Building bridges to understanding among members of Auckland’s interfaith community, Hadassah New Zealand regularly hosts a visit to its local synagogue.

Working with the local orthodox synagogue and the wider community, Hadassah New Zealand encourages outreach to the Christian community for this event. The Christian community takes care of marketing, reservations, and also security, relates President Jenny Leiman, while Hadassah provides the kosher afternoon tea and refreshments and some Hadassah education. The Rabbi educates Christian participants about Judaism and aspects of synagogue worship. Mrs. Leiman explains that many attendees have made sizable donations, so events may yield between $5,000-$7,000 from contributions, door sales, and sales from a gift-box raffle.

“The multiple appeal of this type of event,” Mrs. Leiman brings out, “is that while teaching New Zealanders about the Jewish religion and rites and about HMO and the Hadassah International organization, it extends fundraising beyond the Hadassah New Zealand membership and Jewish community.”

Photo above: The beautiful interior of the Auckland Orthodox Synagogue discussed in this article.