parents, Joseph and Hannah Solomon, however, retained the ancient faith until they died, Joseph in 1860 and Hannah in 1861 in Cape Town. Saul Solomon became a printer and newspaper proprietor and was joined by his brother Henry, together with whom he owned and, ran the Cape Argus for many years, exerting through its columns a powerful liberal. influence on Cape politics.

Long before 1840 there were sufficient Jews in Cape Town to form the ritual quorum of ten adult males (Minyan), but repeated attempts to assemble them for divine service had been unsuccessful. At last the task was undertaken by Benjamin Norden.

Norden had come to the Colony as a young man with the 1820 settlers and after many struggles had prospered in Grahamstown, where he had taken a prominent part in public affairs. At a later date he moved to Cape Town, where he became one of the first Commissioners of the Municipality. On the Eve of the Day of Atonement, 5602 (September the 26th, 1841), he succeeded in assembling at his house, ‘* Hemsley Place,’’ in Hof Street (now Hemsley Hotel), the first meeting of Jews in South Africa for the purpose of Divine service. There were seventeen in all. They were: Simeon Marcus, Morris Sloman, Siegfried Friinkel, Joseph Mosenthal, Samuel Rodolf, Charles Joseph Hess, Nathan Moss, Abraham Horn, Nathan Birkenruth, Hyman Canstatt, Adolf Gordon, Morris Hart and his son Edwin, Lewis Marcus, the two sons of Simeon Marcus, Fred and John, and Benjamin Norden himself.

On the following Sunday morning the worshippers held a regular business meeting at the house of Simeon Marcus in Loop Street, and founded a permanent congregation for services on Sabbaths and Holy Days. Simeon Marcus took the initiative and succeeded in establishing a society for maintaining the Jewish religion in South Africa. It was called the ‘‘Society of the Jewish Community of the Cape of Good Hope,”’ its Hebrew name being ‘‘Tikvath Israel.’’ A subscription list was opened and £100 immediately subscribed. Messrs. Norden, Sloman and Canstatt were appointed Elders ‘« to act for the whole body of Jews here in all matters having in view the establishing of the Jewish religion in this Colony.’’

The first act of the ‘‘Tikvath Israel’’ was to apply to the Governor, Sir Charles Napier, for a plot of land for a burial place. The application was not granted, but referred to the Municipality. The latter informed the Society that no free grant of land was available, and so a plot was purchased and the entire remaining funds of the community expended in enclosing it with a six-foot wall and in providing a mortuary building. Benjamin Norden had been very active in the transaction, and the Society recorded its thanks for his ‘‘zeal, energy and promptitude.’’ Three years later the first interment took place, that of Abraham Horn, who had been a founder and Elder of the congregation. His widow continued to subscribe to the Society, and bore a son posthumously, Charles Horn, the first recorded Jewish child born in the community.

The congregation continued to meet regularly, and celebrated the Sabbaths and Holy Days at the houses in turn of the principal members, and in the first few years many additions were made to their numbers. Jews in other parts of the Colony gave the ‘‘Tikvath Israel” their support, and on occasion, being in Cape Town, attended the services. Jews long resident in South Africa who had ceased to practise their own religious rites and in default of any synagogue had allowed their families to grow up in the bosom of the Church, sent occasional subscriptions. Samuel Rodolf bore the brunt of the Reader’s labour in the Sabbath services, and on Festivals he was assisted by Simeon Marcus and Dr. Frinkel.

In 1846 valuable accessions to the community were the brothers Elias and Aaron de Pass. Elias immediately became honorary secretary and Aaron took a leading part in the affairs of the community, as he did, indeed, in public affairs generally until his departure from the Colony in 1866, by which time his son Daniel was already a leading member of the community. It was Aaron de Pass who brought out to the community its first Sepher Torah, a present from Mr. P. Salaman, of London. By 1849 the affairs of the little congregation had prospered sufficiently for the engagement of a minister. After some correspondence with the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, Dr. Nathan Adler, the Cape Town Jews succeeded in obtaining the services of the reverend Mr. Isaac Pulver as minister, shochet and teacher. Those who had looked forward to erecting a synagogue, however, were disappointed to find that the cost was more than they could possibly hope to raise by subscriptions and donations. It was only possible to purchase a dwelling house for the use of the minister, a portion of which was able to be adapted for use as a synagogue. A property consisting of two houses and a store in Bouquet and St. John’s Streets that had sometime formed a part of the Good Hope Lodge was bought, and by suitable alterations converted into a synagogue. A committee, consisting of B. Norden, Lewis Joseph and A. Wolff, concerned itself with fitting out one of the houses to function as a synagogue.

In August, 1849, the reverend Mr. Pulver arrived, and the congregation met in full strength at Mr. Norden’s house to welcome their first minister. Arrangements were immediately made for the consecration of the synagogue, which was now ready, and on Friday, 13th September, 1849, the ceremony took place and a synagogue was formally established in Cape Town. Its first president was Aaron de Pass, and Samuel Rodolf was its treasurer. Elias de Pass had sailed for England, and Samuel L. Bensusan accepted the office of secretary. The committee consisted of R. J. Joseph, A. Wolff and B. Norden. A list was drawn up of the names of those who enjoyed full membership of ‘‘this community called the Hope of Israel, by whose joint exertions this Community has been established and are therefore to be considered the Founders of the same.’’ There were twenty-eight names.

Attention was now given to the establishment of such portions of Jewish ritual as had been before neglected. Arrangements were made for a supply of Kosher meat for the congregation, and for the importation in bulk of Matzos for Passover. An elaborate code of Laws and Regulations for the conduct of the community was drawn up. The code imposed obligations on members some of which would hardly be tolerated nowadays. Fines were imposed for offences. Thus, persons talking in the synagogue after being warned to desist by the Parnas or Gabbay might be fined two shillings and sixpence. But these high officers were themselves liable to be fined, for infringing the laws, a sum of two guineas.

The same year as the synagogue was opened and the congregation provided with a minister, the Jewish community of Cape Town came very near to incurring the serious displeasure of a mass of the population on account of the conduct of two of its members and one other Jew. Benjamin Norden, who until 1849 had always taken the lead in the community, was also prominent in public affairs. He was one of the principal Cape Town business men and a Commissioner of the Municipality. ‘When the British Government proposed to make this Colony a penal settlement he had been one of the first to protest, carrying a motion in the Municipality which called on the Governor, Sir Harry Smith, to prevent the threatened calamity. He had joined the famous Anti-convict Association and had pledged himself with the other members not to employ felons and to discountenance anyone who should assist in landing them. The convict ship arrived in Simon’s Bay, and the Governor, though willing to delay the landing of the convicts, would not exceed his powers by sending the ‘‘Neptune” away. The Association thereupon tightened up the pledge and declared against furnishing supplies of any description to the Naval Department at Simonstown. Norden protested against these ‘‘disloyal and violent measures,’’ dissociating himself from them and taking immediate means to furnish the Naval Department with supplies at his own expense. Although the Chairman of the Association, Mr. J. B. Ebden, ranged himself, ‘‘in common with several of the principal merchants’’ against the extreme measures, the majority, and in particular the mob, were violently in favour of a boycott of the Governor and the whole Civil Service. Consequently Norden and eleven other merchants, including Benjamin Alexander, another member of the new synagogue, were “put under the pledge,’’ sent to coventry, and made a butt for the ill-natured treatment of a very large and unruly mob, rendered idle by all business in Cape Town having been brought to a standstill as a result of the boycott of the Government. A third Jew became involved, one Mark Salom, a person of character so doubtful that the synagogue had refused him the privilege of membership. It was not surprising that illogical and malicious people began to assume that all the Cape Town Jews were “pledge breakers,’’ and so it became necessary for Samuel Rodolf, in the temporary absence of Aaron de Pass, to write to the principal newspaper of the time, The Commercial Advertiser, defending the Jewish community of Cape Town against the assumption that the whole of the members were implicated in the acts of two or three. That there was actually reason for alarm is evidenced by the decision of the Vestry to exclude all non-Jews from the synagogue during the Holy Days that year, and to apply for a constable to keep order at the doors.

For the next three years the synagogue struggled to maintain itself. But small differences continually arose between the Vestry and the Minister, and, in 1851,

Mr. Pulver sent in his resignation, declaring, amongst other things, that he could not bring up his children in a place where ** so little regard is paid to our holy religion.”’ He did not leave Cape Town immediately, but gathered a certain number of sympathisers; so that, when the Holy Days came round in 1851 there were actually in Cape Town two Minyans, one with a synagogue and no minister, the other with a minister but no synagogue. Then came a period of six years during which the synagogue was often closed for long periods, and the congregation dwindled so that on two separate occasions it was near dissolution, and only the timely action and energetic behaviour of Benjamin Norden and Aaron de Pass restored the congregation and enabled it to tide over the difficult times when there was no minister.

In 1856 a determined effort was made to raise funds to put the synagogue in a state of repair and to defray the expense of obtaining a minister from oversea. . The subscription list was headed by Julius Mosenthal in Cape Town, but not merely did the Cape Town Jews respond: the help of Jews in various parts of the Colony was also enlisted, for, by this date, that spread of Jews from Cape Town had begun. which assumed much more considerable proportions during the following twenty years. Subscriptions came in from Graaff Reinet, Burghersdorp, Colesberg, Grahamstown, Port Elizabeth, Mossel Bay, Somerset East and King William’s Town. Two abortive attempts were made to obtain a suitable pastor. The following year the Chief Rabbi wrote from London urging the Cape Town community to appoint a minister, and Mr. Norden,’ being about to leave for London, promised his assistance in the selection of a suitable officer. Early in 1859 he wrote from London informing the congregation that the reverend Mr. Joel Rabinowitz had been selected to fill the offices of Reader, Shochet and Minister to the Cape Town Synagogue, and that he was about to leave for South Africa. In July Mr. Rabinowitz arrived. Meanwhile the synagogue in Bouquet Street had been-put in repair. On 1st August, 1859, it was reopened, and Mr. Rabinowitz-conducted his first service.

Joel Rabinowitz had been second Minister to the principal Hebrew Congregation at Birmingham. Born in Lublin, Poland, in 1828, and educated in the rabbinical schools, he migrated at the age of 24 to England where, rapidly acquiring a mastery of the English language, he was engaged in research in the Bodleian Library by two private gentlemen, Messrs. Alderman and Dukes. Four years later he became Minister at Birmingham, and, at the age of thirty-one, left for South Africa where he spent, with an interval of four years, the rest of his long and useful life. He served the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation for 25 years, but continued his charitable and philanthropic labours, not only on behalf of the Jews but of every section of the public, until his death in 1902.

It soon became apparent that the new minister was an energetic and capable person. He immediately put himself in contact with each member of his little flock in Cape Town, and subsequently with every Jewish family he could discover in the various parts of the Colony and beyond its borders. The actual number of Jewish families in direct touch with the synagogue in Cape Town on Mr. Rabinowitz’s arrival was no more than fifteen—less than it had been some years earlier—and the number of worshippers at the Sabbath services was usually about thirty; but throughout the country there were some sixty Jewish families, with many of whom Mr. Rabinowitz corresponded and established contact, so that they supported and subscribed to the Cape Town Synagogue, and sometimes attended its services on their visits to Cape Town. There were Jewish communities, which Mr. Rabinowitz visited from time to time, at Grahamstown, Graaff Reinet and Algoa Bay. Each of these had its Jewish burial place and a temporary place of meeting for prayers on Holy Days, but none had: yet, in 1859, built a synagogue nor engaged the services of a minister, and Rabinowitz officiated as mohel for the entire Colony.

Within a year of the new minister’s arrival, the number of members of the synagogue had increased by considerable additions, and the Jews, both in and outside Cape Town, through Rabinowitz’s energy and enthusiasm put the synagogue on a firm financial basis, reduced the mortgage on the building, and were able to contribute considerable sums to various philanthropic objects. In 1860 they assisted, through Sir Moses Montefiore’s fund, the distressed Jews of Tangier and those of Morocco, contributed to the Syrian Relief Fund, the Jewish Soup Kitchen in London, and to the Cape Free Dispensary, as well as keeping going their own Philanthropic Society, which had been established the year before.

A properly built synagogue was now the first necessity for the congregation. The building that had been converted for use asa place of worship ten years before was in serious disrepair, and Rabinowitz set himself the task of raising funds for building a synagogue. He obtained willing support from the Jews in the country as well as those of the Cape Town congregation, and in 1861 a property in St. John’s Street was purchased for £1,800, consisting of a house and stable and a large garden extending back as far as the Government Avenue. In the garden, amongst the trees, a site was cleared and the foundation stone set for the first synagogue to be built in South Africa. With elaborate ceremonial the foundation stone was laid on 8th September, 1862, by Samuel Rodolf, president of the congregation and sole remaining member of the Tikvath Israel of twenty years earlier. By the following September the building was finished and ready for consecration. Almost every Jew in the country had assisted in some way to erect and furnish the synagogue. A hundred and fifty invitations to subscribers were issued for the ceremony. The interior furnishings were presented by various members of the congregation. Mr. Rabinowitz’s family contributed the silken curtain for the ark and cover for the reading desk, a silver Kiddush cup, specially made in Cape Town, was presented by N. Fisher, Samuel Rodolf supplied the boards inscribed with the Prayer for the Royal Family, and other devoted members completed the equipment of the house of prayer, which was duly consecrated on Erev Rosh Hashona, 5623, A.M., September 13th, 1863, the reverend Mr. Rabinowitz officiating. The minister preached a special and appropriate sermon, a choir composed of members sang dedication psalms, and the collection, amounting to £74, was added to the building fund. The cost of erecting the Synagogue was £2,200.

No single person at this time had given longer or more devoted service to the Jewish community than Samuel Rodolf. He was a Cape Town merchant of German origin. From the earliest days of the Tikvath Israel Society he had acted as Reader when the congregation was without a minister. When the Bouquet Street Synagogue was established in 1849 he was elected Treasurer, and he was, for some years before the advent of Mr. Rabinowitz, the official marriage officer. The year following the consecration of the newly erected synagogue on the St. John’s Street site (now known as the “Old Synagogue”), Samuel Rodolf decided to visit Europe, and the community took the occasion to express its gratitude and appreciation by a public testimonial to him. On his return to South Africa in 1864 he did not return to Cape Town, but settled at Algoa Bay, where he immediately associated himself with Jewish communal affairs and helped to establish a synagogue. It was not until some seventeen years later, having meanwhile re-settled in Cape Town, that he again became president of the congregation in 1881. He died in 1882 just when he was about to honour the occasion of Mr. Rabinowitz’s retirement by bearing to him the mark of the community’s appreciation of that reverend gentleman’s service.

Louis Heilbron, who followed Rodolf as president of the synagogue, had been treasurer since 1859. He had settled in Cape Town from Calvinia, where he had been the earliest trader from the time of that town’s foundation. He seconded Mr. Rabinowitz’s philanthropic and charitable work, which grew and extended until Rabinowitz’s name became famous all over South Africa as that of a genius at collecting funds for every charitable or humane object, Jewish or otherwise; so that he came to be known as “the greatest beggar that ever came to South Africa.” For twenty-three years he worked on committees and collected funds. Unfortunate people in every sect, starving Jews in Tangiers, distressed Jews in Jerusalem, oppressed Jews in Poland, poor whites in South Africa, hospitals and dispensaries, widows and orphans of the Franco-Prussian War, all came within the scope of his charitable work. Nor did he spare his own purse in the causes he championed. Until 1872 he was the only Jewish minister in South Africa, and his parish was wherever Jews were in the sub-continent. He was a familiar figure and greatly esteemed amongst all classes in Cape Town, and numbered amongst his friends such public men of his day as Sir Bartle Frere, the Governor, and Saul Solomon, the great parliamentarian. He was indefatigable in the defence of the honour of his people with tongue and pen, and his controversy with the Rev. Franz Lion Cachet, a converted Dutch Jew and a leading light of the Dutch Reformed Church, in 1876 aroused much public interest in Cape Town at the time. In 1865 a great gale broke over the Cape and resulted in the wreck of the R.M.S. Athens, when sixty lives were lost. There was an appeal to the public’ for assistance, and Rabinowitz’s remarkable activity and success called forth the approbation of the press.

In his efforts on behalf of causes not especially Jewish he got loyal support from his own people, although bad times were beginning to affect the prosperity of the community. The synagogue needed frequent repairs. It was becoming difficult to meet current expenses. A general commercial depression was settling on the Colony, and the Jews, being mostly engaged in commercial pursuits, felt it heavily upon them. The synagogue membership about 1869 had dwindled and showed signs of melting away to the point where organisation could no longer hold together. About 1871 it was remarked that many of the old members had left. It looked as if the congregation would dissolve and the synagogue be closed. Samuel Rodolf, now settled at Algoa Bay, invited his old Minister, on behalf of the Port Elizabeth Jews, to go over to them, but Rabinowitz resolved not to leave the sinking ship. The general depression in the country had by now been mitigated by the discovery of diamonds and gold in the north, but the only effect of the newly found riches on the Cape Jewry was to reduce its numbers still further, for many tried to cure their fortunes by leaving Cape Town for the Diamond Fields. In fact, most of the Jews who were early at the Diamond Fields did not, as is sometimes supposed, rush out from Europe, but went from Cape Town and the various other centres in the Colony where Jews had been living for half a century and more. However, in 1872, things mended. New members were coming into the congregation both from town and country. Mr. Rabinowitz’s services were required from time to time in distant parts of the Colony, and his visits always brought new subscribers to the Cape Town Synagogue. He was called in these years to Grahamstown and Port Elizabeth, Aliwal North, Dordrecht and Queenstown, and even Fauresmith and Smithfield, to perform’ circumcisions. He set to work to raise funds to reduce the mortgage on the synagogue building, and in 1872 succeeded in collecting £751 towards the liquidation fund. There was, moreover, a respectable balance at the end of the year, and the president, Mr. Morris Lewis, congratulated the members on the flourishing financial state of the synagogue. Mr. Rabinowitz not only received the grateful thanks of members but they marked the occasion of his celebration of his silver wedding by presenting him with a congratulatory address and a cheque for £245, collected amongst his friends and admirers, Jewish and Christian. Amongst the latter was Mr. William Porter, the Attorney-General, who accompanied a contribution of £50 by a kindly letter. Even the Diamond Fields contributed, communicating with the Cape Town Jews through Mr. Moss Solomon, one of Mr. Rabinowitz’s admirers at the mines. The synagogue being now established firmly, and the number of congregants steadily increasing, Mr. Rabinowitz continued to officiate as minister during the next ten years.

The stream of immigration to South Africa was growing in volume. The newly discovered diamond fields, and later the gold fields, attracted large numbers of fortune seekers from all parts of the world, and Cape Town and the other ports expanded in sympathy with the increasing population in the north. Rabinowitz watched many of his congregants leave Cape Town and return from the diamond fields wealthy men, though he saw even more set out in high hopes and return unsuccessful; but it was the trade created by the new mining population that attracted many Jews and that added to the prosperity of Cape Town Jewry. During these years the Jewish immigration was chiefly from England and Germany. The earliest Russian Jews who came had previously settled in England. It was only after 1882 that the main stream of Jewish immigration from the Russian Empire began, precipitated by the May Laws in Russia and subsequent oppressions. Meanwhile there were fresh additions every year to the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation, and not a meeting was held after 1871 without the election of one or more new members. Some who joined at this time were men who subsequently figured in public affairs. Notable amongst these was Simeon Jacobs, who joined the Cape Town congregation in 1872. He had been Attorney-General of British Kaffraria in 1861, and five years later was appointed Solicitor-General of the Cape of Good Hope. He acted as Attorney-General of the Cape from 1874 to 1882 and became a judge of the Supreme Court and a member of the Executive Council. He introduced and carried two very important measures, the Cape Colony Responsible Government Bill and the Voluntary Bill. The latter abolished state aid to the Church, thereby putting all religious denominations on an equal footing. With both of these measures the member of parliament most intimately connected was Saul Solomon. Simeon Jacobs was created C.M.G. in 1882. He retired and died the following year.

Amongst the new members in 1874 were Isaac Lewis, Barnet Lewis and Samuel Marks, who, having arrived in the Colony a few years before, had met with success on the Diamond Fields and begun that wonderful career of industrial pioneering that has been unequalled in the history of South African industry. Samuel Marks became a trusted adviser to President Kruger, and had large financial dealings with the Transvaal Government. For some years before his death he was a Senator of the Union.

The congregation was expanding. The membership permitted more expenditure. Gas was installed in the synagogue in 1873 and the following year the entire synagogue was renovated. In 1875, by unanimous consent of the members, £100 was to be set aside annually for charitable demands to be administered by the Wardens and the Secretary. In 1876 the restriction to £100 was removed and the expenditure on charitable objects left to the discretion of the three executive officers. Shortly afterwards a philanthropic society was founded for dealing with such cases as occurred. Or rather, the Philanthropic Society was resuscitated, for it had been founded in 1859, before Mr. Rabinowitz’s arrival, at the instance of Mr. H. E. Solomon. Before that date the occasional cases requiring relief were few, and mostly arose from shipwrecked Jewish passengers and sailors or other persons stranded in Cape Town. Rabinowitz’s own exertions in the cause of charity have been remarked on. They were not confined to Jewish causes at this time, but he took the lead in every Cape movement for the alleviation of suffering. In 1874 he interested himself in the Frontier Memorial Fund at the conclusion of the Galeka War, and enlisted the assistance of Sir Bartle Frere. The sufferers from the great fire at Wellington profited from his exertions in 1875, and he was prominently associated with the Stellenbosch fund to aid the trek Boers who left the Transvaal on its annexation by England, as he was with the fund in aid of British orphans of the First Boer War.

The year 1881 witnessed widespread distress amongst the Jews in Russia. With the accession of Alexander III. to the Russian imperial throne, economic pressure, official antisemitism and mob violence reduced hundreds of thousands of Jews to the verge of starvation. In Cape Town, Rabinowitz organised a great protest meeting and succeeded in enlisting on a committee nearly all the members of both houses of Parliament. He extended his appeal to Mauritius and Rio de Janeiro, and raised a sum of £4,000 for relief.

The following year he resigned his post and returned to England. His resignation produced widespread regret, and testimonials from Jewish and Christian bodies alike were showered on him,

During the last ten years of his service there was not a year when he did not take one or two journeys into the remoter parts of the Colony or to the Diamond Fields to visit small groups of Jewish families for some ritual or religious purpose. In this way he kept many a family in touch with the Cape Town Synagogue which would otherwise have become entirely assimilated. The Cape Town Synagogue remained, in this way, a true Mother Synagogue, helping to foster the small country communities until they were strong enough to support their own synagogue and minister. The minutes of the congregation record in 1877 a congratulatory telegram sent by the Cape Town Jewish community to Port Elizabeth on the consecration of the synagogue there, the first to be built outside Cape Town.

There were established during this period the beginnings of a Hebrew School. In 1868 Rabinowitz offered to give a special weekly religious discourse to the children of the congregation and to conduct classes for Hebrew and religious instruction. Previously classes had failed to sustain themselves for any length of time, and members agreed that the fact that no fees were to be paid had discouraged many from taking advantage of the classes. Now that it was resolved to make a charge of two guineas per annum, it was supposed that regular attendance of the children would be assured. Daniel de Pass, M. H. Benjamin, and M. Klisser constituted a committee, and classes were held in one of the rooms of the Synagogue buildings specially fitted up for the convenience of the pupils. The teacher, Mr. Rabinowitz, was empowered to use his discretion in admitting pupils free of charge. Classes were held on Sundays from 11 till 1, and on Wednesdays from 38 till 5, and a religious discourse delivered on Saturday afternoon. At the end of half a year the minister reported that the children were attending regularly and doing well. The school, however, does not appear to have weathered the lean years of the congregation. At any rate, ten years later, in May, 1878, a special committee was elected *‘ to co-operate with Mr. Rabinowitz and draw up and act on a scheme for the proper education of the Jewish children of Cape Town.”’ The suggestion emanated from Mark Klisser, who became chairman of the School Committee. The following year there was a satisfactory report of work done, and the Committee voted Mr. Rabinowitz a gratuity in consideration of the care he had taken in the religious training of the children. It was not, however, until 1882, when the new minister, the Rev. Mr. A. F. Ornstein, had been installed that a proposal came forward for the establishment of a regular day school in which Jewish children could get both secular and religious instruction. Mr. Ornstein approached the Education Department and obtained a promise of a Government grant and inspection by the education authorities of the Colony should a school be established. A committee was elected to devise a plan. £3800 was voted from the congregational funds, 50 boys could be reckoned on, and provision was to be made for two masters and additional visiting masters. Mr. Ornstein had himself been a schoolmaster before entering the ministry. An enthusiastic meeting subscribed £241 in private donations. But the committee, consisting of the Rev. Mr. Ornstein, Messrs. L. Sytner, D. Isaacs, M. Robel, L. Alexander, R. Rothkugel and Morris Lewis, on canvassing the parents, found that most of them were sending their sons to the school of a Mr. Thorner and were content to let them remain there. And so the plan was dropped, to be taken up again a few years later by Mr. Rabinowitz, then retired from the ministry and settled in Cape Town.

The principal Wardens of the Congregation during the ministry of Mr. Rabinowitz were Michael Benjamin (1857-1861), Louis Heilbron (1859-1864), Samuel Rodolf (1862, 1863 and 1881), M. H. Benjamin, M. L. Bensusan, Morris Lewis (1872-1877), Lewis Alexander (1872-1885, with an interval of three years only), Mark Klisser, S. Lasker and David Isaacs.

The reverend Mr. Ornstein arrived in June, 1882, and was formally received by the community at the Royal Hotel. He had been chosen by a committee in London and was a person with the highest recommendations. He had been Minister to the Melbourne Jewish Congregation in Australia, and editor of ‘‘Australian Israel.’’ Born in London in 1836 he had become a teacher in the Jews’ Free School, and subsequently Minister to the Portsea Hebrew Congregation. In 1860 he had gone back to teaching and had become Principal of the Birmingham Hebrew National Schools and six years later had taken up the Australian appointment. In Melbourne he founded and took a share in managing the Almshouses, and was a life-governor of the Hospital. He made a tour of America in 1875 and the following year went back to Portsea, where he became Principal of Aria College, a foundation for the training of Jewish Ministers. He came to the Cape Town congregation at a time when that body was on the up-grade. Since 1879 Jews had been arriving in South Africa in greater numbers than ever before, and on Mr. Ornstein’s arrival in 1882 the congregation was bigger than it had ever been. The following year the Treasurer reported that the revenue was higher than in any previous year, and that the increased membership entailed the serious consideration of a new synagogue. Finally it was agreed to enlarge the synagogue. The work was immediately taken in hand, and by 1885 extensive alterations were complete. There was an impressive ceremonial consecration of the enlarged and reconstructed synagogue and it was once more put into use, the congregation having made shift for many months with the schoolroom as a place of worship. At the same time a Mikveh was built as a result of a number of applications for proselytism that had been approved by the Chief Rabbi, but for whom the ceremony of conversion had not been completed for lack of the proper accommodation.

In 1884 an event which interested Jews all over the world had its effect in Cape Town. Sir Moses Montefiore, who was in his time the leading Jew in the world and the Grand Old Man of British Jewry, celebrated his 100th birthday. He had been a liberal supporter of the Cape Town community in its infancy over 40 years before, and the Cape Town Jews had associated themselves with Sir Moses in some of his philanthropic objects. The congregation now sought some means of commemorating his centenary and celebrating his birthday. A subscription list was accordingly opened and a fund raised with this object. On the birthday of the veteran philanthropist a service was held in the synagogue and Mr. Ornstein preached a special sermon fitting the occasion. A memorable treat was given to all the children of the congregation, and an address from the whole of Cape Jewry was sent to the famous centenarian. To commemorate the occasion three fine stained glass windows were set up in the synagogue, and a brass plate setting forth their object was placed in the vestibule.

Mr. Ornstein found his hands full with difficulties that arose out of the fact that a new element was appearing in the Cape Town community. Many of the ‘‘foreigners,” as they were at first styled, would not join the congregation but formed a separate “association.’’ The Committee attempted to conciliate them by voting £50 towards the salary of a Shochet to kill for all, members and non-members alike; but quarrels continually arose between rival butchers, and for years there were petty discontents in connection with the supply of kosher meat. In 1885 an actual breach in the Congregation arose over the expulsion of a member whose conduct was considered to be scandalous. The sympathisers of the expelled member not only formed a separate congregation, but engaged a Shochet who had not the approval of the Chief Rabbi. Much correspondence and a long tussle established the fact that, although the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire had jurisdiction all over the Empire and hence in South Africa, there was nothing in the world to compel any congregation to recognise it.

The same question of the Chief Rabbi’s jurisdiction arose over the cemetery. The old cemetery at Papendorp (Woodstock) was about to be closed by the authorities in 1885, although it was not full, and Mr. Ornstein and his committee fought hard to retain it, for the alternative was a grant of ground at Maitland under conditions which would not admit of sufficient control by the committee to ensure ministers properly accredited by the Chief Rabbi performing the burials, or the ceremonial being carried out as was proper according to Jewish law. There was actually an extension of two years on the part of the authorities, but in 1887 the old cemetery was closed and Jewish burials were in future to be conducted at Maitland, where the community had purchased a burial ground in order that burials might be carried out in accordance with Jewish ceremonial law. A new mortuary was erected and the ground was opened and consecrated in 1888, the breach in the congregation having been healed.

Another important communal service was the re-establishment in 1891 of the Jewish Philanthropic Society. The Society had existed from time to time since 1859. But now it was established as a body separate from the synagogue, and undertook the task of poor relief entirely, administering its own funds. It has continued to function down to the present time, having done much valuable work, though of recent years its identity has been merged into that of the Jewish Board of Guardians.

The condition of the mass of Jews in the Russian Empire had not improved during the last ten years, and in 1892 there were serious outbreaks of violence there resulting in widespread distress. That year almost the whole Jewish community of Cape Town and the suburbs met to express their sympathy with their Russian brethren in their deplorable plight. A committee was formed for the collection of funds, and Mr. Ornstein preached a special sermon. There was a liberal response, and a large sum of money was sent to the Central Appeal in Europe for distribution.

As the congregation increased the minister’s duties became more arduous, and in 1889 Mr. E. Lyons was engaged as second minister. There had formerly been an assistant who carried out the duties of Shochet and Shammas, first a Mr. Barnadsky and later Mr. Mizrachi. Mr. Lyons was expected to perform the Minister’s duties should he be required to do so, the reverend Mr. Ornstein’s health was failing. In 1891 he was granted leave of absence and went to England for medical treatment. He returned to his duties the same year, but three years later, when his term of office had expired, he was not reappointed. He retired in 1895. He remained in Cape Town, where he successfully conducted a collegiate school for Jewish boys for several years, the community making him an honorary member of the Congregation.

During his period of office as Minister, the principal Wardens of the Congregation were Lewis Alexander, P. Levenberg, B. Elsner (1885-1890), A. J. Platnauer (1888-1890 and 1892), David Isaacs (1890 and 1891), Maurice Eilenberg (1892), M. Robel and L. Sytner (1893, 1894 and 1895).

Meanwhile the committee of the synagogue had communicated with London with the object of engaging a minister. A sub-committee, consisting of the Very Reverend Dr. Hermann Adler, Chief Rabbi of the British Empire, the Rey. Simeon Singer, Minister of the New West End Synagogue, Dr. Hermann Gollancz, Minister of the Bayswater Synagogue, and the Rev. Marcus Hast, First Reader in the Great Synagogue, selected from amongst the younger Jewish clergy in England a suitable minister for the Cape Town congregation. The chosen candidate, Alfred Philip Bender, son of the Rev. Philipp Bender, formerly Minister of the Dublin Hebrew Congregation, accepted the appointment and arrived in Cape Town in 1895. The new Minister had graduated M.A. at St. John’s College, Cambridge, was an eloquent preacher, an able scholar who had written and published original work in the Jewish Quarterly Review, and a competent teacher of Hebrew.

This last fact induced the Senate of the South African College, almost immediately after Mr. Bender’s arrival, to advise the Council to secure his services for the College for the teaching of Hebrew.

Though Hebrew had been one of the subjects of instruction from the very year of the College’s foundation, 1829, there had been long intervals during which no member of the staff was competent to teach it, especially since the death of Professor Heyns in 1874. In 1895, Joel Rabinowitz interested himself in providing for the teaching of Hebrew at the College, and obtained guarantees for the payment of an annual sum for the purpose. Subsequently a substantial donation from Messrs. Lewis & Marks, and another from Mr. D. Isaacs, made the endowment of a Chair of Hebrew possible, and in 1896 the Rev. Mr. Bender was appointed the first Professor of Hebrew, a position which he still holds at the University of Cape Town to-day.

The new Minister recognised that it was education perhaps more than any other factor that would make for the spiritual welfare of the society in which he found himself, and of his own flock in particular, and consequently he entered with keen interest into every movement which had for its object the training of the young, both on the religious and on the secular side. The very year he arrived a Jewish Public School was established by the Congregation, mainly through the energy and enthusiasm of Joel Rabinowitz. It was a Government-aided institution where Jewish boys and girls could get their secular education and at the same time acquire a knowledge of Hebrew and the Jewish religion. It was for some years partly supported by the Synagogue, and Mr. Bender was, during the whole of its twenty-five years’ existence, intimately associated with its management. Some years later, when the Cape School Board came into existence, the School was put under public control. At the election for the first School Board, Mr. Bender was returned at the head of the poll and has continued to serve the interests of popular education on the Board without a break until the present time. He still presided over the Hebrew Public School, which continued to flourish under the School Board. For many years its pupils numbered between five and six hundred.

Shortly after its foundation a competent schoolmaster from London, Mr. Mark Cohen, was appointed principal. Under his guidance during the twenty-five years of the School’s existence, some hundreds of boys and girls completed the primary stage and got a good lift into the secondary stage of their education. About 1906 a branch school for the junior classes was established under the headmastership of Mr. E. H. Kloot, of the London Stepney Jewish Schools, who had been before 1906 a master at the Reverend A. F. Ornstein’s School for Jewish boys. The branch school soon developed into a large primary school, which continued for many years to educate Jewish children exclusively. In 1920 a reorganisation of the public schools in the Cape Province resulted in the abolition of the Hopemill Hebrew Public School, which had some years earlier ceased to be a specifically Jewish institution.

During the earlier years of Mr. Bender’s ministry, classes were held in the Synagogue on the Sunday School plan. The children were taught Bible history, Hebrew and religion by some of the ladies of the congregation under the supervision of the minister. Outside the synagogue, especially amongst the more ‘‘orthodox,” Chedorim and private teachers supplied instruction in the afternoons on weekdays. In 1899 a regular Talmud Torah was established, and another, slightly later, in connection with the New Hebrew Congregation. The two were amalgamated, and continue to give instruction to a large number of children at the present time under the title of the United Hebrew Schools.

Almost the first concern of the new minister in 1895 was the inauguration, in connection with his synagogue, of regular divine service for boys and girls. On the first Sabbath afternoon after his arrival, Mr. Bender conducted a service for young people. It included a lecture suited to their understanding and calculated, with the skill of the practised teacher, to interest and instruct. The liveliness and eloquence of the minister made the experiment a success, and the service became a weekly institution, so that the Sabbath Afternoon Services for boys and girls have remained amongst the most characteristic activities of the Great Synagogue and have been continued almost without a break until the present day.

One of the many public services with which Mr. Bender early associated himself was the Hospital. In this he enlisted the interest of the congregation and succeeded in getting such response to the annual Hospital sermon that the Synagogue collection for the Hospital was for some years greater than that of any other place of worship in the city. In 1902 a Bikkur Cholim Society was established for giving assistance, medical attention, medicine and nourishment and, where necessary, surgical appliances ‘to the sick poor, and in more recent times an association for the upkeep of a Kosher Kitchen in connection with the hospitals has been formed. From the first, Mr. Bender became associated with the management of the hospitals by being appointed to the Hospital Board, of which he is to-day the oldest member.

The period since his arrival in Cape Town has been one of great expansion in the Jewish community. Not only has the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation increased in power and numbers, but new congregations have arisen, new synagogues been built, societies and institutions grown and multiplied. From the first the increase in the size of the Congregation began to make the old synagogue inadequate, and the serious consideration of a larger synagogue became more and more urgent. By 1898 the number of seatholders and members had become greater than ever before, and the revenue for the year reached £1,917. The strain of seating the worshippers at festival times was partly eased by the institution of special services for the children held at the school and conducted by the schoolmasters. The following year the question of building a more commodious synagogue: was brought forward, but the commercial depression existing throughout the Colony at the time did not justify the Community’s embarkation upon any expensive scheme. Before another year had gone by, conditions had changed, though not for the better. There was now no hope of building a synagogue. The country had been plunged into war. The Transvaal Jews in large numbers were exiled as Uitlanders and there was a heavy influx of refugees into Cape Town. This naturally entailed a drain on the charitable resources of the Congregation. At the same time the demand for synagogue accommodation was more than doubled. The latter difficulty was partly overcome by the establishment of a series of Refugee Festival Services held in the Good Hope Hall and in the Sea Point Town Hall. To provide for these, the Witwatersrand Old Hebrew Congregation and the Johannesburg Hebrew Congregation co-operated with Cape Town. The Johannesburg Rabbi, Dr. J. H. Hertz, expelled from the Transvaal by the Boer authorities for pro-British propaganda, preached in the Good Hope Hall and in the Banqueting Room, temporarily converted into synagogues in 1900, and, in the following year, to mark the close of the exile, a special final service was held at which there were no less than 1,200 worshippers present.

By this time the nucleus of a building fund had been constituted from a bequest in 1900 by Moritz Pickler, who had been, before the discovery of diamonds in the north, one of Mr. Rabinowitz’s congregants. He had made a fortune by successful speculation in diamonds about 1872 and had speedily lost it again by speculation. Returning later to the Diamond Fields, he had gained a competence and retired. On his death he left £1,000 to the Congregation for the purpose of building, and £1,000 to the Philanthropic Society.

In 1902 the question of building a synagogue became one of practical importance. Peace had been restored in South Africa and the Congregation, in spite of the return of the Transvaal refugees, had considerably increased in numbers. It was, moreover, this year en féte in celebration of its diamond jubilee, the sixtieth anniversary of its foundation. (As a matter of fact, the reckoning was erroneous. The year of its foundation was 1841, though all the printed literature of the synagogue stated it to be 1842.) The time was considered ripe for the decision to build a new place of worship. Designs were accepted, a building committee elected, and tenders called for, and the following year the building was begun. On 2nd June, 1904, the corner-stone was laid with solemn ceremony by His Excellency the Honourable Sir Walter Hely-Hutchinson, G.C.M.G., Governor of the Cape Colony. Before the congregation and a large assembly of citizens, Jewish and Christian, the Governor took the opportunity of expressing the high appreciation in which he held the beneficent work that had been done in the city by the Minister of the Congregation, the Rev. A. P. Bender. The building proceeded apace. It became necessary to pull down part of the old synagogue to make room for the new one, and the Annandale Hall was hired and fitted up as a temporary synagogue and continued to be used until the new synagogue was ready.

But things were not going as well as had been hoped. The Boer War had left an aftermath of depression in the commerce of the country which affected the Jewish community not less than every other section of South African society. The ordinary revenue of the Congregation fell short. Both the general fund and the Building Fund suffered. There was a large overdraft at the bank. But the Community was now committed to the expensive undertaking. A sum of £25,000 had been raised by a mortgage on the building, and now it became necessary to raise another £6,000 on a second mortgage. To do this, personal guarantees were required, and nearly every member of the Congregation at the time became a guarantor or sub-guarantor. The £6,000 was required to be repaid in twenty annual instalments of £300 each. In the midst of the commercial depression the building was finished. It was a fine, imposing and dignified edifice and the community were, with just cause, proud of it. But the debt was very formidable, and the synagogue building threatened to become a white elephant before many years had passed. At this time none foresaw that even worse times were coming. So the Great Synagogue, the third building that the congregation had provided, and the largest and most beautiful, was formally opened by the President, Mr. Hyman Liberman, Mayor of Cape Town, on 13th September, 1905, the 56th anniversary of the opening of the Bouquet Street Synagogue, and the 32nd of the “Old ”’ Synagogue.

Many costly and handsome gifts for the interior furnishing came from individual members. Even the children of the congregation contributed by the public performance of an operetta, the proceeds of which purchased the curtain for the Ark, and the Jewish Boys’ and Girls’ Guild, an institution which had come into existence a few years earlier, presented a handsome brass pulpit.

For the next few years the congregation struggled against financial adversity and heavy debt, and the Wardens and the Committee were put to deep anxiety. The ordinary revenue fell. In 1909 they were compelled to reduce the seat-rents ‘because the commercial depression had deprived members of the means to continue their subscriptions. Meanwhile money had to be found to pay the bondholders, and every possible means of raising money was exploited; bazaars were organised, collections made on every possible occasion. A fund for paying the interest, and another for finding the annual £300 to pay off the second bond, had to be kept up notwithstanding continual losses in membership owing to the bad times. In 1914 a crisis was reached when the congregation found itself unable to pay the interest on the bond. The Master of the Supreme Court agreed with the President and Treasurer, Messrs. H. Liberman and P. Myers, not to receive any interest for three years on condition that the second bond was paid off. The interest was moreover reduced from 3½ to 2½ per cent. This gave the congregation an opportunity partly to recover, and by 1917 the second bond was paid off and the guarantors were relieved of their responsibility. From this time the financial position improved, and the Synagogue was able to carry out its proper functions without the severe strain that had been put on its members for so many years.

During the whole of this period the strain and responsibility were borne chiefly by a few devoted men, though many others gave unstinted work and interest to relieve the congregation of its burdens. Perhaps no member of the synagogue was more assiduous in working for it than Hyman Liberman. Elected treasurer of the Congregation in 1897, he continued as Warden in the office of president or treasurer with but a short interval for 20 years. He was a prominent merchant in the city, and his public work as a citizen was no less remarkable than his record of work for the synagogue. His public benefactions were too numerous and varied to be mentioned here. On his death, besides bequeathing generous sums to many Jewish institutions, the University, the Hospital, and other undenominational objects, he left a sum of £6,000 to the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation, with a generous provision towards the cost of a Hebrew School. He was Mayor of Cape Town for three years, and had the honour, during his mayoralty, of opening the newly built City Hall, the Rev. A. P. Bender being the officiating minister on that civic occasion. At the beginning of Mr. Bender’s ministry Mr. Liberman shared the wardens’ responsibilities with David Isaacs, who had filled the office of treasurer as far back as 1880 and was president between 1896 and 1900. Amongst those who took the lead in the affairs of the synagogue during the first two decades of the 20th century were M. Robel, who was one of the wardens for the first six years. He had been president at an earlier period, between 1892 and 1896; Philip Myers, with intervals, between 1904 and 1916, mainly in the office of treasurer; Maurice Eilenberg, who had been treasurer in 1891 and 1892, served as one of the wardens in 1906, 1907, 1910 and 1911, and is to-day the oldest trustee of the synagogue. In more recent times Maurice Rosen, Woolf Harris, Abraham Liberman, Harry Stodel, I. L. Barnett, and Harry Harris have been the principal occupants of the Wardens’ seats in the Great Synagogue.

Outside the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation, Jewish communal activity began to show itself markedly about the beginning of the 20th century. For something over ten years before the beginning of the century, the immigration of Jews, especially from Eastern Europe, had been considerable, with the result that there was an increasing demand, not merely for more synagogue accommodation, but for a synagogue conducted less in the English tradition than that of the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation. This demand led to the foundation of the New Hebrew Congregation. It was established by a meeting held in the Masonic Hall on 16th September, 1900. Two years later the new congregation had built a handsome and commodious synagogue in Roeland Street, which was formally consecrated by Dr. J. H. Hertz (now the Very Reverend the Chief Rabbi of the British Empire). Its first wardens were D. Israelson, Idel Schwartz and S. Jacobs. Attached to it was a Talmud Torah, three classrooms having been provided for the purpose in the new building. Amongst the chief workers in connection with this synagogue, since a date shortly after its foundation, has been Advocate Morris Alexander, still one of the principal leaders of Jewry in South Africa and a member of the Union Parliament. The New Hebrew Congregation officially accepted Zionism as one of its aims, and became affiliated to the S.A. Zionist Federation.

Another synagogue followed shortly afterwards. In April, 1901, a movement was started amongst the more orthodox Jews in Cape Town for a Beth Hamidrash for study and prayer under the direction of an orthodox Rabbi. Mainly through the instrumentality of Mr. I. J. Rowtowsky, was established, in 1903, the Beth Hamidrash Hachodesh in Constitution Street. The first officers were H. I. Cohen and H. Winnet. In 1910 the institution engaged Rabbi M. Ch. Mirvish, whose competence as a Talmudical scholar and whose oratorical gifts have from that time commanded the respect of the entire Jewish community.

Later, another Beth Hamidrash, that of the Chasidim, was established in Buitenkant Street, and still another subsequently, the Poneves Beth Hamidrash, whilst during Holy-day times a number of small Chevras met for prayers in hired rooms temporarily adapted as synagogues. Synagogues also began to be established in the suburbs. The earliest was that of the Woodstock and Salt’ River Hebrew Congregation, established in 1908. Wynberg and Claremont, Maitland and Muizenberg have since established their congregations and synagogues.

Before the close of the 19th century Zionism, that powerful modern Jewish ideal, had been introduced into South Africa and had begun to flourish and spread in Cape Town. The Dorshei Zion, the oldest and most active Zionist society in the city, was established in 1899, and the following year Jewish women formed the B’noth Zion. To-day there are numerous organisations, Young Israel societies, Junior Zionist societies and Maccabean societies in Cape Town and its suburbs which have for their object the cultivation of Zionism amongst the Jewish youth and which are all affiliated to the S.A. Zionist Federation, of which the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation itself has within recent years become a constituent body. Recently a fine hall was erected in Hope Street for the accommodation of the various Zionist bodies, the old Hall, which dates from 1900, having become too small.

Since the beginning of the present century institutions for the instruction of children in Hebrew and the Jewish religion have been founded in the city and the suburbs. The principal of these is the United Hebrew Schools, the result of the amalgamation of two existing institutions in 1921. A Jewish Board of Guardians for the care of the Jewish poor was formed from the old Philanthropic Society which dates from 1859, and the Jewish Ladies’ Association, which was founded about the time of Mr. Bender’s arrival in the city. Numerous other charitable institutions have sprung up during the century. One of the chief is the Cape Jewish Orphanage, founded in 1912, in the first place through the zeal of Mr. J. Kadish, who was its first president. The Governor-General of South Africa, Viscount Buxton, laid the foundation stone in 1915 of a fine new building, which was opened by the Rev. A. P. Bender. A hospital was added to the main building in 1923, the gift of Isaac Lewis. The Helping Hand Society, founded in 1902, assists the poor with loans free of interest. A Jewish Home for the Aged was founded in recent years. There are numerous benefit societies, the oldest of which is the Hebrew Dividing and Benefit Society, founded in 1902; lodges, fraternities, clubs, scout and guide troops have existed for years, and an indeterminate number of cultural and social societies are born and die almost every year. The great majority of the organisations meet in the Old Synagogue, which has now been for many years the meeting place for Jews of every Jewish congregation.

Although the Cape Town Hebrew Congregation does not now constitute the Jewish Community of Cape Town as it once did, for many general Jewish purposes considerable solidarity has been maintained. Thus in 1914 the problem of the Kosher meat supply was considerably simplified by the institution of a Board of Shechita for the whole of the Cape Division. A Chevra Kadisha, for performing the last rites of the dead, was established by the two principal congregations in common under the presidentship of Mr. M. Eilenberg in 1908. Though it did not survive, many charitable organisations and communal services have always been common to all congregations, the heads of which frequently meet on the same platform where Jewish affairs are to be discussed. A Jewish Board of Deputies for the Cape Colony was formed in 1904, following that of the Transvaal founded in the previous year. The two were amalgamated in 1912 under the title of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies. All sections of Cape Town Jewry combine when it is necessary, such as it was during the Great War, to raise funds for the relief of Jews in South Africa or in Europe. The Jewish community of the Cape contributed a sum exceeding £100,000 to the Cape Relief Fund for Jewish War and Pogrom Victims during the war period, and in spite of a multiplicity of organisations and minor conflicting interests, the common denominator of the numerous sections of Cape Jewry is still very high.

THE NEW HEBREW CONGREGATION (ROELAND STREET). (Compiled from Material furnished by the Congregation).

This Congregation was founded in 1900 by a mass meeting in the Masonic Hall, on September 16th, resolving on ‘‘the necessity for establishing a New Synagogue and Talmud Torah.’’ The building site for same had already been purchased by the promoters, and a Building Fund Campaign was then opened. The Synagogue was formally consecrated on 24th September, 1902, by Rabbi Dr. J. H. Hertz (now Chief rabbi in England). The architect was Mr. J. Lyon; the builder, R. E. Wood. The synagogue edifice is of Eastern design, with two domed towers. At the rear of the main synagogue building there was a Talmud Torah Hall to contain about 200 children, office and necessary outbuildings.

The first Committee consisted of Messrs. D. Israelson (President), I. Schwartz (Vice-President), S. Jacobs (Treasurer), L. Melekov, G. Schach, L. Cohen, B. Zaacks, S. Zackon, J. Herman, S. Rostofsky, I. Bloomberg and J. Kossick (Secretary). In the first annual report the Chairman expresses his gratification with the satisfactory attendance of members at Sabbath and Holy Day Services, and ascribes it to the pleasant rendering of the service by Chazan J. Glushak and Choir. In the same year Mr. N. Morrison was appointed Beadle of the Synagogue, and has held the same position ever since.

The New Hebrew Congregation has always identified itself with all Jewish activities, has taken a leading part in Zionism and charitable work, has actively supported the Board of Deputies, has been a veteran in the field of Hebrew education. This Congregation was the first to affiliate with the S.A. Zionist Federation, and has paid Shekolim for all its members, thus automatically making every member of the Synagogue also a member of the World Zionist Organisation.

A society for the study of Talmud has flourished under the auspices of the Congregation since its inception, also a Society Kin Yankov, as well as a Burial Society.

Among the members of the Society were many prominent men in the community. Thus, the late Mr. I. Schwartz appears in the records of the Synagogue in many capacities—as Vice-Chairman, Treasurer, etc.; Mr. M. Alexander, K.C., has been for many years its President, and is now Hon. Life President. Others who have occupied office are Messrs. Marks Cohen, H. Levinstein, B. R. Newmark, H. Kadish, M. Bloch, I. Ochberg, E. Gurland, P. Policansky, M. Walt, M. Gurland, A. Silbert, I. Gesundheit. S. Berkovitz, L. Bloomberg, J. Kadish, S. Berks, S. Kleinman, J. V. Hoffman, M. Walt, M. Schach, B. Jaffe, P. Jochelson, D. Rubinstein, S. Smith, N. Graber, R. Weinberg, N. Bloch, Dr. B. Bernstein, M. Schrire, G. Levinson, C. Jaffe, H. M. Kahn, Ch. Levinson, L. Cohen, M. J. Cohen, J. Jaffe, J. O. Markovitz. Mr. A. V. Rosenberg was for a number of years Secretary and is now Auditor to the Congregation. Mr. M. Gurland, for some years Secretary to the Congregation, is now its President.

In 1906, Rev. B. Strod was appointed Chazan to the Synagogue. On December 17th, 1907, a visit to the Synagogue by Sir Matthew Nathan, Governor of Natal, is recorded, when a service was held for the occasion.

In 1909, at a reception in honour of Prof, Schechter, Mr. B. R. Newmark presented him with an illuminated address on behalf of the Congregation.

Every annual report contains mention of the Synagogue granting assistance to poor members of the community, either directly or through the various philanthropic institutions.

A Memorial Service was held on the day of the burial of the late King Edward, at which the President delivered an address.

The Hesped for the late Dr. Theodor Herzl was held at this Synagogue, and a most impressive and soul-stirring service was witnessed.

During 1910 Rabbi Dr. Landau, of Johannesburg, delivered an address at this Synagogue. In 1911 Rev. W. Wilder was appointed Chazan.

In 1915 the Committee inaugurated a system of offering in the Synagogue on behalf of the Russo-Jewish Relief Fund, and members of this Committee have taken an active part in the work of the Fund.

In 1918 the records of the Congregation make mention of the influenza epidemic, during which it was found necessary to co-operate with other congregations in coping with the disastrous havoc. A memorial service for the victims was held, also a memorial service for war victims.

By the suggestion of the President, Adv. M. Alexander, K.C., M.L.A., representation was made in 1918 to the Government urging them to intervene on behalf of our brethren in Poland. In the same year the Committee associated themselves. with other communities in protesting against the Registration of Aliens Bill, held to be detrimental to the interests of the Jewish community, and, thanks to these protests, the Bill was withdrawn.

In the annual report for 1918 mention is made of questions asked in Parliament regarding the status of Jews in Poland, and the South African Government’s views on the Jewish National Home, both of which elicited gratifying replies from the then Government.

During 1921 the Congregation celebrated the ratification of the Palestine Mandate by a thanksgiving service, at which the President, Mr. M. Alexander, M.L.A., delivered an address.

Dr. Schmarya Levin, the famous Zionist leader, when visiting this country on behalf of the Keren Hayesod, was presented with an address by the Congregation.

The remaining bond on the Congregational properties was paid off during 1921.

In 1923 Rev. S. Steinberg was appointed Chazan. In the same year the Committee reported the purchase of ground in Courville Street for £4,500 for the purpose of building larger synagogue premises, as it was felt that the present premises were too small to accommodate all the present and intending members.

In 1924 the Committee appointed Messrs. Ch. Levinsohn and M. Gurland as its representatives on the Board of Hebrew Education, which was formed in the Cape Town community for the purpose of improving the standard of Hebrew education in South Africa.

At the local celebration on the occasion of the opening of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, the Congregation took an active part. Mr. I. Schwartz, a member of the Committee, attended the opening ceremony in Jerusalem as one of the official representatives of South African Jewry.

On May 1st, 1925, the service at the Synagogue was attended by Mr. Nahum Sokolow, Dr. Hindes and the members of the tenth Zionist Conference. On this occasion an address was delivered by the Hon. Life President, Mr. Adv. M. Alexander, K.C., M.L.A.

In 1925 the Committee participated in the collection for the Cape Hospital Board, and were instrumental in collecting a handsome sum for that institution.

In 1928 Chazan Spector was elected to fill the vacancy as first Reader in the Synagogue.

The present Committee are as follows: Adv. M. Alexander, K.C., Hon. Life President; M. Gurland, President. M. Cohen, Vice-President; M. Bloch, Treasurer; M. Walt, Assistant Treasurer; R. Weinberg, Director of Funerals; H. M. Kahn.

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Assistant Director of Funerals; J. Goldblatt, Rev. M. J. Cohen, N. Bloch, 8. Schach, _M. Friedman, J. Cohen.

A perusal of the records of the Congregation shows its continuous participation in charitable work in the community. In evéry annual report mention is made of sums granted by and offered at the Synagogue for various charities.

ZIONISM IN CAPE TOWN.

In 1899, two years after the Zionist Congress in Basle, a handful of men, roused by the new ideal, formed the first Zionist Society in South Africa, the Dorshei Zion Association of Cape Town. Progress in the task of winning over the local Jewish community to the Zionist cause was slow, yet by dint of incessant and unremittmg labour the barriers of misunderstanding, ignorance and prejudice were gradually but effectively broken down. A room in the upper storey of a building at the corner of Buitenkant and Commercial Streets was hired as the first Zionist Hall in South Africa. At the end of 1900 a sister society, the Bnoth Zion Association, came into being which made an instant appeal to the Jewish women. Within a short while the membership of the Dorshei Zion stood at 350, of the Bnoth Zion at 160; the old meeting place became too small, and a hall at 47 Hope Street was purchased to house the two societies. Until 1927, when the new Zionist Hall, at a cost of £18,000, was erected, ‘“47 Hope Street ’’ remained the hub of Zionist activity in the Peninsula and Western Province.

The first President of the Dorshei Zion Association was Mr. B. Cohen, who was succeeded in office by Mr. I. Schwartz. Messrs. M. L. Genussow, J. V. Hoffman, H. Friedland, S. Schapiro and A. M. Solomon, the latter for three years, each held the office of President of the Association. From 1914 until his death in 1928, and on six occasions between 1900 and 1914, Mr. Idel Schwartz occupied the presidential chair. His efforts on behalf of the movement were heroic: no sacrifice was too great, no task too difficult. From the inception of the society until the moment of his death his vigour and idealism were a most potent factor in building up and shaping Zionist feeling in Cape Town. His successor in office is Mr. Isaac Ochberg, well known for his Jewish relief work and strong adherence to the national ideal.

Throughout its existence the Dorshei Zion Association has been fortunate in the possession of a small band of zealous workers. Since 1904 Advocate Morris Alexander, K.C., has been associated with the Zionist movement. His ability, energy and sincerity, his championship of every just cause and self-sacrificing enthusiasm have made his name an honoured one wherever Zionists and Jews are to be found. Mr. Jacob Gitlin’s unobtrusive but herculean Zionist work has been a source of inspiration and wonder to young and old alike.

Though principally concerned with specifically Zionist work, the activities of the Dorshei Zion Association have been connected with almost every matter of general Jewish significance—relief of distress, support of national and religious institutions, war relief, the cause of Hebrew education and Jewish culture generally in Cape Town and elsewhere. It has ever been prepared to take the initiative in assisting any Jewish movement worthy of support. Its work on behalf of Zionist funds is shown by the fact that in six years a sum of over £60,000 was collected in the peninsula for the Palestine Foundation Fund (Keren Hayesod) alone, in addition to which, large amounts are constantly remitted to the Jewish National Fund and numerous lesser institutions. During the same period, moreover, the Zionist Hall has been built and equipped.

The Women’s Part.

The Bnoth Zion Association owes its origin principally to the initiative of Mr. M. Zuckerman, a foundation member of the Dorshei Zion and a committee-man of that body. Mrs. B. Millin (mother of Mr. Philip Millin, K.C.) was the first President. She was succeeded in 1901 by Mrs. L. Shamban, and in 1903 by Mrs. M. Zuckerman. In 1905 Mrs. Pepper was elected to the chair, and from 1906 to 1908 Mrs. Ruth 8S. Alexander held this office, being succeeded by Mrs. Dinah Zuckerman (wife of Mr. Joseph Zuckerman, who has held office in the Dorshei Zion Executive for almost 20 years). In 1911 Mrs. M. Zuckerman again assumed the office, which she held until 1927, when Mrs. M. Schrire, the present chairlady, took over the reins. By spreading Zionism in the Jewish home, assisting to bring the Jewish child up with a love for the national ideal, and co-operating with the Dorshei Zion in its manifold Zionist and Jewish activities, the Bnoth Zion has played an important part in the history of Cape Town Jewry.

Within recent years two new Zionist bodies have been formed—the Maccabean Association and the Kadimah Association, concerned principally with culfural and propaganda work in the Zionist sphere, but co-operating with the Dorshei Zion and Bnoth Zion in practical activities. Each society boasts a fairly large membership, that of the Kadimah Association being composed chiefly of newcomers from Europe. There are also numerous Young Israel societies in Cape Town and its suburbs, linking up the Jewish youth and training it in the ideal of national service.

From the Dorshei Zion Association there has been developed a network of Zionist societies throughout the Western Province, inspired and guided by the parent society. Each year sees new bodies created, new activities undertaken. The Dorshei Zion has made Cape Town the premier Zionist community in South Africa: its pro rata contribution to Zionist funds is the greatest, and its spiritual adherence to the movement the strongest.

THE CAPE JEWISH ORPHANAGE.

This institution was founded in 1912 as a result of information having come to the knowledge of the Jewish Philanthropic Society that there were several Jewish orphans in non-Jewish charitable institutions. The South African Jewish Orphanage in Johannesburg having been communicated with, it was found that that institution was already full and that it could not accommodate any further inmates.

The first children’s home was “Killiney House’’ in Upper Mill Street, Cape Town, and the home was opened with eight inmates by Sir David Harris. Mr. J. Kadish was the first President of the institution, and held that office from 1912 to 1918. Subsequent Presidents have been Mr. I. J. Honikman, Mr. Isaac Ochberg, Mr. L. Gradner, Mr. A. M. Jackson and Mr. Woolf Harris.

Within the next few years the demands for admission to the institution exceeded the accommodation. The City Council granted a site in Upper Roeland Street, which, however, was not acceptable to the community, and the present site in Montrose Avenue, Oranjezicht, was purchased and a handsome building erected.

In 1918, as a result of the terrible epidemic, many new applications were received, and a new Building Fund created for erecting extensions to the then existing building. In 1921, Mr. Isaac Ochberg, the President, brought to South Africa about 200 war and pogrom orphans from the Ukraine, 94 of whom were accommodated in the Cape Jewish Orphanage and became the charge of the Cape Jewish community, the others being sent to the S.A. Jewish Orphanage in Johannesburg. An additional building was erected and the total number of children cared for at that time was 150. At present there are 60 children in the Home, and 25 in charge of the after-care committee, the girls being resident at ‘“Shalvah,’’ the Jewish Girls’ Hostel. A large and enthusiastic committee administer the institution. The annual revenue is about £6,000.

THE JEWISH AGED HOME.

In May, 1916, a meeting of influential members of the Cape Town Jewish community was called to consider the advisability of establishing a Home for Aged Jews. The meeting was presided over by Mr. M. Rosen, and Rev. A. P. Bender delivered an inspiring address. As a result of this meeting, a public meeting was held two weeks later over which’ the late Hyman Liberman presided, and much enthusiasm was displayed. Support was promised, and a Fund was created. Very generous contributions were given, but it was not until two years later that premises were taken. A fine property called Krynauw’s Hof was acquired, and these premises had to be remodelled to meet the requirements of a Home for Aged. The whole home was furnished gratuitously by members of the community. Of late years the Home has been further enlarged by the addition of a new wing. At the present time there are over 30 inmates of both sexes. The present Matron is Mrs. S. Franks, assisted by a capable staff.

The first President of the institution was Mr. Morris Rosen, who held the position for about five years. He was followed by Mr. Abraham Liberman, and at the present time Mr. M. Hilenberg is President.

Other officers have been as follows: Mr. A. Rosenthal, treasurer for many years. The same position was occupied by Mr. Harry Harris, and the present treasurer is Mr. S. Gordon. Successive vice-presidents have been Mr. L. Pinn and Mr. Pevsner (present).

UNITED HEBREW SCHOOLS.

The United Hebrew Schools of Cape Town are situated at 103 Hope Street and 62 Constitution Street. Rev. A. P. Bender, M.A., is the Hon. President; Mr. M. Rosen, Chairman; Rabbi M. Ch. Mirwish and I. Mauerberger, Vice-Chairmen; and Mr. S. H. Friedland, Hon. Treasurer. The schools are the result of the amalgamation of two Talmud Torah Schools.

The first Talmud Torah was started in Cape Town by Mr. M. L. Schrire and Mr. S. Friedgood during the Boer War in 1899, in Brown Street. The first headmaster was Mr. Shulman, and there were about one hundred children, many of whom were the children of Transvaal War Refugees temporarily resident in Cape Town. The premises in Brown Street soon proved inadequate, and the school moved to St. Patrick’s Hall, in Buitenkant Street.

At the end of 1901 or the early part of 1902 the school was transferred to Roeland Street and conducted under the auspices of the New Hebrew Congregation. Mr. J. Geffen became headmaster then.

In 1906, under the chairmanship of Mr. M. Shur, a resolution was adopted introducing the system of Ibrith B’Ibrith. This medium raised considerable opposition on the part of the older members of the community, and the objections were strongly supported by the English-speaking section of the Jewish residents. The objections resulted in the establishment of another Talmud Torah School in Constitution Street, where the medium was Yiddish. At a later date the English medium was adopted, and Mr. Turtledove was appointed headmaster.

The two schools eventually became amalgamated under the present title. The school owns its own property, and is subsidised by both Congregations.

The annual revenue and expenditure is about £2,800, and the fixed property of the institution is valued at about £5,000.

The revenue from fee-paying pupils is £658 8s. 10d., according to the last balance sheet. There is usually a deficit on the year’s working, which is made up by special appeals.