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Auckland Hebrew Congregation

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Coordinates: 36°52′53″S 174°48′19″E / 36.8813°S 174.8052°E / -36.8813; 174.8052
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Auckland Hebrew Congregation
Entrance to the school and synagogue, on Remuera Road, in 2024
Religion
AffiliationModern Orthodox Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organizational statusSynagogue
LeadershipRabbi Moshe Rube
Year consecrated
  • 1885 (Princes Street)
  • 1968 (Greys Avenue)
  • 2023 (Remuera Road)
StatusActive
Location
Location514 Remuera Road, Remuera, Auckland
CountryNew Zealand
Auckland Hebrew Congregation is located in Auckland
Auckland Hebrew Congregation
Location of the synagogue in Auckland
Geographic coordinates36°52′53″S 174°48′19″E / 36.8813°S 174.8052°E / -36.8813; 174.8052
Architecture
Architect(s)
TypeSynagogue architecture
Style
Completed
  • 1885 (Princes Street)
  • 1968 (Greys Avenue)
  • 2023 (Remuera Road)
Website
ahc.org.nz

The Auckland Hebrew Congregation is a Modern Orthodox Jewish congregation and synagogue, located at 514 Remuera Road, in Remuera, a suburb of Auckland, on the north island of New Zealand. The congregation previously occupied University House as the Princes Street Synagogue from 1885, before relocating to a larger building on Greys Avenue in 1968. The congregation moved to its current location in 2022, having purchased the former campus of the Saint Kentigern Girls' School on Remuera Road.[1] The synagogue serves around 500 local families.[2]

History

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Princes Street

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The original synagogue building on Princes Street was designed and built by Edward Bartley in 1884–1885 in a Romanesque Revival style, incorporating Gothic Revival and Moorish Revival design elements.[3][4] The foundation stone was laid by David Nathan (1816–1886), an early Jewish settler and founder of the L. D. Nathan chain of stores,[5] and the synagogue opened on 9 November 1885.[6] The building could seat 375 people.[7] It was built on the site of an earlier military guardhouse[8] associated with Albert Barracks. The construction of the synagogue was a statement by the Jewish community in Auckland of their status and their acceptance in the local community.[4] The building has a Category I listing with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.[8]

In 1968, the congregation moved to a new synagogue on Greys Avenue.[4] Following the deconsecration, ownership of the Princes Street property reverted to Auckland City Council as part of the Albert Park Reserve.[9] It subsequently served as a branch of the National Bank of New Zealand, restored by the bank in 1989, preserving the stained glass windows as well as the Romanesque and Eastern decorative motifs.[10] The building currently serves as the office for the University of Auckland's alumni relations and development department.[10]

Greys Avenue

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As the congregation grew in size, a larger building was needed to meet it needs and a plot was purchased on Greys Avenue, overlooking Myers Park.[11] The former Princes Street synagogue was deconsecrated in 1969.[7] The new inner-city synagogue was consecrated on 8 September 1968.[12] The Greys Avenue building was designed by John Goldwater, a New Zealand Jewish architect, in a Modernist style; and was the recipient of an architectural award in 1970.[13] The synagogue and complex underwent a US$$6.63 million refurbishment in 2008 and John Key, a Jew who later became Prime Minister of New Zealand, attended the reopening.[14] After an earlier ban had been put in place, in 2010 the congregation led a successful challenge against the New Zealand government, to allow shechita.[15] In 2011, Israel's Speaker of the Knesset, Reuven Rivlin addressed the congregation. It marked the first official Israeli state visit to the country in a quarter of a century, since President Chaim Herzog's visit in 1986.[16] The buildings and sanctuary were used for filming by Simone Nathan in her 2022 TV series, Kid Sister.[17] The Greys Avenue complex was also home to Kadimah, the Jewish primary school, Auckland Jewish Immigration and the city's only kosher café.[18]

Remuera Road

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In 2019, with the assistance of the Woolf Fisher Trust, the congregation purchased the campus of Saint Kentigern Girls' School in Remuera.[19] Kadimah relocated from Grey's Avenue to the Remuera campus in 2023.[20] Other Jewish organisations and the Kosher café/deli are also in the process of relocating to the site, creating the main hub for Jewish life in Auckland.[1] The city's Reform congregation, Beth Shalom has also been invited to relocate to the campus.[21] The Auckland Hebrew Congregation plans to build a new sanctuary and synagogue in the future on the grounds of the campus.[22] It currently holds services in the original homestead on the property. The house had been built in 1918 for the Louisson family who, later downsized to a smaller property and sold the home to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.[23] The property and campus later formed part of Corran School, a private girls school, before becoming Saint Kentigern's Girls' School following a 2009 merger.[23] There are also plans for a mikvah on the site, a cultural centre and provision for Jewish youth groups.[22] In recent decades, the congregation has stepped up efforts to encourage Jewish immigration to New Zealand, mostly focusing on Jewry in South Africa, Argentina and Israel.[24]

[edit]
  • Former Princes Street synagogue in early 1900s
    Former Princes Street synagogue in early 1900s
  • Former Princes Street synagogue, now University House
    Former Princes Street synagogue, now University House
  • Former Kadimah School and Auckland Hebrew Congregation on Greys Avenue
    Former Kadimah School and Auckland Hebrew Congregation on Greys Avenue

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "A new Jewish Centre for Auckland". Jewish Lives. 18 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Membership". Auckland Hebrew Congregation. Retrieved 16 December 2023.[self-published source?]
  3. ^ "Heritage Walks: The Engineering Heritage of Auckland" (PDF). Tourism Auckland. ISBN 0-908960-46-8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 October 2008.
  4. ^ a b c Haworth, Jenny (2016). Auckland Then and Now. United Kingdom: Pavilion Books. p. 54-55. ISBN 978-1-910904-79-4. Wikidata Q116870435.
  5. ^ Mogford, Janice C. "Nathan, David". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 15 July 2017.
  6. ^ Weiss, Mara. "New Zealand". The Jewish Virtual History Tour. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  7. ^ a b "Historic city synagogue for sale". New Zealand Herald. 9 March 2018. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Synagogue (Former)". New Zealand Heritage List/Rārangi Kōrero. Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  9. ^ "Former Synagogue Conversion, Auckland". Salmond Reed Architects. Retrieved 11 March 2018.
  10. ^ a b "Historic city synagogue for sale". New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  11. ^ Cusins-Lewer, Anéne; Gatley, Julia. "The 'Myers Park Experiment' (1913–1916) and its Legacy in Auckland" (PDF). Australia: University of Queensland. Retrieved 12 May 2010.
  12. ^ "Greys Avenue 1967-68". Jewish Lives. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  13. ^ "Synagogue and school (3rd of 3)". Te Ara. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Jewish challenger to Clark in New Zealand". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 14 September 2008.
  15. ^ "Ban on ritual poultry slaughter nixed in New Zealand". The Jerusalem Post. 28 November 2010.
  16. ^ "Demonstrators protest Israeli Knesset speaker's New Zealand visit". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 4 April 2011.
  17. ^ "Simone Nathan's Televised Love Letter to Kiwi Jews". Hey Alma. 9 June 2022.
  18. ^ "Kiwi Cool". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 25 January 2011.
  19. ^ "Auckland private school Saint Kentigern sells $23m campus to Hebrew Congregation". Stuff. 8 April 2021.
  20. ^ "News". Kadimah School. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  21. ^ "2. Current Status of Beth Shalom moving to Remuera Road" (PDF). Jewish Auckland. 2021.
  22. ^ a b "Swapping a synagogue for a school: Auckland Jewry makes a brave move". Plus 61J Media. 17 February 2023.
  23. ^ a b "Girls' School History". Saint Kentigern. Retrieved 16 December 2023.
  24. ^ "The Good Life In Kiwi Country". Jewish Telegraphic Agency. 10 October 2003.
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