Heritage

Temple Israel in Hillbrow gets Heritage status

ROBYN SASSEN SAJR 5 Dec 2014_DSC3541 (2)

Sunday 28 November 2014 saw an extraordinarily moving event in
which activist Reeva Forman’s campaign to preserve
Hillbrow’s Temple Israel, South Africa’s first Reform synagogue,
began to enjoy the public attention it warrants.
With the assistance of the Johannesburg Heritage
Foundation’s Flo Bird, a blue plaque was installed outside
the shul. Opened in 1936 under the leadership of Rabbi
MC Weiler, the shul in Paul Nel Street is an Art Deco gem
designed by architects Kallenbach, Kennedy and Furner,
and serves as the repository for the archives of Progressive
Judaism. Pictured are Johannesburg City’s deputy
director of Immovable Heritage, Eric Itzkin with Forman
and Temple Israel congregants unveiling the plaque.