Consecrated 25 January 1925
The history of the F C Hollander Lodge dates December 1924 following a visit to Durban of the founders of the Order, Wor Bro Joseph Distiller and his conversations with Rev (later Rabbi) E M Levy, Jacob Rothstein and Arthur Lapinski.
The consecration and first Installation Meeting was held on 25 January, 1925. This is, therefore, the official date of the commencement of the Lodge. Bro Rev Levy was installed by Wor Bro Joseph Distiller as the first President and Bro Arthur Lapinski as the first Secretary.
The Lodge came into existence twenty years after the Order was founded in Johannesburg. By this time the original purpose of the Order, namely, to provide sick and other similar benefits for its members, had been extended to include those cultural pursuits without which no Jewish Organisation in a growing and virile community could hope to survive.
Durban Jewry owes the existence of the Durban United Talmud Torah (now called Durban United Hebrew Schools) to the Lodge. In 1930 the Lodge took a leading part in appointing a committee from its ranks for its inception and inaugurating a fund for this purpose. In the years which followed, the Lodge was directly responsible, not only for raising funds, but for supplying much of the personnel of the committees which managed the Talmud Torah.
On 23 March 1938 the Lodge celebrated its "Barmitzvah". It included a special Lodge Meeting, a service at the St Andrews Street Synagogue, with orchestra and mixed choir followed by a dinner attended by representatives of all Durban Jewish Organisations.
Another notable occasion was the Silver Jubilee function in August 1950, to which other Jewish bodies also sent representatives.
The Lodge inaugurated the Jewish Children's Holiday Scheme, donated towards the establishment of a library at the Durban Jewish Club and supported the Hebraica Section of the Witwatersrand University.
In 1966 the Lodge celebrated its 500th meeting, at which the Grand President was present. The Lodge contributed towards the naming of a floor at the Addington Hospital in the name of F C Hollander.
Golden Jubilee
The Lodge Golden Jubilee was celebrated in 1976. The most spectacular project undertaken was the Douglas Bader project. The famous legless R A F pilot was invited to be guest of honour at a banquet and a vast sum of money was raised for charities.
Several Brethren have gone on Aliyah to Israel and have made a name for themselves in Israel among whom are Wor Brethren Candy Cohen, Havis Perling, Michael Perling and Alec Strassburg some of whom were active in Lodge Moledet..
Durban
Durban, is the third most populous city in South Africa—after Johannesburg and Cape Town—and the largest city in the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal. Located on the east coast of South Africa, Durban is the busiest port in the country. It is also one of the major centres of tourism because of the city's warm subtropical climate and extensive beaches. Durban forms part of the eThekwini Metropolitan Municipality, which includes neighboring towns and has a population of about 3.44 million, making the combined municipality one of the biggest cities on the Indian Ocean coast of the African continent. It is also the second most important manufacturing hub in South Africa after Johannesburg.
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Jews in Durban
The relatively small Jewish population has always played a prominent part in the life of the city. One of the founders of Port Natal (Durban’s original name) was Nathaniel Isaacs, who arrived in the city as a youth in 1825.
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Naming of the Lodge
It was an inspired thought that prompted the founders of this Lodge to give it the name of one of the most outstanding Jews this country has known, that of Felix Charles Hollander. At the time of the consecration of the Lodge, he had already given over twenty years of public service.
F C Hollander was a City Councillor and Mayor of Durban.