| Building Name: | Beth Shalom |
| Location: | 180 Manukau Road, Epsom, Auckland 1023 |
| Religious Affiliation: | Progressive Judaism |
| Consecration Year: | 1960 |
| Functional Status: | Active |
| Leadership: | Rabbi Dean Shapiro[1] |
| Architect: | Albert Goldwater |
| Architecture Type: | Synagogue |
| Year Completed: | 1960 |
| Specifications: | no |
Beth Shalom is a Progressive Jewish congregation in Auckland and the largest progressive congregation in the country.[2] The congregation was started in 1952 and later a temple was constructed and consecrated in 1960.[3] [4] It is a member of the Union for Progressive Judaism.[5] The congregation has over 500 members, hosts a Hebrew school, and also has a burial society.[3]
The congregation was formed on 6 March 1952 at the home of the Pezaro family, a founding family of the synagogue.[3] The congregation was at this point known as the Liberal Jewish Congregation of Auckland.[3] The congregation held its first Shabbat service on 14 April and thereon regular services took place at the Auckland City branch of the Royal Commonwealth Society.[3] A decision was made to establish a more permanent home for the congregation. A plot of land consisting an old foundry was subsequently purchased on Manukau Road in Epsom in 1953.[3] The foundry was renovated and converted into use as small temple serving one hundred congregants.[3] Rabbi John Levi, then a student rabbi from Australia, served as the congregation's first rabbi.[3]
As the congregation outgrew the old foundry, the congregation commissioned a new temple building by local architect, Albert Goldwater.[3] Building work was completed in 1960 and the temple was consecrated in the same year.[3] A second building project was undertaken in 1989 to expand the synagogue. The old foundry building that had been serving as a Hebrew School and social hall was demolished and rebuilt with a new, improved design. The original sanctuary of the 1960 temple was converted into a social hall, with a new sanctuary, offices and classrooms built.[3]
In recent years, Beth Shalom has been in discussions to relocate to the large former campus of Saint Kentigern Girls' School in Remuera.[6] [7] Auckland Hebrew Congregation (AHC), with the assistance of the Woolf Fisher Trust, purchased the site in 2019.[8] Schools and Jewish organisations are also relocating to the site, creating a new Jewish centre in Auckland.[9]