Auckland Hebrew Congregation

Modern Orthodox synagogue in Auckland, New Zealand

Auckland Hebrew Congregation
Entrance to the school and synagogue, on Remuera Road, in 2024
Religion
Affiliation	Modern Orthodox Judaism
Ecclesiastical or organizational status	Synagogue
Leadership	Rabbi Moshe Rube
Year consecrated	1885 (Princes Street) 1968 (Greys Avenue) 2023 (Remuera Road)
Status	Active
Location
Location	514 Remuera Road, Remuera, Auckland
Country	New Zealand
Location of the synagogue in Auckland
Geographic coordinates	36°52′53″S 174°48′19″E / 36.8813°S 174.8052°E / -36.8813; 174.8052
Architecture
Architect(s)	Edward Bartley (1885) John Godwater (1968)
Type	Synagogue architecture
Style	Romaneseque Revival (1885) Modernist (1968 and 2023)
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. The synagogue serves around 500 local families.

History

Princes Street

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. The foundation stone was laid by David Nathan (1816–1886), an early Jewish settler and founder of the L. D. Nathan chain of stores, and the synagogue opened on 9 November 1885. The building could seat 375 people. It was built on the site of an earlier military guardhouse 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. The building has a Category I listing with the New Zealand Historic Places Trust.

In 1968, the congregation moved to a new synagogue on Greys Avenue. Following the deconsecration, ownership of the Princes Street property reverted to Auckland City Council as part of the Albert Park Reserve. 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. The building currently serves as the office for the University of Auckland's alumni relations and development department.

Greys Avenue

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. The former Princes Street synagogue was deconsecrated in 1969. The new inner-city synagogue was consecrated on 8 September 1968. 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. 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. 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. 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. The buildings and sanctuary were used for filming by Simone Nathan in her 2022 TV series, Kid Sister. The Greys Avenue complex was also home to Kadimah, the Jewish primary school, Auckland Jewish Immigration and the city's only kosher café.

Remuera Road

In 2019, with the assistance of the Woolf Fisher Trust, the congregation purchased the campus of Saint Kentigern Girls' School in Remuera. Kadimah relocated from Grey's Avenue to the Remuera campus in 2023. 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. The city's Reform congregation, Beth Shalom has also been invited to relocate to the campus. The Auckland Hebrew Congregation plans to build a new sanctuary and synagogue in the future on the grounds of the campus. 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. 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. There are also plans for a mikvah on the site, a cultural centre and provision for Jewish youth groups. 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.

Gallery

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

References

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

External links

Official website

v t e Synagogues in New Zealand
Active	Auckland Hebrew Congregation Beth Shalom, Auckland Dunedin Synagogue
Former	Beth El, Christchurch University House, Auckland
Jews and Judaism Category List

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