Swapping a synagogue for a school: Auckland Jewry makes a brave move

DEBORAH STONE returns to her childhood community as it abandons its heritage synagogue for a school-focused site.

I was too young to have a vocabulary for architecture when the Auckland Hebrew Congregation (AHC) moved into the monumental Greys Avenue synagogue in 1968. But I remember the light.

As a pre-schooler, I peered into the dim recesses of the old synagogue from the women’s gallery to watch my father sing haftorah.

Then we moved to the magnificent edifice designed by architect John Goldwater with its 360° clerestory windows and shining three-dimension bubble glass Star of David chandelier. The ark was a modernist marvel, carved with the 10 commandments and abstracted symbols of the 12 tribes in Hinuera stone, a volcanic material both indigenous to New Zealand and evocative of Jerusalem stone.

The synagogue was flooded with light and space – often much more space than the sparsely-attended services needed. It made going to shul feel grand and important.

I spent much of my youth in the Greys Avenue community centre, which contained two synagogues, the Hebrew school, community halls, and youth group facilities.

Here I learned the alefbet, ducked boys pelting each other with olives from the ironic peace symbol, danced at my first disco, chanted my first kol nidre.

Here I wore my first long dress as a flower girl at my first wedding, enviously watched my brothers called to the Torah for the first time, and walked in a tear-stained blur through the grand doors for the funeral that honoured my father as a former congregational president.

This building has been the centre of Jewish life in Auckland for almost my entire life.