When Raphael Katz, the genial and popular new rabbi of Netanya's New Synagogue, has a spare moment to reflect on his job, he finds himself thinking about his native South Africa. It's almost like an island unto itself. It's surrounded by non-English speakers but everything here is in English, and most of the people who come here are from England.
Lillian Green, London native and wife of one of the synagogue's founders, declares, "I haven't been to too many Israeli shuls, really, so I don't know what they're like, but the New Synagogue is a lot like the shuls we had back in England. Now it's primarily English, with some Americans and South Africans - the new rabbi is bringing in more South Africans. There are even one or two French.
We are fairly United Nations, but maybe 70 percent of us are from England. People didn't understand my sermons. I was speaking once about the Ten Spies.
People in the shul were saying, 'What's all this? Why is this guy going on about 10 spas? That's what it is, really, a mostly older congregation who have come from England to retire.
But that's Netanya generally. It's seen by many as a place to get away from the cold and retire to the city's sultry heat. In our section of the city, by the Park Hotel, it's like Miami Beach. It's that type of community. The New Synagogue has been at the forefront of charitable activities in Netanya - so much so, in fact, that the congregation recently received an award of merit from a grateful Netanya municipality.
