Jewish Kiwis Thrive at Bottom of Earth
New Zealand has never been considered a center of Jewish life, but since our congregation, University Synagogue, was visiting Australia, we decided to hop over (1,200 miles) to this incredibly beautiful country.
The next day, we were deeply moved at the Canterbury Hebrew Congregation — named after the county so as not to be called the \”Christchurch Synagogue\” — where our hosts, Dr. David Cohen, a local professor originally from Fresno and a graduate of UCLA, and Dr. Ali Wegner, originally from Buenos Aires and Chicago, introduced us to their synagogue. They moved to what many would consider yenne velt (the end of the earth) to live at a slower pace with serenity and security.