Robertson Jewish Community Timeline
1881: Evidence suggests that a sufficient number of Jews were living in Robertson to assemble a minyan on occasion.
1885: The earliest known Jewish burials take place in Robertson, including the infant sons of Lewis Rosenzweig.
1895: The Robertson Hebrew Congregation is formally established. Reverend B Klein is appointed as shochet, cantor and mohel until about 1912.
1895: Knesset Israel Synagogue is erected.
1895: A Talmud Torah (Hebrew School) is established.
1896: The historic Robertson mikveh is established by the Robertson Hebrew Congregation, and is built alongside the Robertson Hebrew School. It is currently boarded over and used as a bathroom in a residential house that was added on to it.
Early 1900s: The community develops a Burial Society, Philanthropic Society and various youth organisations.
1912: Reverend J I Levine is appointed until 1922.
Photograph provided by Solly Epstein
(Cape Town). Solly is
a grandson of Reverend Josefowitz.
1912: A Robertson delegate attends the conference in Bloemfontein that establishes the South African Jewish Board of Deputies.
1912: The Robertson Zionist Association is established following a visit by Morris Alexander.
1920s: Philip Buirski and Lewis Rosenzweig serve on the Robertson Municipal Council.
1922: Reverend M L Mazur is appointed; Reverend S J Josefowitz is appointed and serves until the mid-1970s.
1935: The congregation affiliates with the Cape Council of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies.
1939–1945: Members of the community serve during the Second World War. Sydney Lazarus becomes the first South African Jew killed in action during the conflict.
1950s: Norbert Pinto pioneers large-scale coriander cultivation in the district.
Source: Riverton Stud
1967: The community is no longer able to consistently assemble a minyan.
1972: Abraham Josefowitz serves as Deputy Mayor of Robertson.
1977: Only four members of the congregation remain in Robertson.
1986: Rabbi Stuart Serwator, Regional Country Communities Rabbi, starts visiting Robertson routinely.
1993: A full weekend Shabbaton/reunion takes place at Robertson, focused on the Shul and cemetery.
1996-1999: After finding Jewish children in Worcester, Robertson and Ashton, the Cape Board of Jewish Education opens the Robertson Hebrew School, with Rabbi Stuart Serwator as the teacher one Sunday per month.
2005: Flood damage necessitates major restoration work at the Jewish cemetery.
2009: The synagogue is sold and converted into a private residence.
2015: Rabbi Stuart Serwator conducts the funeral of Louis Solomon Rosenzweig.
