The Adealaide Hebrew Congregation is a Modern Orthodox synagogue and congregation in Adelaide, in South Australia. The congregation was first established in 1848, and the synagogue was completed in 1850. A larger synagogue building was constructed in 1870 in the CBD. In 1990, the congregation relocated to a new purpose-built synagogue in Glenside, where it shared a campus with the Jewish Day School, Massada College.[1][2] The school closed in 2011 and the synagogue has recently returned to a new location on Grote Street in the CBD.[3][1]
History
Emanuel Solomon and John Lazar were among the founders of the congregation.[4][5] The congregation's first building, completed in 1850, was built in the Egyptian Revival style.[6]Judah Moss Solomon, Mayor of Adelaide, was the congregation's first president.[7] Subsequent presidents included Adelaide mayor, Lewis Cohen.[8] As the congregation expanded, a larger building, built in the Italian Renaissance style, was built adjacent to the original synagogue in 1870.[9]Abraham Tobias Boas arrived the same year and served as the congregation's first rabbi.[9] The synagogue was remodelled by architect Christopher Arthur Smith in 1938, and given an Art Deco cement facade.[9]
In 1988, the congregation's president, Arnold Erlanger announced plans for the congregation to relocate from Rundle Street in the CBD: "...the present synagogue can no longer meet the needs of our dynamic and expanding community. The building is old and in desperate need of repair. Erlanger also said that a new site should include Massada College.[10][11] The congregation purchased 1.2 hectares of land adjacent to the Glenside Hospital from the Government of South Australia for $1.1 million and with an estimated cost of $3.2 million for the project.[11] The new synagogue was designed to accommodate 400 worshippers, more than the 275 of the Rundle Street location.[11] An increasing Jewish population driven by Jewish emigration from South Africa and the Soviet Union were also factors in the decision.[11] In 1990, the synagogue was daubed with anti-semitic graffiti following the arrest of Ivan Polyukhovich in Adelaide.[12] The new campus, encompassing the AHC and Massada College was officially opened by Bill Hayden, governor-general of Australia on 22 July 1990. The campus which came to a total cost of $5 million was named the Nathan and Miriam Solomon Centre after the parents of the main benefactor, Myer Solomon.[13] An office was also opened on site to handle work for United Israel Appeal, Women's International Zionist Organization and State Zionist Council and Habonim Dror.[14][15]
In 2023, it was announced that the Congregation had purchased a new home on Grote Street, in Adelaide's CBD.[1] This came after failed efforts to colocate with the city's Progressive Jewish synagogue, Beit Shalom.[1] The decision to leave Glenside was made as that building was designed to meet the needs of a larger congregation at the time.[1] The property the congregation purchased was built in 1915 as a Seventh-day Adventist Mission Hall and subsequently housed the Federated Liquor and Allied Industries Employees' Union of Australia and then a performing arts venue.[16]
Gallery
Adelaide Hebrew Congregation off Rundle Street, north side in Synagogue Place, 1871
Adelaide Hebrew Congregation, Synagogue Place, 1938, shortly before remodelling
