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Source: Jewish Chronicle, London. 15 September 2000.
Yeshiva College in the Johannesburg suburb of Glenhazel has opened a new synagogue, Tzeirei Tzion, on the college campus.
Jake Kersh executive director of the complex, which includes two other synagogues, opened in the mid-1960s and mid-1970s - said that the new shul was "a mark of faith in the new South Africa and a demonstration of our belief in the country's future."
On September 24, Mr Kersh and his fiancée, Florence Gochin, will be the first couple to be married at Tzeirei Tzion.
Gerald Leissner, chairman of the Yeshiva College Hebrew Congregation, called the establishment of the new synagogue a "holy" project.
Before unveiling one of two dedication plaques, Rabbi Abraham Tanzer, who is the community's spiritual leader, pointed out that it had also built the first mikveh outside of Yeoville - a suburb much nearer to the centre of town whose once thriving Jewish community has drifted away due to rising crime rates - and had also set up South Africa's first eruv.
The Yeshiva campus also includes a group of Jewish schools, for children from nursery age through to matriculation.
Architect Lewis Levin - who, along with his partner Paul Cawood, designed the new shul - said that he had drawn on Ezekiel's vision of the Third Temple for his inspiration. South Africa's Chief Rabbi, Cyril Harris, described the Glenhazel community as "the crowning glory of Johannesburg Jewry."
The "amazing campus" it had developed was "unique in the Jewish world," he declared. "Like a kaleidoscope, whichever way you look at it, it is pleasing to the eye."
The community's life president, Steven Adler, led a procession which carried four Sifrei Torah into the new shul.
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