Message in a bottle found hidden in Rustenburg Shul

A time capsule hidden behind the foundation stone of the Rustenburg Shul and discovered two weeks ago has unearthed documents written by people who founded that congregation, bringing to light memories and new connections for families now scattered around the globe.

The bottle was discovered by Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, the chief executive and spiritual leader of the Small Jewish Communities Association of South Africa, best known as “the travelling rabbi”. This isn’t the first time capsule he has discovered – he has found many behind foundation stones of defunct shuls over the years.

“It was the practice in those days to bury a time capsule to record history,” says Silberhaft. All the documents he has found have been recorded and archived in the South African Jewish Board of Deputies archive at Beyachad in Joburg.

One of Silberhaft’s finds was a time capsule in Uitenhage in 1999. “I’ve had that one for 20 years, but have been too scared to open it as I didn’t want to damage the documents inside,” he says. But after finding the Rustenburg capsule on 3 February 2022, he decided to try to open both bottles together.

The bottles were placed behind the foundation stones when each one was laid – Uitenhage in 1911 and Rustenburg in 1924. After asking on Facebook for someone who could help open the bottles without damaging the documents inside, Johannesburg glass expert Keith Feldman offered to open them.

Here, Silberhaft found another story that goes back more than a hundred years. “The business, Furman Glass, is 124 years old, owned by the same family for all that time. For the Rustenburg bottle, he cut open the base. The Uitenhage one was a big medical bottle. Keith was able to remove the documents with specialised tweezers.

“Inside the Rustenburg bottle, we found the list of the members of the executive at the time of the opening of the shul, and the original order of service for laying the foundation stone,” says Silberhaft. “Inside the Uitenhage capsule was a list of the founding members of the shul. It was signed by the attorney general of the Eastern Cape, and the mayor of the town. There was also a community magazine dated 10 February 1911, a copy of the Uitenhage Times from 29 March 1911, and two one-shilling coins.”

According to the documents, the Rustenburg Hebrew Congregation foundation stone was laid by the president of the congregation, AH Wulfsohn, on 9 April 1924.

“AH Wulfsohn is Abraham Herman Wulfsohn, my maternal grandfather’s brother,” says Leanne Nathan, who lives in Johannesburg. “My mom knew him as Herman. There were five brothers: Moses, Sholem, Hyman Ber [Chaim Ber], Philip, Abraham, and a sister. I have a photo of all of the brothers with Harry Gavron [not related]. My mom’s dad was Hyman Ber. My mom, Rose [now 87, also in Johannesburg], left Rustenburg in 1952 when her parents passed away about six weeks apart in her matric year.”

The ceremony, as recorded in the time capsule, included the lighting of the perpetual lamp, a procession with the “Scrolls of the Law” (Torah scrolls) during which psalms were recited, the opening of the ark, the Torah being placed in the ark, a prayer for the royal family, and the singing of Hatikvah.

“I’m moved to note that Hatikvah was sung at the conclusion of this inaugural service, 24 years prior to the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948,” wrote Diane Wulfsohn Saulson – one of the many excited responses on Facebook to Silberhaft’s post about the time capsule.

She was saddened to see that the foundation stone had been removed. “I’m the granddaughter of Philip Wulfsohn and daughter of Cecil and Perla Wulfsohn, living in Atlanta in the United States. Is the shul of my childhood, adolescence, and early adult years to be demolished?” she asked.

Silberhaft says that 98 years after the foundation stone was laid, the shul is in the process of being sold as there’s no longer a community in Rustenburg. The communal Jacob Finkel Hall is being used as a primary school, while the shul has stood unused for 22 years. “When we sell a shul, we remove the foundation stones, which are then placed at the cemetery along with a history of the community,” he says.

“My grandfather built his family residence near the shul using similar building materials,” said Wulfsohn Saulson on Facebook. “We lived in that gracious home until 1987. We walked to shul for cheder lessons and Habonim activities. On Shabbat, we were often followed by our Alsatian dog, Romulus, who after opening the door with his nose would enter soon after services commenced. He would walk confidently to my dad’s seat and lie curled up at his feet for the duration of Shabbat evening services!

“Together with my nephew, Joe Turpin, we visited the shul in October 2018 with the help of Royden Chatz, who opened the shul for us. The familiar fragrance of the sanctuary and the old siddurim was immediately evident. Many precious memories.”

Talking to the SA Jewish Report, she says, “My grandfather arrived from Lithuania at the age of 16. His brothers followed him. The shul was built in honour and memory of their parents, Abel and Zena, who they never saw again. The time capsule is phenomenal. Realising it was there, untouched, through poignant events from 1924 until now is enormously emotional.”

A number of people also reconnected with long-lost family members thanks to the discovery. Nathan’s cousin, Sheryl Goldstuck, says, “My late mother was Jeanette Wulfsohn, the eldest of five children. Her parents were Hyman Ber (Chaim Ber) and Sorka (Sarah) Wulfsohn. Through the time capsule, I have managed to connect with distant cousins that I have never met. Joe Turpin and his twin brother, Sam, are the sons of the late Gisèle Wulfsohn, a well-known photographer. She was also Diane Saulson’s sister.

“Today [14 February 2022], Joe and Sam became Facebook friends as a result of the time capsule. Through Joe’s comments on Facebook, I also discovered Gisèle’s brother, Philip Wulfsohn, Joe and Sam’s uncle. I have now connected with him, and we plan to meet the next time I’m in Cape Town.

“I always knew my mother came from an observant family, but I never realised how involved my grandfather was in the Jewish community of Rustenburg, and how pioneering the entire family was,” Goldstuck says. “The discovery has given me a great sense of pride in my forebears as well as a feeling of greater connection to the history of the Jewish community in country communities.”

Turpin, who is an artist in Johannesburg, says, “It’s bittersweet. I would rather that the bottle remained hidden forever. But this is the reality of urban migration. I’d like to produce a series of artworks about this bottle. It’s so extraordinary, especially when one considers the 98-year time frame.”

Adds Goldstuck, “I come from a small town myself, [Belfast, Mpumalanga], where my mother came to live after getting married. The town had only two Jewish families when I was growing up. So I didn’t have that sense of a community history. This time capsule has brought some wonderful perspective to my family story.”