Religious life in Darling
The Jews of Darling established a Hebrew Congregation in 1924. They engaged the services of Rev. Benjamin Kotlowitz as their first spiritual leader. He brought a Torah scroll with him from Lithuania. He taught the children in the cheder and provided kosher meat for the members.
The community rented a house for him, in which a room was set aside for services and for cheder. This rented building served the community well as minister's home, synagogue and talmud torah. There was no need to build a synagogue.
For the high holidays the congregation gathered in the Dutch Reformed Church Hall. During the Second World War Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services were held in the town hall – which is now the museum.
When Rev. Kotlowitz left in 1930 he was succeeded by Rev. Jonah Gordon, who served the community for 24 years. Rev. Gordon also travelled once a week to Hopefield, Vredenburg and Saldanha to teach Hebrew classes (cheder) and to perform ritual slaughtering. The congregation effectively came to an end when Rev. Gordon died in 1955. The children then went to Malmesbury to attend Hebrew classes.
Around 1964-65, what was left of the Darling community was incorporated into the Malmesbury Hebrew Congregation. The Torah scroll was given to the Marais Road Synagogue in Sea Point, Cape Town, where it is still in use.
