Highlands House history

Early Beginnings: The Jewish Content of the Home

The Home was originally chosen because it was on the level and equidistant from both synagogues—the Gardens Synagogue on Hatfield Street and the Vredehoek Hebrew Congregation on Vredehoek Avenue—so that the residents could choose between the more anglicised services at the Gardens Synagogue and the services at the Vredehoek Shul, which more closely resembled the services in eastern Europe and where the sermon was delivered in Yiddish.

The Home was to be kept strictly kosher. The centrality of kashruth was demonstrated in that, on more than one occasion, the reason for applying for admission to the Home was that the applicants were not able to stay with their children because they did not keep kosher.

In April 1926, a synagogue was established in the Home. Rabbi Moshe Chaim Mirvish of the Vredehoek Shul presided. In March 1934, the case of a couple who refused to attend religious services was raised. While some felt that they could not be forced, Reverend S Kibel felt that the recipients of Jewish charity were obliged to abide by Jewish rules and attend services. It was resolved that the matter would be discussed with them. A month later, it was reported that the couple and several other ‘absentees’ were now attending services, and the situation had improved. Four months later, there was sufficient seating in the synagogue, and an adjoining room had to be incorporated.

In addition to a rabbi, the Home also engaged a lecturer, Mr Helfand, to lecture to the residents once a week. He was succeeded by Reverend Hoffenberg, and when he died, Mr Hoffman took over. Hoffman also indicated his willingness to come to the Home on sabbath and festivals to help with the religious welfare of the residents. Whereas the former lecturers must have provided their services for nothing, the committee decided that as he was ‘a poor man’, he was worthy of some remuneration. In July 1934, it was determined that lecturers be paid GBP 11 ten shillings a month.

In 1937, it was reported that “all inmates are obliged to attend [the synagogue] unless prevented for health reasons.” Services were conducted by a Mr Polonetsky, who had been doing this since 1929, Mr J Hoffman studied the “Blatt” (a page of the Talmud) with the men twice a week. At the AGM of 1938, Rabbi Israel Abrahams, newly arrived spiritual leader of the Gardens Hebrew Congregation, observed that the Home, in addition to serving as an Aged Home, Hospital, and a home for incurables, under “having a Synagogue and a Reader regularly coming to learn with the old people, it was in a way a “Beth Midrash.”

In 1934, at the request of the Beth Din, the kitchen was enlarged to better separate meat from milk in accordance with Jewish dietary laws. With the enlargement of the kitchen, a qualified expert on kosher cookery was engaged. However, for an extended period, a debate raged between the Home and the local Beth Din as to the Kashruth. Although Nurse Edith, the assistant housekeeper, was Jewish, it was feared that she had too much else to do to keep a close eye on everything that went on in the kitchen. The Beth Din even wanted her to come in so that they could examine the extent of her knowledge!

The Home dismissed the idea of a Mashgiach as he only spent a few hours in the kitchen daily. At one stage, an advertisement was placed in the Jewish Chronicle and the Zionist Record for a Jewish cook, but the applicants were found unsuitable. The woman asked for too large a salary, and the Home was not prepared to hire a man as a cook! Eventually, the Beth Din accepted the situation – as in any case, the Home had two separate kitchens with two stoves, one for milk and one for meat. Nurse Edith oversaw the kashering of the meat.

Renee Rod, Ellis Zion’s daughter, remembers stopping in at the Home with her father, who would make Kiddush for the residents every Saturday morning on their way home from Shul. Nurse Edith would hand out small glasses of wine and sponge cake to the residents.

Acknowledgement
We profoundly thank Veronica Penkin Belling, who meticulously compiled most of our historical archives into a Centennial Volume published in 2016, ISBN 0780620718110. Her work is a testament to the importance of preserving our past and the invaluable insights it provides into the Jewish history of the Western Cape.