In August 1973, he relocated to South Africa, where he was a student advisor to the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and the South African Zionist Federation. In March 1975, he succeeded Rabbi Newman, who had made aliyah to Israel, as rabbi of South Africa's largest Jewish congregation, the Marais Road Shul (formally known as the Green & Sea Point Hebrew Congregation) based in Sea Point in Cape Town. In South Africa, he was the youngest practicing rabbi in the country.
In August 1973, he moved to South Africa and began working with the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and the South African Zionist Federation as a student advisor. In March 1975, he succeeded Rabbi Newman, who had immigrated to Israel, as the rabbi of South Africa's largest Jewish congregation, the Marais Road Shul (formerly known as the Green & Sea Point Hebrew Congregation), in Cape Town. He was the youngest practicing rabbi in the country at that time.