North Shore celebrates a milestone
THE North Shore Synagogue has just celebrated the 70th anniversary of its formation.
CHANTAL ABITBOL
IT all started 70 years ago, when a close-knit group of Jewish families living on the North Shore decided to come together to form a minyan.
Calling themselves the Northern Sydney Hebrew Congregation, they met at Warringah Hall in Neutral Bay.
Soon their numbers grew, and the fledging community formed a building committee to raise funds to buy land and build a shul.
Now, seven decades later, the congregation continues to thrive. Known as The North Shore Synagogue — or more fondly, “The Garden Synagogue”, because of the shul’s lush surroundings in the leafy suburb of Lindfield — the congregation celebrated the 70th anniversary of its formation with a gala concert on February 14.
The landmark event featured three cantors — chazan Zvi Teichtahl, the shul’s current cantor; former chazan Rabbi Philip Heilbrunn of Melbourne; and Rabbi Yehuda Niasoff of The Central Synagogue — accompanied by chamber music group The Freshwater Trio.
“[We] chose a musical concert to mark this occasion so that the wider community would be able to participate and celebrate this milestone,” Teichtahl told The AJN.
The shul’s path to this point has been one of much spirit and perseverance.
“I was six months old when I became a seat holder in the shul,” boasted long-time member and current president Sarah Zukerman, who fondly remembers the early days.
The 53-year-old still recalls running through the halls of the shul’s then newly built structure as a youngster. The synagogue building, consecrated in 1958, came about after years of dedicated appeals to raise funds.
Zukerman witnessed the laying of the foundation stone for the youth and education centre in 1962, and was also there to take part in the boom years of the 1980s, when the shul experienced a swell in membership thanks to the influx of Jewish-South African immigrants moving into the area.
All the while, Zukerman marked her own life events within its walls — celebrating her bat mitzvah in the late 1960s, teaching at the education centre, getting married, and then watching her two daughters follow in her footsteps.
“It’s been the centre of my life, and everything has revolved around it,” she reflected proudly this week.
But in recent years, the shul has also faced its share of challenges.
While its membership hovers at a respectable 800, it is an ageing congregation battling to attract younger members. Zukerman has noticed that many of the younger generation are moving away from the area.
“It’s our number-one challenge,” she said. “We need to build up from the bottom again and get the young, more religious with families involved.”
A few years ago, the shul recruited Rabbi Paul Lewin to lead the congregation, and since then there has been some progress.
Under his guidance, the children’s program has been revamped and other initiatives have been introduced, such as Tu b’Shevat seders, the annual Kol Nidrei shiur, weekday evening services, Shabbat and yom tov meals.
With proceeds from the concert, the shul also plans to refurbish its building in the coming year.
“We are starting to attract younger families. It’s a slow process, but we’re getting there,” said Zukerman.
It is also hoped the anniversary celebrations will spark something of a revival.
“I’d like for us to get back to the grassroots and become a social centre again as well,” she said. “During these 70 years, many changes have occurred. Challenges will continue to confront the shul, but it will always remain at the heart of North Shore Jewry.”
Northern growth
1940: Jewish families formed a ­minyan, which grew into The North Shore Synagogue.
1951: The Treatts Road site was purchased to build a shul.
1958: The new synagogue was consecrated.
1962: The North Shore Jewish Kindergarten was established.
1974: Rabbi David Rogut was appointed chief minister.
2003: Rabbi Rogut retired; Rabbi Paul Lewin was inducted a year later.
2010: The synagogue celebrates its 70th anniversary.
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