OWN CORRESPONDENT
Beit Luria is the 11th progressive synagogue in South Africa, and the first in Gauteng in almost 50 years. It’s also the first progressive shul to be opened by a female rabbi.
Rabbi Julia Margolis persevered against all odds to build up the congregation, which then applied to the South African Union for Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ) for affiliation as South Africa’s 11th progressive shul. She was assisted by friends, including Steve Lurie, the honorary life president of the SAUPJ, and Leonard Singer, also a past member of the SAUPJ.
At the shul’s opening, a Torah scroll donated by Rabbi Hillel Cohn of San Bernardino in California was handed over.
Margolis and the management of Beit Luria look forward to a new journey with the SAUPJ and the World Union for Progressive Judaism to advance and promote the traditions and values of progressive Judaism within our community and, by extension, our country and the worldwide movement.
