Woodstock and Salt River Synagogue page
Being near the port of entry, the Cape Town docks, Jewish people from many lands including Latvia, Lithuania, Russia, Poland, Germany and England gravitated to Woodstock and Salt River. Although there were already other synagogues in Cape Town at the time, they resolved to build their own place of study and worship. In 1911 they founded the Woodstock and Salt River Hebrew Talmud Torah on the corner of Argyle Street and Lower Main Road. It opened with 23 students.
In 1925 the famous Rev Bender of Cape Town laid the foundation stone for the Talmud Torah building which served for study and worship for generations of children.
In 1935 on 12 May a new building nearby of the Talmud Torah School was opened by Rabbi Mirvish of Cape Town.
President Isaac Merkel added two more buildings to cope with the overflow.
Congenial ministers
The Woodstock and Salt River Hebrew Congregation were sagacious and fortunate enough to employ ministers who were both effective in running the services required and teaching the children. They were well loved and respected by all sections of the community. Clearly the ministers were also treated well by the honorary officers and members. This is what made the community so cohesive and strong and built great memories for all who lived and grew up there.
The ministers we particularly remember were:
- Rev S Kassel - was the minister from 1920 to 1944; see his picture as an Army chaplain.
Rabbi Solomon Grawitzky - a great Talmudic Scholar, took a position as minister of the Woodstock and Salt River Hebrew Congregation in 1930.
- Rev Baran - was minister from 1944-1947.
- Rev Isaac Gulis - became the cheder teacher from 1947 to 1955.
Rev Gulis was particularly beloved by his cheder pupils, in whom he instilled a love of Judaism and the ability to lead services. See more about him and the Talmud Torah:
- Rev Gulis - biography by his son Abe
- Rev Gulis - tribute from his pupils Herschel Gelbart and Wilfred Levin
- The Talmud Torah, by Manasa Merkel
By the time that Rev Gulis left in 1965, the writing was already on the wall. The students had disappeared and the community was dwindling. The new generations had moved on to pastures new.
New synagogue building in 1952
In 1952 the community - along with several others in South Africa about to find themselves downsized - built and opened a brand new synagogue building in the same complex called Agudas Achim - Band of Brothers.
Agudas Achim synagogue opened in 1952
By 1986 it was all over!
Alex Rubin, who had been the secretary of the congregation from 1929, wrote to the 'Hebrew Public' in 1986 inviting them to a general meeting in the synagogue in Argyle Street, to "give consideration and to authorise the closing down of the Woodstock synagogue and the disposal of all its assets, comprising inter alia, Main Synagogue Building, Synagogue Hall (used as a furniture repository), two adjacent rooms used for storage, and two houses, Nos 9 and 9A Argyle Street, at present used as dwellings".
The Centrality of the Shul and Cheder
Cecil Gelbart summed it up in 2021: Our Talmud Torah and Shul were created by the Woodstock and Salt River Hebrew Congregation to serve the needs of our Jewish Community. Over the years the building became not only the place for prayer and study, but also a central meeting place for social events and sport. It became a model that was followed by many other communities in Cape Town.
We, who grew up in this strong Jewish atmosphere, have dispersed to all corners of the world, from South Africa to USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Australia, Taiwan and Israel, but the Shul has endured within us as the bedrock of our Jewish life, with a Woodstock flavour.
