Timeline of Jewish life in Darling
Jews from Lithuania arrived in Darling after about 1910. They established a congrgation in 1924. A survey in 1943 indicated that there were 48 Jews in Darling. By 1947 it was reported in the SA Jewish Times that there were only half that number with about 6 families left in Darling. This had declined to 5 families in 1953. When the Becker family left in 1980, there were no Jews left in Darling.
Here are some of the milestones.
1876 to 1895: Jacob Cats was the first Jew in the area, as a government teacher.
1910: W L Golding living in Darling.
1914: The Beinart brothers were trading in the town.
Early 1920s: Shraga Feivas Boruchowitz (later the name was changed to Brock) had settled in Yzerfontein around 1906; he later moved to Darling, where he had a general dealer business.
1920: Joe Herman, a cattle dealer, had settled in Darling.
1924: The Darling Hebrew Congregation was established and engaged Rev. Benjamin Kotlowitz as its first spiritual leader. He brought a Torah with him from Lithuania.
1925: Reuben Becker arrived in Darling. As was the case with many other immigrants, he was unable to read and write and spoke only Yiddish and Lithuanian. Eventually he owned the Royal and Commercial Hotels, assisted by his wife, Mary, and sons, Hyman and Allan.
1930: Abraham Stoch settled in Darling and owned a general dealer store.
1930: Rev. Kotlowitz left Darling in 1930 and was succeeded by Rev. Jonah Gordon, who served the community until his death in 1955.
1964-65: The congregation was incorporated into the Malmesbury Hebrew Congregation. Their Torah was given to the Marais Road synagogue in Sea Point, Cape Town.
1980: When the Becker family left, there were no Jews left in Darling.
