- SA Jewish Report

BRIDAL
FEATURE
2008
/ 18-27
www.sajewishreport.co.za
TOP ISRAELI
JAZZ MUSICIAN
FOR ‘JOY OF
JAZZ’ / 12
Friday, 01 August 2008 / 29 Tammuz, 5768
THE KENNEDYS: TWO
BROTHERS LINKED
THROUGH
DEATH / 13
Volume 12 Number 29
Olympics: Memories of
Munich ’72 rekindled
ON SEPTEMBER 5, 1972, at 04:30 in the Olympic village in Munich, Dan Alon and his roommate, fellow
fencer Yehudah Weinstein, were awakened by gunfire and shouting. Bullets blew through the wall over Alon’s
bed. They were the shots that killed weightlifter Yossi Romano in the adjoining room. During the massacre that
followed, Israeli athletes were taken hostage by Palestinian group Black September. By the end of the saga, the
terrorist group had killed eleven Israeli athletes and coaches and one German police officer. Five members of
Black September were killed by police during an abortive rescue attempt. SEE PAGES 9 & 10
Benjamin
column: Sarkozy
warms French
policy to US,
Mideast / 11
IN HIS first year in office he has
bestrode the world stage with
an energetic activism, a large
ego and sense of direction that
clearly had been lacking during
the torpid period of drift that
characterised the withering
“lame duck” final years of his
predecessor’s presidency.
SA rabbis share
ideas at an
‘inspirational’
Israel conference
/2
Saks column:
Words have
meaning! / 10
THERE IS no doubt that we need
to reassess the terminology we
habitually use when arguing
Israel’s case. The sensible choice
of words is critical, since using
the wrong expression can mean
handing the other side victory
from the outset.
Jewish groups
‘Walk the Talk’
with thousands
in Jhb / 3, 16
KEEPING KOSHER IN CHINA
YOUTH TALK / 16-17
SPORTS / 32
Hot pot meals are popular in China and a double problem for kosher
vegetarians. (CREDIT: ALISON KLAYMAN) SEE STORY PAGE 5
LETTERS / 14
CROSSWORD & BRIDGE / 29
WIZO Brides of
Yesteryear / 28
COMMUNITY BUZZ / 7
WHAT’S ON / 29
2
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
SHABBAT TIMES
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Honourable Abe Abrahamson (Chairman), Issie Kirsh, Dennis Maister, Bertie
Lubner, Herby Rosenberg, Russell
Gaddin, Marlene Bethlehem,
Stan Kaplan, Norman
Lowenthal.
Mr Justice Meyer Joffe
(Chair, editorial comm)
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Flirting with futility
THE JEWISH calendar and the
Parsha are somehow always synchronised. There is a deep connection between the two and it is never
coincidental that a particular Parsha is read at a particular time of the
year.
The two Parshot we read this week
are no exceptions. They are always
read during the Three Weeks of
Mourning when we recall the
destruction of our Holy Temple.
I am not going to focus on these
latent connections here, but prefer to
look at the haftarah and the message
of the Prophet Jeremiah (Chapter 2),
which is also especially chosen for
this week.
The prophet castigates the Jewish
people: Listen to the word of G-d, O,
House of Jacob... what wrong did
your fathers find in Me that they distanced themselves from Me and
went after (gods of) emptiness and
became empty themselves? (Verse 5).
They are guilty on two counts,
laments Jeremiah. They have forsaken Me, the spring of living waters,
(and furthermore) to dig for them-
PARSHAT
MASEI
Rabbi Yossy Goldman
Sydenham Highlands
North Synagogue
selves wells, broken cisterns that
hold no water (Verse 13).
What is the prophet saying? If
you exchanged G-d and Torah for
some other noble, exalted philosophy or for another highly principled ideology, nu, at least there
might be some imaginary justification. But for what have you
exchanged the lofty moral truths
of G-d and Torah? For hevel, futility, emptiness and nothingness.
This is a terrible double blow.
Those who pursue a path of
emptiness become empty people.
Their lives are filled with nothing
more than empty materialism;
zero content and zero meaning. At
least people like Warren Buffett
give it away. His single-minded
focus on amassing wealth has been
more than vindicated by such
unprecedented philanthropy.
But materialism for its own sake,
with no higher purpose whatsoever, is futile and empty and can only
lead to those practising it becoming
empty-headed themselves. Some
generations sinned by denying G-d.
Jeremiah weeps for a generation
that worships nonsense and empty
escapism.
What is the worst thing in the
world that can happen to a teenager today? To be home alone on a
Saturday night without a date!
And the teenager’s parents need
to chill after all the pressures of the
workweek. So we build ourselves
huge and magnificent entertainment edifices, towers of trivia, centres of senselessness. And we fill
the void and the vacuum in our
lives with escapist pleasures drinking and gambling, smoking
and snorting.
Generations ago, Jewish parents
cried bitter tears because they lost
their children to communism,
socialism, hippie-ism or other antiestablishment ideologies.
The tragedy of our time is that
August 1 / 29 Tammuz
August 2 / 1 Av
Erev Shabbat
Starts
17:24
17:50
17:06
17:27
17:21
17:13
Ends
18:15
18:44
17:58
18:18
18:14
18:06
Johannesburg
Cape Town
Durban
Bloemfontein
Port Elizabeth
East London
we are losing our youth not to
any form of political activism or
social consciousness but to
emptiness and futility, to drugs
and raves. At least the misguided
young rebels of old believed in a
cause. Right or wrong, they were
trying to build a better world.
Today, it’s “to hell with the
world, pass the beer!”
Jeremiah pleads with us to forsake this fling with futility and
empty cisterns and to embrace
the eternal spring of living
waters, the authentic truths of
Torah and the way of G-d. Let us
lead our children towards meaningful spirituality and sanctity.
Sanity must surely follow.
Israel impresses SA rabbis
spiritually and materially
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY
LARA GREENBERG
LAST WEDNESDAY in Jerusalem
saw the end of the annual four day
Chief Rabbi CK Harris Rabbinical
Conference aiming to bond and
unify the South African Orthodox
rabbinate in their very unique, yet
common purposes.
“We come together once a year to
discuss issues, share ideas and
inspire each other,” explained Chief
Rabbi Warren Goldstein.
In honour of Israel’s 60th anniversary, and as a show of solidarity
with the people of Israel, close to 50
communal rabbis from throughout
South Africa spent their time visiting various tourist and religious
spots - specifically the Kotel, the
Kotel tunnels and Chevron - while
also venturing to more dangerous
territory with a trip to Sderot to see
the war zone for themselves.
The latter made a particular
impact on the rabbis and all made
specific reference to this visit.
“We saw the rockets shells and
craters,” the Chief Rabbi Goldstein
told Jewish Report. “And aside from
meeting with the communal leaders
there, we also met with a man
whose daughter had been killed there was not a dry eye in the room
and we all felt a connection to the
place and wanted to do something to
help and make a difference.”
Rabbi Ron Hendler explained that
during their visit to this war-torn
town, they went to a yeshiva that
continues to run with around 500
bochurim, learning there at any
given time - in spite of the tremendous levels of violence and unrest in
the area.
He noted that the rabbis were
already very emotional, having
gone “straight from under the
tables to Sderot”. The rabbis had,
just a few hours earlier, taken cover
under the dining room tables of the
King Solomon Hotel during the
bulldozer terror attack - the second
such an attack in a week - which
took place just outside the hotel last
Tuesday.
“We were meant to be going from
the supposed safety of Jerusalem
to the terror in Sderot, but instead
we went straight from a terrorist
attack in Jerusalem to Sderot,
where we saw a rabbi building a
yeshiva,” said Rabbi Hendler.
The visit had such an impact on
the rabbis that they pledged to go
back to South Africa and raise
money in their communities in
order to build another room in the
Sderot yeshiva.
Chief Rabbi Goldstein explained
that the rabbis held an important
position in their communities and
it was important to bond the communities to the happenings in
Israel, so the rabbis acted as a
mediator.
“It’s all part of the Zionist ethos
of the South African Jewish community”, he said.
What the rabbis will not soon forget is the terror attack on King
David Street last Tuesday. After a
full morning and while preparing
for their trip to Sderot, the rabbis
were enjoying a quick lunch when
all of a sudden they began to hear
gunshots outside the door of the
dining room.
Rabbi Gidon Fox of the Pretoria
Hebrew Congregation, shouted for
everyone to get down onto the floor.
Rabbi Danny Sackstein, from
Camps Bay Shul in Cape Town,
explained that he then looked out of
the glass doors of the dining room
and saw the bulldozer slowly moving
down the road and then he saw a soldier shooting at the attacker.
It was then that the rabbis leopard
crawled out of the dining room and
into the lobby area. “This really hit
home for us how living in Israel has
its price,” Rabbi Sackstein said.
“Our enemies want to expel us
from the land and we have to pray
and do whatever we can to remain in
the country.”
The conference’s lectures were
geared at the political and military
spectrum of the Jewish homeland,
while also obviously dealing with
spirituality, halachic issues and the
workings of the rabbinate in general.
Chief Rabbi Goldstein said: “We
were privileged to listen to and discuss the latest halachic issues from
cutting-edge scholars and experts in
their fields.”
Chairman of the Rabbinic Association and rabbi of Waverley Shul,
Rabbi Aharon Rose, said the programme had been wonderful and
that he had loved his time in Israel,
although he could well have done
without the terror incident.
He added that the atmosphere in
Israel was very positive and that
there was a feeling of Ahavat Yisrael
with everyone feeling like family.
“This is very special because it’s not
obviously this way,” he said.
According to Rabbi Hendler of
Northfield Hebrew Congregation,
many of the rabbis were so positive
about what they saw and heard during the conference, that there was a
lot of talk about organising communal tours.
“When we came here six years
ago, in the middle of the intifada,
Israel was ‘a ghost town’ and we
specifically made our conference
here so that we could show our soli-
Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein and
Rosh Beth Din Rabbi Moshe Kurtstag in the forefront, and Rabbi
Shalom Ber Groner.
Rabbi Anthony Gerson, Rabbi
Gidon Fox and Rabbi Shalom
Ber Groner.
darity,” he said. He noted that over
the years things had gradually
improved and he was happy to see
that things in Israel were booming.
“I’ve been on, and taken many
trips over the years but this has
been one of the most outstanding,”
concurred Rabbi Laurence Perez
of the Mizrachi Shul in Johannesburg and director of Yeshiva
College campus.
He added: “we were privileged to
listen to experts in the rabbinic,
educational and political spheres
and gained tremendously from
what they had to say.”
Rosh Bet Din, Rabbi Moshe
Kurtstag said: “It seems to be that
this conference is the best we’ve
ever had, in every respect.”
Making mention of the attack in
Jerusalem he added, “we have had
a real Israel experience”.
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01 - 08 August 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
3
And an awesome great day was had by all!
SHELLEY ELK
BEING PART of the gigantic Discovery/702
Walk the Talk in Johannesburg on Sunday,
were a host of politicians and other celebrities, with the Jewish community well represented.
Deputy President Phumzile MlamboNgcuka was there, as was Gauteng MEC for
Sport, Recreation, Arts and Culture Barbara
Creecy, the casts of Egoli and Isidingo, and
Jewish organisations including Tiyulim,
Chevrah Kadisha and MaAfrika Tikkun.
The four events which kicked off and finished at Marks Park Sports Club in
Emmarentia attracted over 38 000 participants.
The Chevrah Kadisha set up a kosher
eatery at Marks Park and also had a team of
250 walking the 8km event, while MaAfrika
Tikkun’s 100 participants also did their
organisation proud.
Over 20 000 walkers in the 5km jostled at
the start, most waved as we flew over head in
a helicopter, Spilling onto the pavements,
like a stream swelling into a river, bursting
its banks - young and old, animated children, dogs on leashes raring to go (some taking their owners for a walk), toddlers in
strollers, all were there to be part of a fun
day.
Music blared from speakers - the vibe was
amazing.
The start line “broke” at 11:00 and they
were off, some fast, others at a much more
leisurely pace.
Watering stations along the way, including
dishes on the ground for doggie participants,
ensured that everyone was well hydrated.
The pace was each to their own. Those who
pushed strollers with toddlers (or puppies)
aboard, could work on their triceps and
upper bodies.
Loud music set the atmosphere for a lively
walk, and along the way, residents or hawkers sat on the sidewalks, some selling lemonade, while others popped a champagne cork
A bird’s eye view of eager participants lined up at the start line of the 5km
Discovery/702 Walk the Talk. (PHOTOGRAPH: SHELLEY ELK)
and toasted the walkers.
Camaraderie and fun, ran like a golden
thread through the morning.
Dr Jeff Eitzman from Tiyulim said: “They
should have something like this more often,
at least twice a year.”
Greg Horwitch also of Tiyulim added: “It
was great, a lot of fun, nice vibe, and we
enjoyed talking and walking with thousands
of people. We will definitely be back next
year.”
Hedley Lewis, Helping Hands’ (Chevrah
Kadisha) Executive Director said
“money raised for this event will go
towards purchasing medical equipment. We look forward to a bigger and
better walk next year.”
MaAfrika Tikkun said this was their
“first team effort of this nature in
South Africa and it was a great success
for our NGO. Learners from Jewish
day schools and youth movements,
Diepsloot and Orange Farm settlements, all participated.” SEE PAGE 16
The Chevrah
Kadisha’s
team with
colours blazing, walking
in the 8km
event.
(PHOTOGRAPH:
LESLEY
MILNER)
4
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
Jos and Chabad combine full
hearts and full stomachs
RITA LEWIS
JEWS ARE taught the adage that
“Ein Kemach, Ein Torah” - literally
where there is no food (flour) there is
no Torah. However, the participants
in the Tifferes Zekeinim learning programme for the elderly, were lucky
enough to have both the food and the
Torah learning when they were treated to lunch supplied by Feigals
Kosher Deli at Chabad House after
their morning learning session.
The idea of meeting up again with
all his old Feigals customers from
Yeoville who had “put him on the
map”, had been going around Jos Zaslanky’s head
for some time - especially as many of them were
not in a “good way financially” what with the deterioration of Bellevue, Yeoville and Hillbrow.
Many had had to move out - selling, often giving
away their homes for a song - homes which they
had lived in for many years - while many of those
who still lived in those areas were afraid to leave
their homes due to the fear of being mugged or
attacked.
As a result he knew that the Jewish elderly did
not have any feeling of security or the opportunity
to do much shopping, and therefore often did not
eat well.
Zaslansky knew that he had no way of “repaying
his debt” to them without some help from someone
who had “connections” with the people he wanted
to repay.
He contacted Rabbis Dovid Masinter and
Michael Katz, directors of Chabad House in Savoy,
whose reputation of caring for the elderly, indigent
and needy, in both a spiritual and practical way, is
legendary.
From his idea, grew Chabad House’s idea of combining a simcha with an event which benefited
some 150 elderly people.
Therefore some weeks ago, for the anniversary of
the 40th year of the existence of Feigels Kosher
Jos Zaslansky
and his sister
Patsy who
together with
their late mother
opened Feigel's
Deli 40 years
ago. They celebrated their 40th
year, together
with senior citizens from the
community.
Delicatessan, the deli supplied food for a lunch for all
the participants of the Tifferes Zekeinim learning
programmes - something that might become a permanent institution. That day 150 elderly went home
with a good meal behind them and Zaslansky went
home with his heart full of pleasure knowing his
business had paid back part of its debt.
The deli originally started off in 1968 in Rocky
Street, Yeoville and was run by Fanny Zaslansky,
who although having no specific training in cooking
or running a shop, was a true balabosta (Yiddisher
mother who can do anything in the house).
Her son Jos went with her in the enterprise and a
month later the two were joined by their daughter
and sister Patsy who, like her mother, also loved
cooking and said “we had no recipes but a lot of
TLC”.
Being a predominantly Jewish area, the shop took
off as the “Jewish cooking” supplied by them was
what the locals loved and knew from “Der Heim”.
In 1980 the shop moved to Raleigh Street but it was
not an easy move as Fanny died that year.
The two children continued with the business, but
the demographic change was swooping over Yeoville
and in 1996 the business followed the Jewish migration northward to Bramley Gardens where it is still although they opened a depot in Glenhazel - and
where it hopes to remain.
Percy Tucker of
Computicket turns 80
FARZANA RASOOL
CUE REPORTER
PERCY TUCKER, who turned 80 in July, started celebrating with friends and
family at the Grahamstown
Festival recently.
The man who changed
the way theatregoers go to
the theatre, was surrounded by warmth and affection,
in recognition of a rich life.
In 1954, Tucker introduced an innovative ticketselling system with his first
agency, Show Service, which
evolved into a ticket booking system emulated around the world.
Today the man who founded
Computicket continues to confound all who know him.
“He can give you the state of play
at Wimbledon day by day,” said
friend
Priscilla
Hall,
who
described Tucker without once
mentioning the words theatre and
Computicket.
“He’s a great traveller. He has
visited all seven continents - and
that included Antarctica when he
was in his late 70s.”
Tucker has also published a
memoir big enough for a little boy
to sit on, has received several
awards, developed a reputation for
hosting international stars with
memorable style, and has a rich
knowledge of South African
Jewish history.
He is also a one-man advisory
board for theatre rabbits caught in
the stage lights.
Cover of the
book by Percy
Tucker (publisher Jonathan
Ball) about his
experiences in
the theatre
world, its drama
and history.
“He’s the greatest chicken in the
business. He laid the eggs, sat on us
and let us hatch. He has been a
mother and father to us,” said
Raiders co-writer and performer
Nicholas Ellenbogen.
“He is enormously kind and has
a great concern for other people,”
said Malcolm Hacksley, head of the
National English Literary Museum
(NELM).
Benoni-born Tucker once spent a
night outside His Majesty’s
Theatre in Johannesburg, in the
desperate hope of getting a ticket
to an Italian opera. “It was just theatre, theatre, theatre for Percy,”
said Hacksley.
However, he has never left his
friends waiting in a queue for his
attention. “Percy would always
have words of wisdom and advice,”
said Grahamstown Festival director, Lynette Marais. “I just phone
and ask him: ‘Percy, what should I
do?’”
Ellenbogen concurred: “Percy’s
just there you know. You just call
and he’s there.”
01 - 08 August 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
Hot pot dilemma in China
ALISON KLAYMAN
BEIJING
BEING TREATED to a hot pot meal
is one of my most dreaded social
situations in China.
Hot pot is like Chinese fondue. A
large pot of meat stock bubbles in
the centre of the table, and fresh
meat, fish, vegetables and tofu are
dropped inside. You dip the cooked
foods in a sesame sauce and drink
the flavourful soup.
This is problematic for someone
like me, since I’m not only a vegetarian but also kosher. I don’t eat
meat or seafood, and I can’t eat vegetables cooked in a meat broth.
Travelling in America, Europe or
the Middle East, I always was more
comfortable saying I was vegetarian than saying I was kosher. Yet living in China, where vegetarianism
for the sake of animals or the environment is rare, most people ask if
my eating habits are religious.
After all, they know that some
observant Buddhists not only
refuse to eat meat, but also eggs
and milk.
If I am with friends who know I
keep kosher, we will find a restaurant with individual hot pots and I
can keep my meal vegetarian.
But at a recent dinner in Beijing,
a colleague was introducing me to
several people in the Chinese
movie business. I wanted to make a
good impression. That meant eating and drinking - a lot.
When I saw the communal hot
pot in the centre of every table in
the restaurant, I groaned. Not only
was I about to inconvenience my
host, but a religious discussion was
close at hand.
Our dinner host was the owner
of a Beijing sound studio, and I told
him I was a vegetarian. His first
question, as expected, was if I was
religious.
Then something happened I hadn’t encountered in China.
Zhang Qun, a Mandarin voiceover actress also at the table, gave
me a sympathetic look.
“I have the same problem,” she
said, “because I am Muslim.”
Zhang Qun is ethnically Han
Chinese, so I was surprised when
she told me she was from a Muslim
community in Tianjin. She did not
look like the stereotypical Chinese
Muslim, whom I figured to be from
China’s
Western
Xinjiang
autonomous region, where the
locals look more like they’re from
neighbouring Kazhakhstan - a
country that is nearly 50 per cent
Muslim - than from China.
At first I was nervous that she
might have a negative opinion
about my being Jewish. Most
Chinese are complimentary of
Jews, saying how clever and rich
Jews are without meaning to be at
all anti-Semitic. Yet I had never had
any extended interaction with a
Chinese Muslim before. Would she
have a different stereotype in
mind?
Luckily, I had nothing to worry
about. She even helped solve our
food problem by taking charge and
ordering a smaller hot pot containing only hot water, not chicken
broth. It would be kept meat free.
Although the food problem was
solved, there was still the matter of
alcohol. As a Muslim, Zhang Qun
could not drink alcohol. At each of
the evening’s dozens of toasts, she
clinked her water glass with our
beer and baijiu, a strong distilled
Chinese alcohol.
When she excused herself early,
many of the men at the table complained. Why wouldn’t she drink
1928-49 The first Lubavitch rabbi in China, Meir
Ashkenazi, leads Shanghai’s Congregation Ohel
Moshe. Built in 1927, Ohel Moshe is now the site of
the Shanghai Jewish Refugee Museum.
1938-45 20 000 Jewish refugees from Germany and
Austria escape to Shanghai.
Dini's kosher
restaurant in
Beijing plans
to be open 24
hours a day,
seven days a
week during
the 2008
Olympic
Games.
(CREDIT: ALISON
KLAYMAN)
ABOUT BIKKUR CHOLIM:
The Jewish Society for Visiting the Sick
arranges hospital visiting on a regular
basis. Our dedicated team of voluntary
workers visit various hospitals and nursing
homes distributing comforts and offering
moral support to patients of all denominations. We try and assist with lifts from hospital and a meal on returning home, if
required.
For the past 62 years BIKKUR CHOLIM
has taken approximately 100 Jewish children on camp every year. Camp participants come from: children’s homes, special
schools for children with learning disabilities, as well as from broken homes and
families with financial difficulties. We feed,
clothe and entertain them for 3 weeks at
minimal cost to the families. During the
year, reunions are held to maintain the
friendships formed on camp.
with them? They felt it was impolite.
But the owner of the sound studio, Zhang Yong Mou, looked at me
earnestly.
“I think out of everyone at this
table, these two have the most in
common,” he said. “If anyone can
understand Zhang Qun, Alison can
because they are both religious
believers.”
The comments hit home for me. I
rarely meet someone in China with
dietary restrictions that exceed
mine.
That night, fresh news from
Israel about tensions between
Muslims and Jews seemed far
away. I felt an understanding with
Zhang Qun. It was refreshing to
find this interfaith connection in
Beijing over a dreaded hot pot dinner. (JTA)
Dates in Chinese Jewish history
1920 Ohel Rachel Synagogue is established in
Shanghai (still standing).
1939-40 Approximately 1 000 Polish Jews escape to
Shanghai, including about 400 teachers and students
of the Mir Yeshiva.
1941-45 Japanese occupying powers intern recent
Jewish immigrants from Allied countries in
Hongkou ghetto for “stateless refugees”.
1949 Communists win civil war; by now most of
24 000 Shanghai Jews and other Jewish populations
across the country leave China.
1978 Deng Xiaoping announces China’s “open door
policy” with the West.
1980 First community seder in Beijing is led by
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and western movie themes such as The Good, the Bad
and the Ugly, Bonanza and the Magnificent Seven. In
the seventies we get dancing to Staying Alive, You
Should be Dancing and Disco Inferno from Saturday
Night Fever to the sultry sounds of The Rose. In the
eighties Hollywood Rocks to movie anthems such as
Fame, Dirty Dancing, Footloose and Flash Dance and
in the nineties we have action movie themes such as
The Men in Black and Pulp Fiction. In the new century there’s Shrek, the Moulin Rouge, Armageddon and
many more!
SO, PHONE NOW TO BOOK ... Joy 011 447 6689
5
founders of the liberal Kehillat Beijing minyan.
1992 Israel and China establish diplomatic relations.
1995 Kehillat Beijing begins regular Friday night
services in permanent home, Beijing’s Capital Club.
Ocober 25, 1996 The first community barmitzvah is
held in Beijing for Ari Lee, the son of community
founders Elyse Silverberg and Michael Lee.
1998 The “Jewish Shanghai” guided tour begins; it is
currently being run by Israeli journalist Dvir BarGal (www.shanghai-jews.com)
Sept 1999 In Shanghai, a Jewish New Year service is
held at the Ohel Rachel Synagogue for the first time
since 1952, when the synagogue was closed.
2001 Chabad opens its first center in Beijing.
2006 Beijing mikvah Mei Tovah opens.
2007 Beijing opens its first kosher restaurant, Dini’s
(www.kosherbeijing.com)
May 2008 Israel donates 90 tons of medical supplies,
more than $1 million, for Sichuan earthquake relief.
6
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
SOCIAL SCENE
Nelson and Graca Machel laugh at the recent private viewing of the Mandela
@ 90 exhibition as they look at the beaded artwork of Mandela’s 87th birthday
in July 2004. Behind them are their own images created in beads.
The art of honouring
Madiba’s 90th
RITA LEWIS
PHOTOGRAPHS BY DEBBIE YAZBEK
THE OPENING of an art exhibition
“Mandela @ 90 which focused on the
highlights of Nelson Mandela’s life
over the past few decades, was held
recently in the foyer of the
Constitutional Court in Hillbrow,
Johannesburg. The exhibition continuing until August 5.
Five artists chose different media to
express the love and respect they feel
for the former president, who has
become a symbol of a new democratic
South Africa. Their unusual work
reflects gratitude for the seeming miracles he wrought.
Natalie Knight curated this celebratory exhibition in association with the
Artworks Committee of the Constitutional Court and Jane Lane, curator of
the Constitutional Court art collection.
She said a 90th birthday “is a major
milestone - and when the person celebrating the birthday is Nelson Mandela,
it is necessary to find a special way of
commemorating the occasion”.
Mr Justice Albie Sachs who initiated
the permanent art collection at the
Constitutional Court, was the prime
mover behind the effort to celebrate
Mandela’s 90th birthday with an art
exhibition at the Constitutional Court.
The exhibition is held in the foyer of
the Court where a technicolour pageant
of Nelson Mandela’s “Long Walk to
Freedom” has been created with works
created by husband and wife team Billy
and Jane Makhubele.
“March to Freedom” incorporates
eight historic scenes beaded onto a traditional Shangaan cloth. They also created a set of ncekas which depict Nelson
Mandela casting his vote.
The
second
artist,
Johannes
Maswanganyi, carved his tributes to
Madiba from tree trunks, representing
Guest singer “mist tree” (Alicia Woolf) with the Constitutional Court Choir.
Rita Lewis jont@global.co.za
Nelson Mandela and his wife with
artist Susan Woolf
Mandela’s wish for peace, his power
and the pride we feel in winning the
bid for the 2010 Soccer World Cup.
Roy Ndinisa’s The Black President,
drawn in pen and ink and then painted
with watercolour, was created in 1993.
It expressed his wish that we would
have a black president - not a certainty
at the time. (The first democratic elections took place the next year).
His wood panel, Just Free my People
2008, expresses his deep involvement
with Mandela’s ideals.
The fourth artist, Beverley Price,
presented a replica of the beaded
Xhosa neckpiece worn by Mandela
during his sentencing at the Rivonia
Trial. It consists of concentric circles
of tiny foiled images of Mandela’s life.
Susan Woolf’s conceptual pieces
titled Towards Mandela, are made of
Rooibos tea bags, resin and newspaper
clippings. Her maquette, Ubuntu
relates to Madiba’s outreach, encompassing all the peoples of South Africa.
The Constitutional Court Choir with
guest singer “mist tree” and artist
Sello Masenya who composed a special
song, honoured the man “who has not
only been acclaimed internationally,
but has even been recognised as a
prophet in his own country”.
Gallery owner, Natalie Knight presents a gift to Verne Harris
of the Nelson Mandela Foundation to mark Nelson Mandela’s
90th birthday.
Kathy and Esme Berman.
Reeva Forman with Advocate George Bizos and Zamie
Liknaitsky.
It should read Ann Goldschmidt
Justice Yvonne Mokgoro, judge of the
Constitutional Court, opens the exhibition.
Artist Beverley Price with her
Mandela neckpiece.
Shelley Rutstein and Daphne Kuhn.
Sasha Liknaitzky from Toronto with
artist Roy Ndinisa.
The caption on the photo of Eleanor Carter on last
week’s Social Scene page should in fact read Ann
Goldschmidt. We apologise for the mistake and any
embarrassment caused.
01 - 08 August 2008
COMMUNITY BUZZ
LIONEL SLIER
082-444-9832, fax: 011-440-0448,
lionel.slier@absamail.co.za
ZIMBABWE
From David Kaplan: (editor of
Telfed, the magazine of the SAZF in
Israel).
“In 1894, 21 Jewish traders and
former soldiers from an expeditionary force sponsored by the
British South Africa Company gathered in the tent of Messrs Moss &
Rosenblatt to form a congregation
in Bulawayo, a sun-blistered town of
tin and wooden shanties with roads
that were little more than sand
paths.
“On September 18 that same year,
the community gathered in its new
synagogue - no longer a tent, but a
hut - to consider the establishment
of a Zionist society. A lengthy discussion ensued as to whether the
society should identify itself with
Herzlian Zionism or with Hovevei
Zion, the precursor to political
Zionism.
“In other words, three years
before the first Zionist Congress in
Basel, a group of pioneering Jews,
trying to eke out a living in the most
primitive conditions in central
Africa, were discussing the Jewish
people’s alternatives in their quest
for a national homeland. Hardly
having established a home for themselves, they were seeking a national
home for their people.
“Even before the embers of the
Bulawayo Synagogue cooled in 2004,
after a fire, Zimbabwe-born David
Bloom, of Telfed, who describes his
erstwhile community as ‘a shtetl in
Africa’, believed it was time to ‘preserve the past before nothing was
left or no-one alive to tell the story’.
He started collecting material
which he posted on his website
(www.zjc.org.il).”
This is an extract from an article
which appeared in The Jerusalem
Post.
THE NEGEV
From Hymie Bloem in Johannesburg:
“In the Jewish Report, I found
something in common with David
Teperson’s story. (Teperson wrote
about five Spitfires being shot down
by the Israelis). During my two-year
conscription with the Royal Air
Force as a flight mechanic, I was
stationed for one year at RAF Fayid
in the Suez Canal Zone, Egypt, from
where the Mark 20 Spitfires came.
“I was watching a football match
in camp on a Saturday afternoon
when a number of Tempest fighter
aircraft circled overhead and were
soon joined by the remaining
Spitfires from our camp and went
off to look for the missing Spitfires.
“British planes monitored Egyp-
SA JEWISH REPORT
tian aircraft flying to Israel and
were met by the Israelis head-on.
The Israelis, thinking that they
were Egyptian, shot them down.
Teperson states that they were
sent to attack Israelis forces in
the Negev.
“Seeing these Spitfires in camp
every day, I can say that they were
never used in combat. They were
the latest models with experienced
pilots. They were not flying in battle formation and in a dog fight
(aerial combat) there might have
been a different story. One of the
wounded pilots was in the same
hospital as a friend of mine.”
* South African-born David
Teperson went to Israel as a
machalnik in 1948 and fought in
many subsequent wars in which
Israel was involved. He is a
colonel in the Reserves and is
involved in the Armoured Vehicle
Museum in Latrun. He has written several books on military history.
JOHANNESBURG
From David Sandler, Perth. Western Australia:
“I am now in the process of
finalising a matching sequel to
the Arcadia Centenary Book - 100
Years of Arc Memories. After the
release of this book there were a
flood of further enquiries from
many ex-Arcs and friends from
all over the world.
“The Centenary Book contains
in its 524 pages the history of
Arcadia and the memories of 120
of its children and has so far
raised R250 000 for Arcadia.
“The second volume will, PG,
be in print around the end of this
year and hopefully will again be
financed by ex-Arcadians with all
proceeds going to Arcadia Jewish
Children’s Home which still
exists, taking care of children in
need, in two cottages in
Sandringham and is now run by
the Chevrah Kadisha.
“The new book contains some
fascinating articles going back to
the inception of the South
African Jewish Orphanage and
several articles on the Ochberg
Orphans. It includes some wonderful articles on early South
African history, the war years
and the end of the war written by
a brilliant writer, Dr Louis Touyz
(director and professor of periodontics at McGill Montreal PQ
Canada) who shares his many
stories of Arcadia.
“Colin Rosenkowitz tells his
story and it also includes articles
from ex-Arcadians and from
many of the children of exArcadians spanning a period of
75 years.
“I appeal to and invite all interested to write to me. My e-mail
address is sedsand@ca.com.au
and my postal address is 41
Bebich
Drive,
Wanneroo,
Australia WA 6065.”
PRETORIA
From Rose Norwich. SA Friends of
Beth Hatefutsoth:
“I would like to bring to your
notice the article by Adrian de Kock,
on page 37 of The Star newspaper of
June 25, 2008 concerning the
‘derelict building in Paul Kruger
Street, Pretoria’. It mentions the sad
and parlous state of the old synagogue and describes the damaging
effect of vandalism and the fact that
the roof is in complete disrepair.
“I was shocked to read that it had
been so neglected. It is among the
most important historic buildings in
Pretoria and one of the oldest places
of Jewish worship in the country.
“This building is one of the very
earliest in Gauteng. It has a continuous history from the time that it was
built in 1898 and it became the court
where Nelson Mandela and the top
ANC members were on trial from
October 15 1962 onwards.
“Through the intervention of
Herbert Prins on behalf of the Egoli
Heritage Foundation and the Johannesburg Heritage Trust, architect
Peter Kuhn, has been put in charge,
by the Provincial Heritage Resources Authority, Gauteng, of
securing the building. I have given
him all my records and history,
including the plans etc of the synagogue building.
“What is missing are the records
of the interior of the building. We
have many photographs of the outside, but nothing of the inside. For
instance, we do not know what the
bimah or the ark looked like or what
colour the walls were.
So we request the public please to
search their records - perhaps photographs of weddings or barmitzvahs and send us whatever they
have of the building so that when it
is restored, it will have the same
details as before.
“Please send your photographs to
‘The IH Maisels Library, Beyachad,
2
Elray
Street,
Rouxville,
Johannesburg
or
e-mail
library@beyachad.co.za - all photos
will be looked after carefully and
returned in good time.”
From Ben Alper:
“In the Jewish Report of July 25,
figures are given of South African
Jewish emigration to Israel since
1948. The number is approximately
21 000. The same article mentions
that there are 12 000 Israelis who live
here.
“I have never been able to ascertain an accurate figure, but estimates have been given as high as
27 000 people, making the balance
rather uneven. Of course no accurate figure can be given, as Israelis
never have to register when they
settle here and, anyway, no records
are kept.
“Also, at any given time, many
Israelis are here for a short period
and they swell the numbers. Can
anyone give more accurate figures?”
LOOKING FOR MERON SCHREIBER, SON OF BRUNO (DOV) SCHREIBER
DR VERENA Krausneker of
the University of Vienna, says
they are conducting a research
project on the fate of deaf
Austrians, including Jewish deaf
Austrians, between 1938 and
1945.
She says there was a deaf
Austrian Jew called Bruno
Schreiber whose son Meron
Schreiber apparently lives in
South Africa.
“We are very interested in contacting Meron and would be
extremely grateful for any clues
as to where he lives - or if you
could get this message to him.
“He could contact us by e-mail:
verena.krausneker@univie.ac.at
or by fax: 0043-1-21897 00 or by
telephone: 0043-1-21897 00”
7
8
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
Top presenters for Limmud
LIMMUD SOUTH Africa will host 14
international presenters as well 60
local ones in a packed programme in
three cities - Johannesburg, Cape
Town and Durban later this year the end of August to the beginning
of September.
In a media release, David Bilchitz
(pictured), co-chairman of
Limmud
Johannesburg states: “We are delighted by
the quality and range of presenters at
Limmud SA. In line with Limmud’s
approach, the programme will include the
full gamut of Jewish experience from religion, philosophy and history to cooking, culture, dance and literature.”
The overseas presenters include the internationally renowned journalist Gershom
Gorenberg who is an associate editor of the
Jerusalem Report and has written several
books on the Arab-Israeli conflict. He will be
providing political analysis of the situation
in the Middle East.
Dr Devorah Baum is a faculty member in
the Department of English at the University
of Southampton. She is an expert in Jewish
literature from a post-modern perspective
and will be presenting a series of sessions on
contemporary Jewish fiction.
Limmud SA also has some of the world’s
top religious educators attending the event.
In relation to the recent article in the
Jewish Report that the South African
Rabbinical Association is to discourage its
rabbis from participating in Limmud,
Bilchitz explains that “Limmud SA wishes to
include all voices and to reflect the full diversity of our community.
“Many Orthodox rabbis around the world
value Limmud and speak at its events. Rabbi
Nathan Lopez Cardozo, Rabbi Shlomo
Riskin, Rabbi Avner Weiss, Rabbi Joel Zeff
and Rabbi Michael Harris (son of South
Africa’s late Chief Rabbi Cyril Harris) are
but a few of the eminent Orthodox rabbis
who will participate.
“We hope that the South African Orthodox
rabbis will revise their position to enable
them to participate in this wonderful educational experience.”
Limmud South Africa this year will host a
number of distinguished speakers who identify as Orthodox Jews. Rabbi Yehoshua
Engelman is the rabbi and educational director of the new Yakar synagogue and study
centre in Tel Aviv (after running Yakar in
London). He also teaches on the Siach
Yitzhak Hesder Yeshiva and is on the
Jerusalem Kolot faculty.
Maureen Kendler is head of educational programming at the world
renowned Orthodox London School
of Jewish Studies. She is also a past
winner of the London Jewish
Cultural Centre’s Educator of the
Year award.
Avraham Infeld is a former South African
who has made a name for himself around the
world as a Jewish educator. He is now the
president of Hillel, the foundation for Jewish
campus life and is a founder of the innovative
Melitz programme of Jewish education.
Further international speakers attending
Limmud include Simon Gurevichius who is a
young community leader in Lithuania and
will speak about the revival of the Jewish
community there. Taylor Krauss is coming
from Rwanda to talk about his involvement
in community rebuilding and the connection
for him between Rwanda and the Holocaust.
Exciting for younger members of the
Limmud community is the series of sessions
given by Josh Neuman, editor of Heeb magazine, the new and exciting online magazine
for Jewish youth in New York. He will speak
about keeping Jews on the cutting edge and
provide a view of the latest trends in the
American Jewish community.
Bilchitz adds: “Limmud South Africa is
infused with a democratic spirit and believes
that the conversation between Jews of all
types enriches us all. It provides a cross-communal forum for all to learn - from the
Talmudic scholar to the Judaic novice. This
creates a unified community in our diversity.
No one is coerced to attend any particular
session and individuals may design their day
as they wish. All food provided is kosher.
“Limmud is about learning, debating and
engaging in conversation with those with
whom we agree as well as with those with
whom we disagree. One of the unique elements of Limmud is the chevruta sessions
where people from disparate backgrounds
learn text with one another, sharing each
other’s experience and perspective.”
With a line-up of speakers of this quality,
Limmud should live up to its name as the premier Jewish educational and cultural experience around the world.
• For further information, call Michelle
K Blumenau (011) 728-5004/083-273-9891/
michelle@turquoisepr.co.za
Rights report-back still
shows a chasm in thinking
MOIRA SCHNEIDER
CAPE TOWN
THERE HAD been a “significant shift” in
attitude towards criticism of Israel in the
Jewish community, Doron Isaacs, co-organiser of a trip by a South African human
rights delegation to Israel and the occupied
Palestinian territories, said at a report-back
session addressed by several participants at
the University of Cape Town (UCT).
“We’ve been engaging with the Jewish
community in Cape Town since we’ve been
back and have been very encouraged by the
willingness of people to speak to us and to
take seriously what we’re saying,” he said,
adding that the group’s goal was to build a
“moral consensus” that the occupation is
immoral.
“There’s definitely been a significant shift
from the way people would dismiss criticism
of Israel five years ago,” he maintained.
Farid Esack, a struggle veteran who is
professor of religion at Harvard University,
said he had initially been disturbed by the
preponderance of “Israeli voices” on the
programme for the visit, but by the end of
the trip, he “couldn’t get enough. I was
deeply inspired and strengthened by them.
“I don’t think the Palestinians have done a
very good job articulating their struggle. If
there is anything that inspires hope, it is the
willingness of the Israelis to act in solidarity
with them,” he stated.
Referring to his visit to the Al Aqsa
mosque where he had been required to read
from the Qur’an before being allowed in,
Esack said he had been “deeply offended”
that an Israeli policeman should “authenticate” his Muslim belief.
Noting that the Yad Vashem Holocaust
Memorial is “largely” dedicated to Jewish
victims of the Holocaust, he described commemorating one’s own victimhood and “failing to see how it is tied up with the victimhood of others”, as “hugely problematic”.
He claimed that at the heart of Zionism
lay the “inability to see the pain of others”.
Noting that the museum was built “on the
ruins of a Palestinian village”, Esack said he
“yearned” for Palestinians to learn about
the enormous pain Jews had been subjected
to throughout history, but at the same time
had been “deeply distressed by the manipulation of memory and how suffering can
become the major instrument by which we
continue the subjugation of other peoples”.
Former ANC MP Pregs Govender linked
the “out of control” violence against women
in both Israeli and Palestinian societies with
the growth in religious fundamentalism.
She expressed shock at footage the group
had seen of Israeli settler children stoning
Palestinian children on their way to school
in Hebron, questioning how children could
be raised in this manner.
Speaking from the audience, UCT academic Dr Sally Frankental countered: “Can you
believe children can be raised to be suicide
bombers? It goes both ways.”
To Govender’s assertion that the parallels
between the situation of the Palestinians
and the ghettoisation in Nazi Germany and
apartheid South Africa were “very striking”,
Frankental said that neither Germany nor
South Africa were under threat of extinction as Israel “as a Jewish, Zionist state” is.
“Does the fact that it is under threat give
the Israeli state the right to do what it is
doing?” Govender replied.
01 - 08 August 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
9
OPINION AND ANALYSIS
FORUM FOR DIVERSE VIEWS
Munich survivor carries Olympic scars
CHANAN TIGAY
SAN FRANCISCO
THE MUNICH Olympics were meant
to be a defining moment in Dan
Alon’s life - but not the way they
turned out. Alon was one of five
Israeli athletes who escaped the 1972
massacre of Israel’s Olympic team
by Palestinian terrorists.
Thirty-six years later, he still can’t
shake what happened.
In Berlin last year to deliver a lecture, Alon noticed several Arabs on
the staff of his hotel. He changed
hotels immediately.
“I don’t feel secure,” says Alon, 63,
a former Israeli fencing champion. “I
have a paranoia that they are looking for me.”
In the first years after the attack,
Alon says he was perpetually nervous, afraid to be left alone in a room.
When he travelled abroad, he always
went with someone. For more than
three decades, he barely mentioned
Munich.
“I really didn’t talk about it, not
even to my family or my friends,”
says Alon, who recently retired as
director general of an Israeli plastics
company. “I tried to stay busy with
my business, with my family.”
That changed two years ago with
the release of Steven Spielberg’s
“Munich”, an epic film about the
attack and Israel’s subsequent effort
to hunt down those responsible.
“People started to call me and ask
me questions,” says Alon, who lives
in Tel Aviv.
Since then he has started writing a
book about his experiences, and now
he lectures at universities and in
Jewish communities around the
world.
On September 5, 1972, at 04:30,
Alon and his roommate, fellow
fencer Yehudah Weinstein, were
awakened by gunfire and frantic
shouting. Several bullets blew
through the wall over Alon’s bed.
They were the shots, he says, that
killed weightlifter Yossi Romano,
who had been staying in the adjoining room.
Alon hurried to his window below,
where he spotted a man in a white
hat toting a machine gun. Several
feet away, wrestling coach Moshe
Weinberg lay dying on the ground.
Alon and four teammates Weinstein, along with two marksmen and a speed walker - huddled in
his room. The marksmen suggested
shooting the gunman with their pellet guns.
“We decided not to do it,” Alon
says. “We didn’t know how many terrorists there were, what kinds of
weapons they had, what hostages
they had.”
Eventually they agreed to sneak
downstairs and outside as quietly as
possible. One by one, treading lightly
on a creaky, wooden staircase, the
athletes descended the single flight
of stairs, slipped through a glass
door, and went over a first-floor balcony and through the garden to free-
dom. It took about 15 minutes.
One of the terrorists spotted them
as they ran, Alon says, but he did not
shoot.
Several hours later the Israelis’
teammates were dead.
“I blame the Palestinians, and I
blame the Germans for the failure to
(achieve the) release of the athletes,”
Alon says. “But I don’t blame myself.
I was only surprised that I survived.”
Four years before the attack, Alon
took part in the Six Day War as a
technician securing bombs to fighter
jets. Just a year after Munich, he did
the same in the Yom Kippur War.
Since then he married - his wife,
Adelle, is a nurse - and has had three
children: Meir, 30; Pazit, 23; and
Arik, 28, who has become a champion fencer.
Arik quit to attend college, Alon
says, “so I quit, too. I play golf now
all the time.”
After the killings in 1972, the
Munich Olympics paused for a day,
then resumed. Alon says it was the
proper move. Not only would it have
been unwise to “surrender to terror”
and unfair to deny athletes the
chance to compete, he says, but the
world would have blamed Israel had
the Games been cancelled.
“For me, the Olympics are a sacred
space for sportsmen,” he says. “I
believe still that the Olympics are
very, very good at trying to unite
people around the world. Maybe we
need more than one (Summer)
Olympics every four years.” (JTA)
8
9
2
10
6
3
7
11
4
5
1
Members of the 1972 Israeli Olympic team, photographed just
before their departure for Munich. The 11 team members taken
hostage and subsequently murdered were: 1) wrestling referee
Yossef Gutfreund (inset), age 40; 2) wrestling coach Moshe
Weinberg, 33; 3) weightlifter Yossef Romano, 31; 4) weightlifter
David Berger, 28; 5) weightlifter Ze’ev Friedman, 28; 6) wrestler
Eliezer Halfin, 24; 7) track coach Amitzur Shapira, 40; 8) shooting
coach Kehat Shorr, 53; 9) wrestler Mark Slavin, 18; 10) fencing
coach Andre Spitzer, 27; and 11) weightlifting judge Yakov
Springer, 51.
One of the eight Palestinian terrorists
comprising the Black September group
stands on a balcony of the Olympic village during a standoff after they kidnapped nine members of the Israeli
Olympic team and killed two others
September 5, 1972 in Munich,
Germany. All the hostages were killed
after a pitched battle at Munich Airport
the next day.
10
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
OPINION AND ANALYSIS
FORUM FOR DIVERSE VIEWS
Careful, words do have meaning!
Sacred space of
sporting fair play
DESPITE THE international excitement
about the Beijing Olympics due to start next
week, for Jews and Israelis a shadow will
always hang over the Games, wherever they
are held: the memory of the massacre by
Palestinian terrorists of the Israeli team at the
1972 Munich Olympics, in which 11 athletes
died.
It was an utter negation of the essence of
the Olympic tradition - fair play and competition across national, political and religious
boundaries.
Our article on page 9 tells the story of one of
the five athletes who survived the massacre,
and the aftermath of trauma it left him with.
The Munich horror was all the more ironic
for having happened in Germany, which has
such loaded associations for Jews. To add even
more symbolism, the 1936 Berlin Olympics
had also been held in the shadow of Hitler’s
regime.
Calls at the time to cancel those Games were
not accepted - it would have given Hitler a victory over the Olympic ideal. Indeed, black
American track star Jesse Owens participated
and won four gold medals - and cocked a
snook at Hitler and his race-mad cronies, with
their notions of Aryan supremacy. Hitler
refused to shake Owens’ hand.
The same logic - that the Games between
sportsmen and women at the height of their
prowess must go on, despite political interference - operated at Munich after the massacre
of the Israelis.
Following a one-day pause, the Games
resumed, albeit with a pall hanging over them.
To stop would have given the terrorists victory over the Olympic ideal of the brotherhood
of man.
Jews and Israelis - and the Olympics as a
whole - carry this baggage with them to
Beijing.
In practice, it is not entirely possible for the
Olympics to be non-political. The achievements of athletes in their particular sports are
always dependent on the politics of the societies in which they live and the opportunities
afforded to them. And on a larger scale, the
protests against the Beijing Games because of
China’s questionable human rights record,
have forced the organisers to take what is in
essence a political stance - to ignore this issue.
Some protestors have branded the Games
the “Genocide Olympics” because of Chinese
ties with Sudan and events in Darfur. Jewish
filmmaker Steven Spielberg withdrew as an
artistic adviser, saying: “Conscience will not
allow me to continue with business as usual.”
But the Games will continue, partly because
of the sheer weight of China in the global
community. It is unlikely they would have
been held in apartheid South Africa, which
was small fry.
It is a distressing comment on the state of
the world that 36 years after the Munich massacre, the threat of another terrorist attack is
still very real. Indeed, it has actually grown
far beyond just Israelis.
Every national team now has to be concerned. Al-Qaida would love to obliterate the
American or other contingents. For Israel, it
is essential that it send a team to the Olympics
every time it is held, notwithstanding the continuing threat of terror.
Israelis and Jews are not especially known
for a tradition of sporting excellence.
Historically, we have excelled more in other
areas. But in recent times, especially with the
arrival of some one million immigrants from
the FSU, there has been an injection of a sporting ethos in gymnastics, swimming and other
areas.
The Games will go on in China, notwithstanding that country’s record. Perhaps it
should be seen as a statement to the Chinese
and the world that human beings can still rise
above their differences so that sportsmen can
compete fairly in a “sacred space”, as
described by the Israeli athlete who survived
the Munich massacre. And perhaps that
sacred space has something to teach us.
ONE OF the things that make Israel
advocacy so fiendishly difficult is the
extent to which we have allowed the
other side to frame the terms of the
debate up until now.
Invariably, we find the whole discussion being predicated on an a priori
acceptance of Palestinian victimhood
and Jewish guilt, of what was done to the
Palestinians (note the passive role
assigned to them) and what the Jews (the
active, responsible party) must do to put it
right.
The very language in which the various
aspects of the Middle East conflict are
identified subtly puts Israel advocates on
the back foot; the latter have effectively
been duped into using terms whose very
meaning constitute crucial concessions to
the other side.
Communications experts now advise us
on the need for “paradigm shifts”, for
“repositioning”, for “conceptual repackaging”. Whatever this means exactly,
there is no doubt that we need to reassess
the terminology we habitually use when
arguing Israel’s case. The sensible choice
of words is critical, since using the wrong
expression can mean handing the other
side victory from the outset.
Among the commonly accepted terms
I’ve identified that it is critical to avoid or
at least carefully qualify are “Settlers”,
“Occupied Palestinian Land”, “Second
Intifada”, “Human Rights Activists” and
indeed the expression “Palestine” itself.
“Settlers” has connotations both of
colonialism (ie Jews have no right to be
there) and - as opposed to “immigrants” of impermanence (making it easier to call
for their removal).
We make a massive concession when we
ourselves use this word. It undermines
the legitimacy of Israel’s security policies
on behalf of Jews in the West Bank (itself
a questionable expression - “Yehuda and
Shomron” might indeed be most appropriate) and just as damagingly denies any
historical Jewish connection to the land.
Using “Occupied Palestinian Land”
likewise constitutes a surrender of
Jewish historical claims and even
bizarrely accepts that the real “occu-
BARBARIC
YAWP
David Saks
piers” (the Palestinian Arabs) are being
subjected to “occupation” by the original owners.
Referring to the terrorist war
launched by Yasser Arafat in
September 2000 as the “Second
Intifada” only dignifies Palestinian
aggression, barbarity and duplicity,
conceding to the other side the validity
of its own definition of the war as a
heroic people’s uprising against foreign
oppression.
As for “Palestine”, the very word
should make one’s skin crawl. This was
the name imposed by the Romans as a
way of obliterating the memory of the
land’s Jewish past and which the subsequent Arab Muslim conquistadores
simply took over (“Filastin”).
One might as well have expected
blacks under apartheid to refer to
Sophiatown as “Triomf ”, the name
accorded to the suburb after the ethnic
cleansing of its non-white inhabitants.
What
about
“Human
Rights
Activists”, a relevant question given the
recent visit to the West Bank of a group
of prominent South African human
rights activists. Here one discovers a
ploy of truly Orwellian cunning by
anti-Israel propagandists.
Simply put, it has been to use selfstyled “human rights” organisations with all the outward trappings associated with such groups - to disseminate a
constant flood of condemnation against
Israel. Such groupings were particularly in evidence during the 2001 World
Conference Against Racism.
NGO Monitor is one of the organisations that have been set up to expose
the real agendas of such bodies, rather
as the grotesque anti-Western - particularly anti-Israel - bias of the United
Nations led to the creation of UN Watch
15 years ago.
The first reveals how covert political
vendettas are making a mockery of
human rights as a universal value; the
latter exposes the mockery being made
of international law, for the same reasons.
So far as our local human rights delegation goes, I have no doubt that most of
them were motivated by sincere concern
for the plight of the Palestinian population and not by hatred of Israel. Yet
again, however, one saw evidence of the
mental block the liberal-left has when it
comes to holding the Palestinians
accountable for their actions.
The group made much of the fact that
they had met with Palestinians who are
committed to non-violent peace efforts,
but examining this more closely one saw
that such efforts focus not where they
are most needed, that is in changing attitudes within the greater Palestinian
community, but only on opposing the
effects of the Israeli occupation.
Israel has many active human rights
bodies, many of whom actively take on
the government and security establishment over their policies concerning
Arabs, both within Israel proper and in
the West Bank. This is a good thing,
being evidence of a vibrant democracy
in action and ensuring that even security policies are subjected to the necessary
checks and balances.
However, it is about time that due
acknowledgment was given by the rest of
us to what is by far the most important,
as well as the most honourable, of those
human rights organisations and that is
the Israeli Defence Forces.
No institution in Israel does more to
prevent human rights abuses than the
IDF. Its brave young members, at the risk
of their lives and frequently in the face
of considerable opprobrium, protect the
people of Israel from those intent on
their annihilation. Making points like
this is essential if we are to avoid falling
into the innumerable semantic traps that
have been so effective in preventing us
from reclaiming the moral high ground.
Following the example of Abraham
WHATEVER official perceptions, bolstered by the flawed Kaplan study, the
majority of the community do not go to
shul, even once a year.
Assume 80 000 Jews, and count all available shul seats. The protagonists would
be hard pressed to show that 40 000 Jews
ever attend shul on the same day, even on
Yom Kippur.
Of course, this is an unpalatable fact for
Orthodoxy, which invariably makes the
extravagant claim that it represents the
majority of Jews in this country. More
accurately the claim implies that the turn
inward appeals to an increasingly vigorous minority while having no effect on
the majority. It is the approach of Noah save two, but not that of Abraham - save
all.
The point is that the possibility of
Orthodox Judaism talking to the majority
must surely depend on some recognition
of the need to ensure that Judaism speaks
to the secular world where the majority
are firmly located.
I am often struck by the dissonance
between the way in which Orthodox leaders (admittedly a minority) speak about
compassionate government, the need to
respect the dignity of all, while being
happy to ignore the dignity of nonOrthodox Jews (the majority of the community), gays and lesbians, ordinary
Palestinians and all others who have the
temerity to think for themselves. That is
problematic enough.
But more significant than this lack of
moral integrity is the building of intellectual walls that bar entry to the secular
world and hence engagement with the
THE JURY
IS OUT
Dennis Davis
needs of the silent majority.
This point of great sadness came
home to me when recently reading
(Chief Rabbi of Britain) Rabbi Jonathan
Sacks’ commentary on Parshat Shlelach
Lecha. This, it will be recalled, is the
parsha dealing with the spies.
Rabbi Sacks draws on the Rambam
who argued that the generation which
exited Egypt, were too saturated in the
culture of antiquity, too fragile to experience the buffeting winds of freedom to
enter the promised land; a new generation would be required to meet the fresh
challenges.
Applying this insight to more modern
history, Rabbi Sacks contends that two
centuries ago the ghetto and the consequent segregation may have been the
correct response to the challenge of
Jewish survival.
But he writes: “Now is not then. Ours
is not the age of spies but of their
descendants, born in freedom. We have
had time enough to realise that we can
be at home in Western culture without
calling into question Jewish faith or
Jewish life.
“Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch’s
dream that Jews could become a moral
and spiritual influence on the societies
of which they are a part, did not come
true in his lifetime but it has in ours.”
This is a bold and important claim. It
is one that we must take seriously if we
are to follow the example of Abraham
rather than Noah and thus reach out to
the silent majority of our community.
Alas, that is not the route presently
adopted.
By contrast, the triumphalism of a
small part of our community means
that a vigorous engagement with
modernity is not possible. And if we
hide behind our intellectual walls, the
majority cut off from existential access
or sight disappear from Jewish view.
The example should, by contrast, be
that of Maimonides who, as supreme a
halachist as he was, easily negotiated a
range of disciplines like philosophy and
medicine.
As Rabbi Sacks concludes: “The story
of the spies tells us that our fears are
sometimes exaggerated. Judaism is
strong enough to withstand any challenge. The question is now as it was
then: Do we have the confidence of our
faith?”
The answer to that important question in this country is that the jury is
still out. But more is the pity, for the
opportunities beckon from a significant
pool in this community: Watch for
example how many Jews, who would
find learning behind the wall impossible, will attend this year’s Limmud sessions. It is amazing what possibilities
exist for engagement if those behind
the wall would only have true confidence in their faith.
01 - 08 August 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
11
OPINION AND ANALYSIS
FORUM FOR DIVERSE VIEWS
Viva la difference - Sarkozy and the ME
THE CHANGING of the guard at the Elysees
Palace in mid-2007 foreshadowed a reorientation of key aspects of France’s foreign policy.
Newly-elected President Nicolas Sarkozy, the
“pugnacious and passionate” son of a
Hungarian immigrant, came into office with
clear ideas and a bold agenda.
In his first year in office he has bestrode the
world stage with an energetic activism, a large
ego and sense of direction that clearly had
been lacking during the torpid period of drift
that characterised the withering “lame duck”
final years of his predecessor’s presidency.
Under the leadership of Jacques Chirac,
France’s foreign policy had been characterised foremost by a major rift with the
United States, primarily, but by no means
only, anchored on French opposition to US
policies in the Middle East.
Chirac had been the most vocal of all major
Western leaders in his opposition to the US
invasion of Iraq and had constantly
unleashed a torrent of criticism against the
Bush administration’s “unilateral misadventures” in Iraq, which he declared were contrary to international law.
With respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, Chirac was generally regarded to be “a
friend of the Palestinians” and had adopted a
generally pro-Palestinian and pro-Arab posture.
On Iran, and in particular in regard to
Tehran’s nuclear programme, Chirac had
inclined firmly towards dialogue and had at
times railed against the efficacy of sanctions
He disavowed the possibility of military
action against the Islamic Republic in contradistinction to Washington, which has
always insisted that all options remain “on the
table”.
In Lebanon, partly influenced by his close
Neighbourhood
Watch
Larry Benjamin
personal relationship with the family of slain
former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri, Chirac
had sided with the Lebanese government and
its allies against Syria and its protégés in
Lebanon including Hizbollah. This position
had also led to a frosty relationship with the
Syrian government.
Chirac also tended to prevaricate with
regard to France’s position on the possibility
of Turkey becoming a member of the
European Union (EU).
To a greater or lesser degree, Sarkozy has
departed from, or at least significantly modified, France’s posture on all of the abovementioned areas of policy.
With respect to Iraq, Sarkozy has departed
from the previous denunciations of US unilateralism and has stated that “Iraqi extremists must be marginalised and that a true
process of national reconciliation must be
launched”.
He has also indicated that a timetable for
US military withdrawal needs to be spelled
out in Iraq before France could play a useful
role. He has further warned against too hasty
a withdrawal of US troops, intimating that
this could serve only to destabilise Iraq.
Since Sarkozy became president, relations
between France and Israel have improved.
Sarkozy travelled to Israel in June 2008 and
addressed the Knesset, declaring himself to
be a friend of Israel. Ehud Olmert responded
by stating that “your words of support for
Israel touch our hearts and that ties between
France and Israel had seen a “revival under
your leadership”.
The Likud leader, Benyamin Netanyahu,
described the French leader as a “true friend
of Israel”.
In my view Sarkozy’s position on the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict has not shifted
towards an overtly pro-Israeli position but is
instead somewhat more balanced and calibrated than under Chirac. He has expressly
suggested that Israel would not have peace
until a Palestinian state existed side by side
with the Jewish state and indicated that
Jerusalem should be the capital of both states.
He also implored Israel to cease building
“settlements in occupied territories”. He has
also berated the Palestinians and has indicated that France would not engage with those
(Hamas et al) who refuse to recognise Israel’s
right to exist
Sarkozy clearly believes that he can play a
role in helping to advance Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations and he sees himself as a potential honest broker of possible talks and an
eventual peace treaty between Jerusalem and
Damascus.
With respect to the latter, Sarkozy has made
“conciliatory inroads” with the regime of
Bashir al-Assad primarily by adopting a more
even-handed approach to Lebanon.
A better relationship between France and
Syria may also pave the way for a rapprochement between Damascus and Washington and
should, in my view, be seen as a strategic
move aimed at weakening Syria’s ties to Iran
which, at least partially, are a product of
Syria’s regional isolation.
But it is with respect to Iran that the biggest
shift in France’s Middle East policy has
occurred. Sarkozy has been resolute in his
insistence that a nuclear armed Iran was
“unacceptable” to France. On August 27
2007, in his first major foreign policy speech
as president, He raised the spectre of the use
of force and indicated that Tehran could ultimately be “attacked militarily” if it did not
live up to its international obligations to
curb its nuclear programme.
More recently he stated in his address to
the Knesset that “France is determined to
lead, along with its partners a policy that
integrates gradually intensifying sanctions
with openness in case Iran chooses to honour its international obligations.
He has also insisted that existing sanctions
against Iran that France has supported, will
not be lifted until Iran indicates unequivocally its peaceful intentions.
Finally, with regard to possible Turkish
membership of the EU, Sarkozy has indicated his opposition to this and some analysts
see the French president’s pet project - the
Mediterranean Union - as a device that, inter
alia, is designed to ensure Turkey remains
outside of the “European family”.
According to some analysts, “Sarkozy has
been bulldozing his way out of the stereotype that saw France in opposition to everything that the US has done and is yet planning to do in the Middle East”.
In my view this is a somewhat overstated
argument but there is little doubt that
French-US relations have been considerably
repaired.
While differences still exist, there is today
a greater convergence of views between
Washington and Paris than just a year ago.
Larry Benjamin is lecturer in International Relations at Wits University.
12
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
TAPESTRY
ART, BOOKS, DANCE, FILM, THEATRE
ARTS MATTERS
COMPILED BY
ROBYN SASSEN
Call 084-319-7844 or
info@frodo.co.za at
least one week prior to
publication
Civic, Braamfontein: In the
Nelson Mandela, “Le Grand
Cirque”, until August 3. From
August 6-10, Tchaikovsky’s
“Iolanta”, performed by the
State Academic Theatre of
Opera and Ballet, Ekaterinburg, Russia. In the
Tesson, “Cha Cha Heels”,
until August 10. In the
People’s Theatre, “Winnie the
Pooh”, until August 9. (011)
877-6800.
Dance Factory, Newtown:
Arguably the pick of this
year’s
Dance
Umbrella,
“Back” choreographed by PJ
Sabbagha, with Lulu Mlangeni and Dada Masilo, August
8-10. (082-492-6968).
Linder Auditorium, Parktown: The Johannesburg
Musical Society present Czech
pianist, Libor Novacek, playing works by Haydn, Brahms
and Liszt on August 2. (011)
728-5492.
Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef
City, Ormonde: “African
Footprint”, choreographed
by Debbie Rakusin, until
August 3. (011) 248-5168.
Market, Newtown: In the
Laager, “A Touch of Madness” from HC Bosman’s writings, starring David Butler,
until August 24. In the Barney
Simon, “Ten Bush”, by
Mncedisi Shabangu and Craig
Higginson, until August 17. In
the Main, “Maru”, by Bessie
Head, directed by Phyllis
Klotz, until August 24. (011)
832-1641.
Montecasino, Fourways: In
the Studio, “Mooi Street
Moves”, by Paul Slabolepszy,
directed by Moira Blumenthal, until August 31. In the
Pieter Toerien, “A Handful of
Keys” with Roelof Colyn and
Jonathan Roxmouth, until
August 16. In Teatro, Michael
Flateley’s “Lord of the
Dance”, August 1-24. (011) 5111988.
Old Mutual Theatre on the
Square, Sandton: “The ExFiles” with Craig Jackson,
Vanessa Frost and Caryn
Davidoff-Katz, until August 5.
(011) 883-8606.
Wits, Braamfontein: In the
Wits Theatre on August 2,
“Tap Attack”, by Megan and
Sandra Rosenberg’s Tap Talk
Dance Company. In the
Atrium “Clockwise” with
New York-based duo Marc
Uys (violin) and Jacqueline
Kerrod (harp), playing works
by SA composers, on August
9. In the Great Hall on
August
10,
Soirée
de
Francophony, conducted by
Rexleigh Bunyard, features
the world premiere of
Bunyard’s “In Paradisum”, a
Requiem for the Living. (011)
717-1380.
Speaking with the distinct voice of Africa
Exhibition: “Cecil Skotnes: A Private View”
(Standard Bank Gallery. (011) 631-1889)
Until: September 6
REVIEWED BY ROBYN SASSEN
IT’S THAT cat: his spiky fur zigzags with energy.
With endearing bravado, he bares teeth and
splays claws; his cheeky, scratchy presence
touches works around him and those around
them, in this retrospective of one of South
African art’s darlings, Cecil Skotnes (born 1926).
Skotnes gave life to a distinct aesthetic which
set young black artists from 1950 onward alight in
heart and on paper. It was so rich and given with
such generosity, that its collaborative spirit dissolved pretensions of ego Skotnes may have
nursed: The totem heads; the sinewy anatomies;
the delicate robust lines that, somewhere
between German Expressionism and Picasso,
spoke of Africa from within, without patronising.
The retrospective is a family affair. Love is celebrated candidly. The curatorial voice of Cecil
and Thelma’s daughter Pippa brings balance:
you don’t feel like an intruder; you’re not confronted with a morass of boring memorabilia
you’re expected to solemnly stand and read.
Skotnes mooted Polly Street Art Centre in 1952;
he publicly countered Harold Rubin’s blasphemy
trial in 1962. He contributed to the poster movement which ignited after 1976. In his heyday, he
was an unflailing voice in the messy cleavage
between art and politics.
Portrait of the artist in his studio as an old
man. (PHOTOGRAPH BY PAUL WEINBERG)
But none of this is shoved in your face.
Instead you see a fresh, oft quirky display of
bowties, teacups and wine-bottle labels, a place
where fine line and bold gesture jostle, make
love and manifest woodcuts, fluid drawings and
colourful sculptures.
And of course, romance abounds: the
romance of tools and brushes and bowls for
mixing pigment. The romance of the alchemy
that makes base materials into gold; it’s a concise show-it doesn’t spill into the gallery’s
downstairs spaces. It’s a treasure trove in
which you’ll find a heady slice of fifties nostalgia, determined by works that became endemic
“Cat”, a woodcut on rice paper, which Cecil
Skotnes created for his three-year-old
daughter, Pippa in 1960. (PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY STANDARD BANK GALLERY)
to early struggle years.
One odd curatorial decision is a massive photocollage of objects Skotnes owns. It’s a selfcentredly loud neighbour to the quiet muscular
pieces which speak of turbulence and aesthetics.
Like that cat. Skotnes printed it with the back
of a spoon on rice paper for a three-year-old
Pippa in 1960. Its presence in the gallery
embraces something softer than feline cheekiness: the Skotneses have constructed a portrait
of a man central to their family, with generous,
selfless elegance; a man who gave art, particularly printmaking, in South Africa, courage.
Avi joins array of top musicians at Joy of Jazz
PETER FELDMAN
MUSICIAN AVI Lebovich is full of enthusiasm
and looking forward to his first trip to South
Africa with his 12-strong Israeli Jazz
Orchestra.
“Everything we play we will be playing for
the first time and that is going to be in South
Africa. It’s all very exciting,” he tells me in a
telephone interview.
Avi and his fellow musicians are also looking
forward to meeting their South African counterparts when they do a three-hour music
workshop at the Tshwane University of
Technology, Pretoria, on August 28.
Avi and the Israeli Jazz Orchestra are one of
the attractions at this year’s Standard Bank
Joy of Jazz in Newtown in August.
Giants of the jazz world performing at the
three-day event include Japan’s Keiko Matsui,
the Original Superstars of Jazz Fusion featuring Roy Ayers, Tom Browne, Wayne Henderson
and Lonnie Liston Smith; American saxophonist Joshua Redman; guitarist Doc Powell from
the US; Spain’s Sedajazz; Holland’s Denise
Jannah; Germany’s Joy Denelane and
Norway’s Tord Gustavsen.
Avi, who has recorded with artists such as
Bootsy Collins, Phillip Baily of Earth, Wind
and Fire and Chick Corea, says they will be
using this opportunity to launch their new CD
and also perform for the first time new material from the album.
FELDMAN ON
FILM
Peter Feldman
Miss Pettigrew Lives Another Day
Cast: Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, Lee
Pace, Ciaran Hinds, Tom Payne, Mark
Strong, Shirley Henderson
Director: Bharat Nalluri
This is an enchanting film in which Frances
McDormand and the perky Amy Adams
share their enormous talent in a stylish period piece set during the Great Depression in
England.
It’s a whimsical, character-driven production in which two women, who are poles
apart in the social structure, find mutual
ground with which to relate to each other.
McDormand, plays Miss Pettegrew, an outof-work nanny in the late 1930s with limited
skills. By a quirk of fate, she walks into the
life of actress and nightclub singer, Delysia
The Israeli Jazz Orchestra has
been going strong for five years and
was formed when Avi returned to
Israel in 2003 from abroad.
“The whole world has an orchestra that plays classical, and one that
plays pop and jazz in its repertoire.
It is only in Israel that we don’t have
an orchestra that plays music that is
happening now.”
He assembled a group of 13 top
jazz musicians who were committed
to capturing the essence of Israeli contemporary music. The live show is described as a
vibrant interactive groove dialogue between
the brass and reed section.
Recently, Avi received two prestigious
awards for composition and arrangement:
The Israeli Prime Minister’s Award and the
Landau Award.
Talking about their music, Avi says their
compositions are a mix of different influences
and they work together on the score. “We
have all been given a gift and we must spread
it around,” he proclaims.
Asked about their touring schedule, Avi
revealed that they only started performing
outside Israel a few months ago. An ideal situation, he says, would be to tour for between
two to three months a year.
“Most of us have young families and it
would be hard to take them on tour for a
year.”
Lafosse (Amy Adams), a ditzy redhead who needs
someone to help her take control of her frantic
lifestyle.
Suddenly Miss Pettigrew finds herself serving
as Delysia’s social secretary and her tight little
world is turned upside down as she begins to mix
in a showbiz world far removed from her own.
The acting is out of the top drawer and, at the
end, one leaves this breezy escapade with a smile
on one’s face.
You Don’t Mess With Zohan
Cast: Adam Sandler, John Turturro,
Emmanuelle Chriqui, Lainie Kazan,
Rob Schneider
Director: Dennis Dugan
Adam Sandler has never been one to toe the PC line
and “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan” is perhaps
his most vulgar. It resembles an extended collection of raucous and crude sketches from “Saturday
Night Live” held together by a flimsy story.
Dennis Dugan’s production is a workmanlike
effort, but it keeps dipping from time to time when
he is forced to overplay his hand to inject more
energy into the proceedings.
One of Avi’s special pleasures
was working with other international musicians. “When you work
with stars like Bootsy Collins you
realise that you all have the same
feeling about music and that is to
know that the more you learn, the
more you practise. And the more
you practise and do your homework the better you become.”
He says knowing that international musicians harboured the same
feelings about music as he did, made him feel
“relaxed” and “comfortable” in their presence.
Avi began studying music at the age of nine
on the piano. He then moved on to trombone,
flute and then experimented with a number of
different instruments. He is now keen to learn
to play the guitar.
“It never ends,” he exclaims. “But what is
amazing is when you set your mind to do
something how quickly you can learn new
things.”
Avi and the Israeli Jazz Orchestra performed at the National Arts Festival in
Grahamstown, where they were honing their
act for their Johannesburg performances.
The orchestra’s visit to South Africa has
been made possible by the Tararam South
African/Israel Cultural Fund and the Israeli
Embassy. They will perform at the Dance
Factory on Friday, August 29 and Saturday,
August 30, at 23:00.
Laughs are scattered throughout this jaunt
and, admittedly, there is a plethora of hilarious Borat-type situations in which the key
character, a gross Israeli named Zohan, finds
himself.
Borat showed us how you can apply politically incorrect comedy to socio-political
issues, so there is very little genuinely daring
material here - even though lampooning different aspects of Judaism, the Middle East
conflict and homosexuality are brought in.
Zohan is Israel’s tawdry answer to James
Bond. He is on top of his game, but deep
down dreams of moving to New York, going
to discos and working as a hair stylist.
A battle with an arch enemy, The Phantom
(John Turturro), enables Zohan to fake his
own death and escape to the Big Apple (without papers, nogal) where he transforms his
looks, changes his name and ends up working for an attractive Palestinian hairdresser,
Dalia (Emmanuelle Chriqui), whose shocking accent rivals his own.
The film also incorporates subplots about
an egomaniacal land tycoon (Michael Buffer)
and a lukewarm romance between Zohan
and Dalia.
01 - 08 August 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
13
TAPESTRY
ART, BOOKS, DANCE, FILM, THEATRE
Devotion of two brothers
linked through death
Brothers by David Talbot
(Jonathan Ball, R199)
REVIEWED BY GWEN PODBREY
THERE CANNOT be many people
who still believe the findings of the
Warren Commission regarding the
circumstances of President John
Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas
on November 22, 1963.
The explanation that Lee Harvey
Oswald was a “lone gunman”,
unconnected to any organisation,
has long been discounted.
The political tensions leading up
to the assassination - within
Kennedy’s own administration and
in Havana - have always supported
the conclusion that the president’s
murder was a carefully orchestrated, and lavishly funded, crime.
Even more suspicious is the
shooting of Oswald by Jack Ruby,
the murder of mob boss Sam
Giancano just one week before he
was due to testify in Washington
and the gory slaughter of Johnny
Rosselli - the key liaison between
the Mafia and the CIA - in 1976,
shortly after he was subpoenaed to
answer questions about Kennedy’s
assassination.
Moreover, there are ballistic elements that make the “lone gunman” thesis implausible. Oliver
Stone, in his 1991 movie, “JFK”,
ridiculed the theory of a single
“magic bullet”, which would have
had to defy the laws of gravity and
physics to cause the injuries sustained by Kennedy, entering and
exiting his body at least twice, at
entirely different points, and then
continue its trajectory - backwards
(!) - to damage the vehicle he was
standing in.
For the sake of national stability
and to help Bobby Kennedy mount
a political campaign of his own,
the Kennedy family consistently
endorsed the findings of the
Warren Commission - at least publicly.
They also expressed their distaste for Stone’s film. However, if
the movie reopened old, painful
wounds, it also forced the
American government to release
various classified documents
regarding the assassination - originally scheduled to be made public
in 2029 - due to overwhelming public pressure.
This, then, is the backdrop to
Talbot’s enthralling text. RFK despite his official complacence in
the aftermath of the assassination
- had known immediately that his
brother’s death was the work of a
conspiracy, and in fact worked
relentlessly behind the scenes to
expose it.
Indeed, writes Talbot, Bobby
never came to terms with what he
saw as his own failure to secure
JFK’s safety. It was he, after all,
who had sent an unequivocal message to Mafia syndicates that the
new
administration’s
policy
towards organised crime would be
one of zero tolerance.
And since the Bay of Pigs fiasco
had whipped up a frenzy of Cuban
hatred towards the US and - particularly - the Kennedys, Bobby
believed he had somehow overlooked crucial fault-lines in his
brother’s vulnerability.
He also quickly realised that the
men behind the assassination were
those of his and JFK’s own trusted
circle - and also regarded as
“brothers”. This betrayal so devas-
tated him that it obsessed him for
the rest of his life.
Talbot interviews former aides
who recall the great change which
overcame Bobby after the Dallas
shooting, sending him into a nearfanatical quest for vindication of
everything JFK had represented.
This was the driving force
behind his own race for the presidency (“one of the most terrible
and most beautiful journeys in
political American history”), a
campaign which precluded any
considerations for his own safety.
Indeed, Talbot hints that Bobby
became so immersed in private
grief - and so reckless in exposing
himself to crowds (including those
in a hostile, apartheid South
Africa) - that he may have harboured a death wish.
Far more than his charismatic,
controlled brother, Bobby Kennedy
called a spade a spade, a racist a
racist and a racket a racket. His
emotional intensity was electric,
making him a figure of surreal,
near-Quixotic proportions, recalls
Talbot, who was a 16-year-old campaign volunteer for RFK at the
time.
The book makes utterly compelling reading, both for its pace
and the superb investigative foray
into both Kennedy brothers’ murders.
However, it is the subtext which
contains its real poignancy. More
than an expose of a political plot
and the dark undercurrents of the
Cold War, the book is a profoundly
moving love story.
John and Bobby Kennedy shared
a bond based not only on blood, but
on shared values, respect, admiration for each other’s courage and a
common vision of leadership.
Forty-two-year-old Bobby’s last
words, while dying on the kitchen
floor of the Ambassador Hotel in
Los Angeles - after being shot by
Palestinian immigrant, Sirhan
Bashira Sirhan - were for the
brother he had hero-worshipped:
“Jack, Jack”.
Bobby Kennedy emerges from
the book as a figure larger than his
dead brother’s legend; indeed, as
larger than life - and fatalistic
enough to expect his own assassination as the inevitable terminus
of his wildly heroic path.
His uncompromising moral convictions, his bristling intelligence,
his compassion for children, his
ability to endear himself to
strangers (a trait echoed decades
later by Princess Diana) were all
elements of a sublime idealist and
an unrivalled populist.
Yet at every step, he tightly
clutched the hand of his elder
brother’s ghost. Behind the accessible, public image lay a complex
personality bewildered by the
schism between his inner truth
and the hollowness outside of: “I
found out something I never knew.
I found out that my world was not
the real world,” he admitted, shortly before his death.
No doubt Talbot’s reverence for
his subjects has daubed, to some
measure, the portrait painted of
them here. Yet the book is devoid of
slush and written simply, but eloquently, supported throughout by
exhaustive research. And it pierces
the heart to the core.
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14
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
LETTERS
Disclaimer
The letters page is intended to provide opportunity for a range of views on any given topic to
be expressed. Opinions articulated in the letters are those of the writers and do not necessarily
reflect the views of the editor, staff or directors of the Jewish Report
TOO MANY QUESTIONS ARE STILL UNANSWERED
I SENT this in two weeks ago, but I
suspect that it was not received
properly. This is in response to published letters sent in by Mervyn
Dendy (in response to a letter in
which Max Joseph complained of
the fee charged for a Reform rabbi
to officiate at a funeral of a member
of his family):
I am surprised to now hear, after
two previous letters from him, that
Dendy is a member of the management committee of Bet David
Morningside.
I find his last letter (SAJR June
20) completely out of line and I
object to being referred to as an
unaffiliated Jew.
Due to being born, raised and
educated as an Orthodox member
of the community, I am not interested in his contribution to his
Reform shul and I certainly do not
have to be educated by him on the
functions of the Chevrah Kadisha
or the workings of a shul.
His remark that he knows that I
was privy to the agreement with his
rabbi, is completely false and my previous statement on this matter still
stands.
The sole purpose of my complaint
is as stated previously and I wish to
state on record that there had never
been any intention of asking for a
refund of monies. This is purely a
matter of principle.
As the funeral, for which a fee of
R6 000 was paid, was arranged by
Doves and also a further R600 was
paid to their priest for his graveside
services, I still cannot understand
what justification there is of being
charged R6 300 for your rabbi’s assistance and I would appreciate a reply
from the president of the shul in
order to reach closure of this matter.
Max Joseph
Johannesburg
A letter sent in by Mr Joseph “some
two weeks ago”, definitely did not
reach us. - Editor.
The Editor, Suite 175, Postnet X10039, Randburg, 2125 email: carro@global.co.za
Guidelines for letters
Letters up to 400 words will get preference. Please provide your full first name and surname,
place of residence, and a daytime contact number. We do not publish letters under noms de
plume. Letters should preferably be e-mailed. Letters may be edited or shortened.
OLIM - ALSO THE HANDICAPPED - OFTEN NEED ASSISTANCE
IN KEEPING with the generous
help South African benefactors
seem to give to Israel, I have been
trying to make aliyah for nearly
19 years but have had difficulty
in finding people to assist (me)
make it happen.
I know of a couple who are
very serious about and are
actively working on trying to set
up a situation whereby South
African olim can create a place
for themselves in Israel and they
would be happy to assist me as
well if the necessary funding
can be arranged.
It would be good for somebody
to see the connection between
this project and what an oleh
goes through and to create an
atmosphere whereby bochurim
would feel at ease and be able to
concentrate on their learning.
They also want to make the
yeshiva handicapped accessible.
If anybody is interested and
would like to get in touch with
them or know of anybody who
can help, please contact me at
the e-mail address which the editor can give you.
Thank you and may Hashem
bless this venture.
Ricky Lomey
Johannesburg
DROP PC AND RATHER SPEAK THE TRUTH
I REFER to your editorial in the
Jewish Report of July 25.
Although you obliquely indicate
that there are several reasons for
what is in essence a mass exodus
of skilled and law-abiding people
from South Africa and how this
impacts on the very small Jewish
community, you fail to specifically
mention some very important reasons behind the exodus.
I believe it is time that political
correctness be put aside and the
truth be admitted by yourselves.
We are “governed” by a political
party that not only is breathtakingly corrupt, drunk on the pursuit of power and personal wealth
and inefficient to a degree that is
truly shocking to any decent person, but is also racist to the core;
we have a president who supports
the most evil dictators on earth;
our president-in-waiting is morally questionable to say the least.
Our civil service (or uncivil
service more accurately) is so
awful, corrupt and inefficient that
several of the few countries that in
the past did not require South
Africans to apply for visas are in
the process of insisting on visas
due inter alia to terrorists being
able to obtain without any prob-
lem South African travel documentation; the courts are under nonstop attack by supporters of the
current governing “collective”.
The armed forces for all practical purposes have ceased to exist as
anything more than places of
“employment” for the utterly useless; and the police service (led
until recently by an alleged mafia
kingpin supported to the hilt by
our esteemed president) are incapable of controlling a crime wave
that has reached epidemic proportions.
Added to the above are the racist
policies of affirmative action, ie if
you are white, or Chinese for that
matter, and skilled you are not
wanted despite the massive shortage of skills (remember the recent
meltdown of Eskom due to lack of
skills, corruption and total incompetence of the politically correct
affirmative management?)
Please do not forget our wonderful effective policy of black economic empowerment whereby a
few well-connected people become
billionaires while the masses
receive the freedom to starve.
This is an uncomfortable
reminder of the “transformation”
(a very popular word with the cur-
rent government) of the Zimbabwe
economy from a functioning economy to a hell on earth.
It does not take long for corruption, power lust and racist policies
of a “liberation” group to destroy a
country completely and utterly. I
suppose “amazing opportunities”
to build also exist in Zimbabwe, to
use your terminology.
What so-called “amazing opportunities” or future exist in this
country for our Jewish community
or any other discriminated minority? Surely you must have written
that tongue in cheek?
We should not be surprised that
those who can are fleeing the corrupt Third World mess that South
Africa is becoming, we should
rather be surprised that it is not
happening faster.
At least the former South
Africans will be welcomed in Israel
or any other country they move to.
South Africa does not deserve
them any more than Idi Amin’s
Uganda deserved the Asians who
were the lifeblood of the Ugandan
economy before they were dispossessed.
Adrian Gary Skuy
Johannesburg
ISRAEL IS ADHERING TO INTERNATIONAL LAW IN ‘TERRITORIES’
IT MUST be reiterated that Israel
is in the so-called “occupied territories” as a matter of self-defence.
If Israel would not act the way
she acted during the Six Day War,
she would have disappeared off the
map. So, the definition “occupied
territories” is incorrect because
Israel is there in terms of international law and practice.
The Palestinians and Israel’s
neighbours can then negotiate the
return of the territories, providing
they can remove the threat
against Israel. When I say threat,
I mean any military or verbal
threat on the news media. The
fact is, that on the ground, the
areas which Israel withdrew from
in the Gaza Strip settlements, is
now being totally abused by the
Palestinians and used as an
assault base against Israel.
The so-called, Jewish settlements, are historically, at any
rate, Jewish, and after a peace set-
tlement they can be an economic
catalyst to the area and help to
alleviate poverty among the
Palestinians.
With regard to the composition
of the “human rights” delegation,
I can only state the quotation
from Isaiah 49:17: “Your destroyers and your plunderers will
come from within you.”
Israel Olshewsky
Cape Town
SOME QUESTIONS FOR DORON ISAACS
I HOPE that Doron Isaacs (one
of the main organisers of the
recent “human rights” delegation to Israel) can kindly
respond to the following:
Why was Drew Forrest
(deputy editor of the Mail and
Guardian) selected for the delegation?
Was it because the Mail and
Guardian is well known for its
extreme anti-Zionist stance? Or
was it because Ferial Haffajee
(editor of
the Mail and
Guardian) was unavailable?
Anthony Posner
Johannesburg
A JOURNEY WHICH WAS TOTALLY UNNECESSARY
LIKE OTHERS, I question whether
the high-powered South African
human rights group, who visited
Israel and the “occupied territories”, headed in the right direction.
As a youngster in Britain during
the Second World War, I recall a
poster in times of austerity saying:
“Is your journey really necessary?”
There’s Darfur, a province of
Sudan, where many thousands of
black people were massacred and
raped by Arab marauders and the
country’s president faces charges
from an international tribunal for
serious human rights violations.
Something to chew on, I would
have thought.
Much less would have been spent
on airlines had the delegation gone
instead to neighbouring Zimbabwe
where there’s no shortage of
human rights abuses that need
investigating, like 120 MDC opposition supporters recently murdered, another 500 who went missing, some 200 000 displaced and
20 000 homes burned to the ground.
Thousands of MDC followers
were severely beaten for expressing a different opinion on how
Zimbabwe, a desperately failed
state in economic meltdown,
should be governed.
The majority of her people
recently voted for a regime change
but were denied their basic democratic rights.
The delegates could have considered human rights abuses here in
South Africa like the treatment of
refugees attacked in the recent
xenophobia or Zimbabweans
deported back to the wretched hell
from which they escaped. No airline costs required at all.
I have nothing but admiration
for two of the human rights delegates, Ms Nozizwe MadlalaRoutledge who told the truth
about bad conditions in some of
our hospitals whom (President
Thabo) Mbeki sacked as deputy
health minister for her trouble,
and former ANC MP Andrew
Feinstein, who got sidelined for
whistle-blowing big time corruption in those well-publicised arms
deals.
Ivor Davis
Sandton
01 - 08 August 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
15
COMMUNITY COLUMNS
ABOVE
BOARD
Support Our IUA-UCF
Zev Krengel,
National Chairman
A column of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies
LAST WEEK, our Gauteng Council was
addressed by Clive Chitiz, national director
of the Israel United Appeal-United
Communal Fund (IUA-UCF). IUA funds are
sent to Keren Hayesod, fundraising arm of
the Jewish Agency, whose goals include rescuing of Jews from distressed communities
and the absorption of new olim.
The UCF secures the future of South
African Jewry through its beneficiaries, the
SA Jewish Board of Deputies, Community
Security Organisation and SA Union of
Jewish Students.
The primary mandate of the SAJBD and
CSO is to ensure that the Jewish community
is protected, whether against physical
threats such as terrorism, assault, vandalism and, most recently, violent crime, unfair
discrimination, verbal harassment and
racist defamation.
SAUJS has a range of activities, but
underpinning them is the aim of providing a
Jewish home - cultural, political and religious - for Jewish students coming out of
school into a very different, intellectually
diverse environment.
It is not as a result of some kind of fortunate accident that two of the most serious
problems confronting Diaspora Jewry - the
rising rates of both anti-Semitism and
assimilation - manifest at a relatively low
level in South Africa.
The combined work of the SAJBD and the
CSO is crucial in the former area; in the latter, the importance of the role played by the
SA Jewish Students can likewise not be
understated.
In its relatively short history, the CSO has
made itself an essential component of the formal Jewish establishment, and can be exceptionally proud of what it has achieved.
Headed by a dedicated, thoroughly professional staff and assisted by many hundreds of
equally dedicated volunteers, it has been
instrumental in providing security for Jewish
institutions and functions throughout the
country.
Potential incidents have been defused, perpetrators of anti-Semitic attacks apprehended
and brought to justice and, in recent years,
crime levels in areas of Johannesburg where
Jews are concentrated dramatically reduced.
The SAJBD, for its part, prides itself on its
“zero-tolerance” approach to anti-Semitism.
No radio station, for example, can broadcast an
anti-Semitic programme without being sure
that the Board will call it to book, if necessary
going to the highest court in the land to do so.
The Board further plays an important public
relations role on behalf of South African
Jewry, publicising what our community is
doing to build the country and educating the
wider society about Jewish history, religion
and culture. In this way, an environment is
nurtured where it is difficult for anti-Jewish
prejudice to flourish.
All this is made possible only by the contributions our community makes to the IUA-UCF
and I sincerely thank those generous donors
whose support allows us to carry out our mandate on behalf of South African Jewry.
I further urge that those who are not contributors to the IUA-UCF, to consider becoming so.
It really is an investment in the kind of secure,
confident and well-run Jewish community
that we are so proud of and that we would like
to maintain into the future.
The relevant contact details are tel (011) 6452500/33; fax (011) 645-2576, e-mail: iuaucf@beyachad.co.za or Private Bag X6, Sandringham,
2131 and website www.iuaucf.org.za
LETTERS
ISRAEL HAS EVERY RIGHT TO DEFEND ITSELF
THE GROUP of so-called human rights
activists, seem to have gone on a “fact finding
mission” to destroy the good name of our
beloved Jewish state, Israel.
They seem to forget that had the Arabs so-called “Palestinians” - accepted a two
state solution, when offered by (Ehud)
Barak, (what about the UN partition plan in
1947 which was turned down by the Arabs?),
there would have been peace.
(Yasser) Arafat, instead of accepting the
offer, immediately started the first intifada.
How many Jewish men, women and children have been slaughtered by the terrorists
since then? Remember the Zbaro pizza shop
blast, where babies in prams went flying
through the plate glass windows, cut to
pieces?
Let us look further afield. The Muslims
cannot live in peace with other Muslims.
They are killing each other by means of suicide bombers and car bombs.
One only has to look at TV news, for example, on July 28 2008. In one place three
women suicide bombers murdered dozens of
innocents.
What about Turkey and other areas?
What about Muslims blowing up Muslims
in mosques? And you condemn Israel for
protecting itself ?
Why was there no Palestinian state before
the Six Day War, when the Arabs had every
opportunity to have a state?
No, they want to drive the Jews out of
Israel and form a total Palestine (state).
The “activists” have much to say about the
people in Hebron and claiming that it was
worse than the old apartheid days.
Let me remind these “activists” that the
people of Hebron did not arrest the party, but
told them in no uncertain terms to get the hell
out.
Let us look at Ramallah (years back) when
two (Israeli) reservists were “arrested” by the
PA police for losing their way and landing up
there. These two reservists were lynched,
their eyes were poked out, they were brutally
murdered, their hearts were taken out; one of
the terrorists still stood at the window, and
ate the man’s heart.
Then they threw the bodies out of the window and burned them before dragging the
remains through the town behind a
car.Where was the comment from this group?
Israel has every right to defend itself
against Islamic terror. Since the wall has been
erected, the suicide bombings have just about
disappeared.
Does anybody watch the TV programme on
Sunday mornings?
This last Sunday, they showed a children’s
hospital in Israel, where children from all
over the world, including from Iran and other
Arab countries, together with their mothers
are brought to Israel for free treatment. There
is no discrimination.
Well, Achmat, Geffen, Berger, Routledge
etc, what do you have to say about this?
Next time you decide to “take a look at
Israel”, see the other side as well, by being
taken around by an Israeli, not an activist
from Gaza, and see the truth.
Mordecai Ben Natan
Sea Point
Cape Town
16
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
YOUTH TALK
Shelley Elk jewishreport@yahoo.com
Young fly
the flag in
the Big Walk
SHELLEY ELK
THIRTY SIX youngsters, members of the MaAfrika
Tikkun Youth Board, from Crawford College,
Yeshiva College, King David Linksfield and Victory
Park schools and Habonim as part of a team of 100,
participated in the Discovery/702 “Walk the Talk”
last Sunday.
“A group of 30 vulnerable children from Diepsloot
and Orange Farm settlements, were sponsored by
the event organisers, to walk with Ma Afrika
Tikkun.
The youth, together with MaAfrika Tikkun staff
members, all wore matching dark blue hats and
T-shirts with the NGO’s logo, to raise awareness and
funds for their projects.
MaAfrika Tikkun’s team after successfully completing the walk. (PHOTOGRAPH: AMANDA BLANKFIELD)
ORT SA and AISH UK
spread some colour
ORT SA and an
Stephanie
Rapp and all
the thank
you cards
from her
Parkhurst
Primary
learners.
Aish group from
UK joined forces to
paint and add colour
(PHOTOGRAPH:
SHELLEY ELK)
to the Allanridge
Combined School in
Ivory Park.
A volunteer adds his creative touch to a flowers
and landscape design on an Allandridge Combined
School classroom.
EQUIPPED WITH paint, brushes,
rollers, trays and overalls made from
black plastic bags, 40 Aish students from
London and ORT SA, embarked on a fun
day of painting selected areas of the
school and interaction with the school
learners.
A media release from ORT SA says the
morning began with a talk by Michael
Sieff, its national director, who thanked
the group for their enthusiasm and
explained how ORT SA empowers individuals which leads to thriving communities.
He went on to say how every bit of
help received goes a long way and this
group is truly bringing some “colour” to
Ivory Park.
Emily Maphosa, ORT SA facilitator,
explained about the history of Ivory
Park and how ORT SA had been involved
in training educators from this township
since 2006. She commented that
Allanridge School had hosted the training and workshop sessions over the
years and how this had been a great way
to say “thank you”.
Said Maphosa: “On arrival at the
school we were greeted by the deputy
principal, Dudley Williams, who gave
the students carte blanche to paint the
preschool classrooms and to make them
as colourful as possible. All the students
got involved, with the artistic ones drawing fine detailed pictures while others
added their hand prints to a colourful
wall.”
The balance of the students joined
classes, giving the learners a quiz and
answered their many questions about
London. The children were enthralled.
At break all the learners congregated on
the field, and the Aish students played
soccer and other games with them, held
dance competitions and merely mingled
with the learners.
The students thoroughly enjoyed
themselves and felt a good sense of
accomplishment and pride at the end of
the day.
Two volunteers spruce
up a classroom
with brightly
coloured animal faces
A lassie with a real
calling for teaching
SHELLEY ELK
A SECOND year student teacher
at Wits School of Education
(WSE), Stephanie Rapp recently
raised over R50 000 for Parkhurst
Primary after completing her
three week teaching practical at
the school.
In an e-mail sent to close family
and friends after her practical,
Rapp wrote about her impressions and experiences at the
school, and mentioned she would
like to raise funds for the school.
“Most of the children were
extremely underprivileged, but
had a love and desire for learn- Stephanie Rapp with Parkhurst Primary learners
ing.”
Appreciation was not one way traffic.
She was impressed by the children’s
Teachers at the school, and Maharaj said
“smiling faces, despite the poverty and
Rapp “was a natural born teacher, who
harsh conditions they came from.
taught the children with the utmost respect,
“I enjoyed your lesson so much, my stomlove and tolerance for their underprivileged
ach was hurting from hunger, but I didn’t
background and home life”.
notice,” Rapp related a learner’s appreciaParkhurst Primary, said Rapp, had not
tion.
been “on my list of selected options” and she
At the end of her practical, Rapp gave
had been surprised when Lee Rusznyak, (coeach of her learners a pencil and sweets as a
ordinator of teaching experience at WSE)
farewell gift. “It was as if I had given them
allocated the school to her.
gold,” she said. “They were so appreciative.”
“When I asked her why, she answered:
As a result of the e-mail, a bank account
‘This is a very special school, I am giving you
was set up by the school for funds raised. Mr
a challenge and by the end of your three
S D Maharaj, principal of the school, said
weeks practical, you will know why.’”
the money would be used “to try and
Rapp said: “Teaching at Parkhurst
improve facilities for HIV positive learners
Primary was a gift from Hashem. I did not
at the school, to provide food before and dureven know about the school, and now I have
ing school and break time as their (the
built a special relationship with them.”
learners’) main meal of the day is often the
Rapp who matriculated at King David
only food they receive at school”.
Victory Park, “found her calling” when she
In addition the school “would add to their
switched to BEd in 2007 after studying a year
educational resources to improve their genof law at Wits in 2006.
eral knowledge”.
01 - 08 August 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
YOUTH TALK
17
Shelley Elk jewishreport@yahoo.com
Netzer’s month of
winter madness
MEGHAN FINN
NETZER NATIONAL MAZKIRAH AND ROSH
CHINUCH 2008
PHOTOGRAPH: MICHAEL SZCZUPAK
JULY WAS a month of winter madness for
Netzer, with four outstanding programmes
offered for madrichim and channichim
alike.
Our winter season kicked off to a phenomenal start with our winter seminar,
Machaneh Haskallah, for our young
madrichim. The week-long seminar was
held at Camp Nelu, a beautiful, yet incredibly freezing, site near Krugersdorp.
Madrichim from across the country
came together to truly challenge themselves, exploring educational and ideological issues from every angle, while having a
ridiculous amount of fun.
With activities ranging from “Reform
mathematics” to Torah-twister, this camp
was a chance for madrichim to delve into
the treasure trove of creative educational
tools and further their own Jewish and
Zionist education.
Another central theme of this busy seminar was team building, with activities
such as adventure hikes and obstacle
courses. Of course, this was more than just
a seminar - it was an investment in an
extraordinary group of young Jewish leaders, who will no doubt continue to fortify
our movement well into the future.
After this national seminar, we split into
our centres, using the skills gained on the
seminar to run programmes for our channichim.
Durban, our budding branch, launched a
new initiative: the Durban day camps. For
three days, our madrichim ran innovative
peulot for channichim during the day.
The channichim all had a wonderful time
and the initiative peaked with an ice-skating outing. We are excited about this proj-
ect and look forward to growing this snif in
the months to come.
The channichim in our Gauteng centre
joined madrichim at Camp Nelu for MiniMachaneh Dimyon (Imagination). The
minicamp was very successful, with enthusiastic madrichim and energetic channichim.
Some highlights included drumming sessions, building an imaginary ideal society
and a last night bonfire with singing and
stories. This is the second minimach we
have run in Gauteng this year and have
more excellent events planned for the
upcoming term.
In Cape Town over the weekend we also
run Mini-Machaneh Dimyon - Cape Town
style! With imagination and its powers as
the theme of this wonderful weekend, creativity was plentiful in the planning and
running of the event.
Channichim enjoyed a beautiful setting,
fun and educational peulot and great company. Gathering together for Shabbat is a
signature feature of many Netzer events
and everything was experienced in a creative and engaging way. Overall, as was
evident by incredible ruach (spirit), this
weekend was a successful blend of
Judaism, Zionism, education, friendship
and fun.
After a brilliant July, Netzer is gearing
up for our summer camp in December,
Machaneh Bereishit. Along with this, we
will continue to run high quality programming, ranging from sleepovers and family
days, to launching a continuous feeding
and sleeping bag scheme for those still
affected by the xenophobic crisis, as well as
the homeless and needy in our cities.
With this in mind, the months to come
should be as outstanding as the month just
past!
Nilmad V’Na’aseh! We will learn and we
will do!
Some of the children wear the masks they crafted, while others proudly show off
their hand-made caterpillars to Chana Rivka Lewin.
Stimulating kids the fun way
OWN CORRESPONDENT
PHOTOGRAPH: SUZANNE BELLING
TORAH ACADEMY Nursery School teacher Chana Rivka Lewin, ran”Kaleidoscope Kids” during the school holidays for
pre-graders, who engaged in activities
such as arts and crafts, challah making,
baking, finger puppets and drama (which
is assisting Lewin with research towards a
doctorate in drama).
“It was an enrichment programme in
which children were stimulated and had
fun at the same time,” Lewin said. “We
only use recycled materials to be environment friendly.”
Kaleidoscope Kids runs every school
holiday.
Aboard
on the Yom
Yerushalyim
flight!
OWN CORRESPONDENT
A group of
Netzer
madrichim
wrestling with
Reform values,
through sock
puppetry.
THE GRADE R learners of the
Yeshiva Pre-Primary School
went with their luggage, passports and boarding cards on an
El Al flight to Eretz Yisrael.
On board they were given
refreshments before landing. On
arrival they met the nursery
school children at our very own
Kotel, where they davened with
great Kavanah.
The Grade R learners boarding their flight to Israel
on Yom Yerushalayim. Yakira Riesenberg, Gadi
Feigenbaum, Troy Jacobson and Elan Kolman.
18
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
There are many good reasons for getting married
One of the main reasons for getting married is to help each other grow through a life-long process of
emotional, intellectual and spiritual sharing and challenge. This is the meaning of the verse, "It is not
good, this state of man's being alone; I will make a helpmate opposite to him" (Gen 2:18).
AS LONG as a person is single, it is not good meaning not only is the person incomplete, but
the entire Creation is also lacking perfection
(Rabbi S R Hirsch). The purpose of this union is
that each should help the other reach perfection.
Sometimes this is achieved by sharing; sometimes by opposing, questioning and challenging.
This ideal dynamic of "opposing-helpmate" is
best achieved between a man and woman committed to a love for growth together for life.
Marriage as context for growth, is also intimated by the verse, "Therefore a man shall leave his
father and mother and cleave to his wife and they
shall become one flesh" (Gen 2:24). As father or
mother, a person's main responsibility is to ensure
that the child grows to be the best person possi-
ble. Marriage, then, takes a person to the
next, natural and higher plane of potential
perfection.
Becoming "one flesh" is an allusion to this
fusion of two perfect halves into a unified
whole. In fact, the Zohar (Lech Lecha 91b)
teaches that every soul is divided into male
and female components before being sent
into the world. Ideally, every match is the "refusion" of the halves into one.
But this becoming "one flesh" is not only
figurative. Contrary to popular misconception, Eve was not necessarily created from
Adam's rib. According to a statement of our
Sages, Adam was split in two. The Talmud
(Eruvin 11) explains the verse, "And G-d took
one of his sides", to mean that Adam was
originally a composite of both male and
female aspects side by side.
G-d separated them in order to create the
longing for, and fulfilment in, the male/female
union. Therefore, marriage is the venue
through which one attains spiritual, emotional and physical unity and perfection.
Of course, the true pinnacle of
male/female physical unity comes to fruition
in the birth of their children - another reason to
marry. Thus, G-d simultaneously commands
and confers blessing upon the union of man and
woman, "Be fruitful and multiply" (Gen 1:28).
However, the point is not just to have children.
Being "fruitful" means realising one's potential
through sharing and challenge in marriage, in
order that one's productive traits and talents
ripen, and his branches become laden with
sweet and pleasant fruits.
Only then can one truly "multiply", as his perfection through marriage is conferred to and
perpetuated by their children, the fruits of their
labour. In this way, a married couple's figurative
unity as "one flesh" becomes manifested literally in one flesh, many times over.
Some people object to getting married
because, they argue, as the divorce rate gets
higher and higher, why marry to get divorced?
In truth, if people really knew themselves and
truly understood the purpose of marriage - in
short, if each person strove to become as perfect a half as possible - before "tying the knot",
marriage would strengthen the knot, not undo it.
Some consider marriage restrictive. Is permissiveness truly desirable? In any case, one who
desires only to receive might find marriage
restrictive; one, who desires to give, will find
marriage limitless.
Others claim marriage limits one's horizons
experientially, career-wise, etc. However, the
commitment and obligation to spouse and children provide an opportunity to attain true greatness precisely because of the need to succeed
as both a person and professional.
Finally, some resist marriage for global considerations - to alleviate Mother Earth's over-burdened resources or to reduce world hunger and
the like. While these are noble concerns, they
don't preclude family life. First, a lot can be done
to improve personal and global consumption
besides being barren. Consume less and have
children - a creatively modest lifestyle could
“permit” having children without adding significant demand on resources. In addition, there is
really no direct correlation between one person's
ability to feed his children and another person's
not. Give more of your income to hungry children while feeding your own. Last, a Jew in particular should avoid this “solution” of celibacy or
sterility. Relatively speaking, the Jews are but a
tiny fraction of the world population. If anyone
should undergo population control, nations who
have historically persecuted, decimated and
annihilated the Jews, but are themselves among
the most populous, should perhaps take precedent. A Jew's self-imposed sterility abrogates
the Divine command/blessing to be fruitful and
multiply, making him a willing accomplice to
those who have sought, and still seek, our extermination. "Am Yisrael Chai!"
01 - 08 August 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
19
Bridal Supplement
Hachnoseth Kalah for
Jewish brides
GETTING MARRIED is one
of the most joyous celebrations of life. Every happy
bride will count her blessings as she counts the
days to her chuppah.
Sadly, some will also have
to count the enormous cost of
setting up house for the first
time.
Hachnoseth Kalah, which is
75 years old this year, was
established to assist brides
with the expenses of buying a
trousseau to establish a
Jewish home.
The late Lena Lessem was elected chairperson
at the very outset in 1933 - a position she retained
for over 50 years. Throughout her half-century of
service she, together with her dedicated committee, set a precedent standard which came to
exemplify the culture and philosophy of
Hachnoseth Kalah: discretion, sensitivity and selflessness.
In this way they, and those that came after them,
quietly raised and distributed funds without ever
causing embarrassment or distress to the brides
they helped.
Two years ago the Jewish Helping Hand was
asked by community leaders to assume responsibility for ensuring the continuity of this wonderful
organisation.
Shirley Resnick, Hachnoseth Kalah's chairlady
for the past 14 years, will, with the help of some
committee members and her social work colleagues at Care Services, continue to oversee its
administration from her office at the Jewish Helping
Hand.
Funding comes primarily from membership which is only R100 per annum - and from donations. Helping a Jewish bride is high on the list of
mitzvot which elicit great reward from Hashem.
If you are in need of assistance, or would like to
make a donation to Hachnoseth Kalah to assist
brides, please contact:
• Shirley Resnick (011) 532-9710
• Brenda Ra'anan (011) 082-335-6493
• Cheryl Ziegler (072) 123-5714
Enduring tribute is paid to the many women who,
over the past 75 years, have dedicated long-term
service to Hachnoseth Kalah: Eve Donner, Zara
Schaffer, Linky Neiman, Brenda Ra'anan, and the
late Lena Lessem, Chaie Barnett, Freda Sevell, Julie
Berman, and Fanny Lurie.
Special mention is made here of the consistent
encouragement and support provided by the late
Rabbi Aloy, for whom Hachnoseth Kalah had profound significance.
Hachnoseth Kalah gratefully accepts gifts of
wedding dresses, veils, petticoats retinue outfits
and accessories, for moms, bridesmaids and family members. These are loaned out to those who do
not wish to go to the expense of buying a dress.
• Contact Beverley Finger on 082-850-0003 or
(011) 885-3048.
Come, let Executive Travel
smoothly carry you away
SPEAKING TO THE owners of
Executive Travel and then to individuals on the staff, it is easy to see
why this is such a popular, successful and well run organisation.
Attesting to this and the stability
of the agency which was established more than 30 years ago, is
the fact that the average period of
service by members of the staff is
over l8 years - with many staff
members having been there much
longer.
Situated in the central area of
Rosebank, Johannesburg, the The senior consultants team.
agency is at JHI House which is
Executive Travel works very closely with the SA
attached to the Rosebank Mall.
Zionist Federation, assisting with travel for groups
Executive Travel's mission is to give top service and individuals and they handle the travel
and a good deal to all their clients. Many of their arrangements for the very successful Israel Now
clients have their sights fixed on Israel and the Tours.
agency has three Hebrew-speaking staff memExecutive Travel caters also for all aspects of
bers to make and keep, their clients happy.
travel and specialise also in corporate and leisure
The staff who specialise in Israel travel, have an travel, both in South Africa and worldwide. They
in-depth knowledge of the country and are quali- furthermore have an in-bound division which hanfied to advise and suggest on all aspects of travel dles tours in South Africa for overseas visitors.
to, and in Israel.
Although privately-owned, Executive Travel is a
Leah and Mandy Herman who own and run the member of the Sure Travel Group, one of the
agency, are staunch supporters of Israel and largest travel groups in South Africa. It is also a
spend a great deal of time, effort and money pro- member and licenced by IATA and a member of
moting all aspects of that country.
the Association of South African Travel Agents.
Leah is herself an Israeli and Mandy spent a few
Leah can be contacted at (011) 788-2050 for a
years there during and after the establishment of consultation or advice on any of your travel
the State. They met and married in Israel.
requirements.
20
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
Bridal Supplement
Bride & Co - a universe of
everything bridal
ADAM LEVIN
ONCE ALL THE mazeltovs have
quietened down, its time to get
down to seriously planning a
wedding. Every bride wants to
feel like a princess on the night
and finding the perfect dress
rates pretty high on the list of
priorities.
Enter Bride & Co. With 1 300
sq/m of space brimming with
the most gorgeous designs, it's a universe of
everything bridal. Choose from our Bride & Co
collection where you will see beautifully shaped
gowns, some embellished with embroidery and
beading, others sleek and simple - from A-line
to pick-up to ball gown.
Bride & Co also has exclusive rights to sell
Oleg Cassini gowns in South Africa. A designer
to the stars, not to mention many of America's
most glamorous first ladies such as Jacqueline
Kennedy, Oleg's creations have graced many of
Hollywood's red carpets.
He is the largest selling bridal designer in the
United States and after a short meander
through our Oleg Cassini department, you will
soon understand why.
Once your dedicated bridal consultant has
helped you find your dream dress, it's off to the
sparkling new accessories department where
Bride & Co offers a dazzling array of jewellery,
tiaras, veils and exquisite shoes for brides and
all their retinue.
Visit the bridesmaid section with over 50
colours to choose from in 50 different dress
designs, then visit our petite princess flower
girls section and mother of the bride department.
Bride & Co also offers a sleeve programme
that can customise your gown with various
sleeve options, as well as a variety of shawls
and bolero jackets to satisfy religious requirements.
Eurosuit upstairs, is where guys can choose
to hire or buy their suits, waistcoats and accessories.
Bride & Co is a truly unique destination store
and remains South Africa's one and only bridal
department store.
To make an appointment, call (011) 8074000, or visit the store at Rivonia Crossing
West, cnr Rivonia and Witkoppen Roads in
Sunninghill. Website:www.brideandco.co.za
Lazers Jewellers - designs to
suit the individual
AN ENGAGEMENT ring may be the first piece of
jewellery you give your fiancée, but it certainly
shouldn't be the last, therefore choose a jeweller
with whom you are willing to establish a long-term
relationship.
Why an engagement ring? For thousands of
years, engagement rings have been a public statement and symbol of plighted troth.
Then there's the question of what you should
spend. Spend what you can afford. Whatever the
cost, it will always be her most precious ring.
From a technical aspect it is important how the
stone should be mounted. A fine stone deserves a
fine mounting - fine in technical design as well as
workmanship.
It must be delicate and feminine enough to flatter
the wearer, but strong enough to hold the stone in
a secure setting. Gold or platinum are equally suitable.
Cut is a jeweller's way of referring to a stone's
shape. Brilliant, Princess, Emerald, Marquise, Pear
and Oval cuts are all perfect for engagement rings.
Diamonds are graded from D (no colour) to Z
(deepest tint).
Brilliant
Princess
Emerald
Exceptional White - D; E
Rare White - F
White - G; H
Slightly Tinted White - I; J
Tinted White - K; L
Tinted Colours - M; N; O; P-Z
In addition to the colour of a stone, its clarity is
the second factor in determining its value.
Flawless - f1
Very, very small inclusions - WS1; WS2
Very small inclusions - VS1; VS2
Slightly tinted white - Si1; Si2
Tinted white - I1; I2; I3
Tinted colours - Mottled
The third determinant of a stone's price is its
weight, which directly correlates to its size as diamonds are crystallised carbon.
Choose the ring and stone that you find aesthetically appealing, then take into account the
practical aspects of their value.
Ensure that the wedding ring you select will
match the engagement ring and remember to
have a message engraved inside it.
Lazers Jewellers will design something special
for you.
Marquise
Pear
Oval
01 - 08 August 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
21
Bridal Supplement
The widest range of exclusive papers in Africa
Le Papier Du Nord offers the widest selection of exclusive papers in Africa.
WE PROVIDE the bridal couple with the inspiration
and ideas to create their own individual wedding
stationery. Our stores offer die cutting services
which means that various shapes are cut to create
envelopes and formats which make for interesting
layouts.
As these are cut in the colours and textures of
papers chosen by the couple, their stationery is
sure to be unique and different from any other
wedding stationery. Not only do we supply beauti-
ful paper, but we also sell boxes, a vast array of ribbon and various embellishments to enhance the
stationery. Experienced calligraphers work from
our stores so the wedding stationery could also
have that special touch which comes from personal input. Our in-house artist is continually making
new examples and showing how one can create all
the table décor from paper.
The biggest benefit to the bridal couple is that by
assembling their stationery themselves, they save
a huge amount on the cost of their stationery and
if they want someone else to make their invitations
for them, they have great ideas on what to choose.
We are continually adding to our range of papers
and recent additions include beautiful embossed
flock designs in black, brown and rust. The papers
from Japan are the finest in the world and we have
a good stock of the magnificent Chiyogami - hand
screened papers, which are so rich in colour and
design that very little is required to create really
Amanda Appleby - treasure trove of beauty
IF YOU have met Marléne Druck, the owner of Amanda Appleby, you
will already know that she has a great knowledge and feeling for
objets d'art, jewellery and all that is beautiful, feminine and rare.
On entering her "house of treasures" through the elegant wrought
iron gate, one is met with a vista of cabinet upon cabinet containing
jewellery, glassware, and silver.
There are crystal decanters, silver tea sets and picture frames,
bechas, trinket boxes and an enormous selection of jewellery - for
everyone's taste and mood. Classic silver, gold and diamonds - rings
pendants and earrings; Victorian jewellery, art nouveau, art deco, vintage and modern costume jewellery; natural pearls and a cabinet
filled with oriental jewellery.
Oh yes! Let's not forget the individually signed designer pieces of
costume jewellery and one of the largest selections of clip-on earrings.
Marlene hand picks every piece in her shop from all corners of the
world and says: "I hate to sell my beautiful discoveries and wish I
could keep them all."
So, whatever the occasion, whether it is a personal gift or something for the home, Amanda Appleby will have it.
beautiful invitations.
Of course our papers and designs go well
beyond wedding stationery and can be used for all
the major celebrations in one's life, including milestone birthdays, barmitzvahs, engagements, birth
announcements and even children's parties.
So, please visit us in our new premises to enjoy
the wealth of experience and expertise we have
gained from our 11 plus years in the business of
exclusive papers.
22
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
Bridal Supplement
Dreams Unlimited can make all those dreams come true
Dreams Unlimited was started in 2008 by Lauren Christelis to fulfil the aspirations
of people who wish to live to its fullest!
also plans weekend escapes for those times
when you need to spend some quality time with
your loved one or just break away together from
the stress of city life.
Planning your honeymoon with
Dreams Unlimited
THE COMPANY specialises in tailor-made honeymoons for newlywed couples, destination weddings, planning trips for special occasions such
as anniversaries, birthdays, family reunions and
other celebratory moments. Dreams Unlimited
Each honeymoon is a unique experience and
Dreams Unlimited recognises the individuality of
this once-in-a-lifetime journey that the couple will
enjoy. Taking your destination preferences, interests and budget into account, they will design
your dream honeymoon.
You can be assured that after all the excitement of the wedding, you can take a breath and
relax, knowing that your dream trip is taken care
of.
From the shores of Mauritius to the sights of
London, from the underwater wonders of the
Maldives to the call of the wild in South Africa
and anywhere else that your heart and mind take
you to, allow Dreams Unlimited to plan your honeymoon and make it a unique and memorable
experience. Remember that it all starts with a
dream!
• Contact Lauren at Dreams Unlimited today for a
quote on your honeymoon or other special occasion escape on lauren@dreamsunlimited.co.za
Come view top artists at
House of Isis Gallery
WHEN YOU go to the Village Walk in Sandton, be
sure to visit the Isis Art Gallery in shop U10, the
upper level. On show are a variety of contemporary and modern art and Shona stone sculptures
from Zimbabwe.
Jewish artist Derek Bernstein paints powerful
healing abstracts. His work represents the merging of the primal and spiritual aspects of human
nature. Critics have compared his work to the
paintings done by the ancient tribes of South
America, the Aztecs and the Incas.
This influence is largely due to his five year stay
in Sao Paulo, Brazil. His works at the Isis Art
Prints of the old masters available on
order. Seen above - Renoir.
Gallery are being bought by European buyers
from Switzerland and France.
Also on show is RYB art, a design concept
made up of individual blocks that compliment
each other and can be arranged in a number of
ways to suit the space and individual tastes.
They are made of wood and finished off with
ceramic designs such as spirals and geometric
shapes. RYB Art is the brainchild of Roanne
Brainin and Yonit Blumenthal, two creative
Jewish artists adding sophistication to homes
around South Africa. They are hands-on artists
and they will come into your homes and match
the designer blocks to the interior space.
Many more talented artists can be found on
show at the Isis Art Gallery including Zambian
painter Stanley Mawelela, who paints shebeen
scenes and Jozi restaurants and Mozambican
artist Arlindo Maunde. Arlindo's works depict the
life of the African mother and child and are painted in lots of texture and oil colours.
For the Art lover there are also prints by the
Old Masters such as Picasso & Van Gogh and
newer works by Modigliani & Klee.
Forthcoming events at Isis Art Gallery
Two man show: works by Derek Bernstein and
Stanley Mawelela, date to be advised
01 - 08 August 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
23
Bridal Supplement
Casarredo - the name in top-class
home interiors for your needs
Lance and Darren Postan.
CASARREDO HOME Interiors provides a turnkey solution for
their customers. The service offering includes interior decorating advice and thereafter the installation of all furniture and
décor for your home.
Casarredo consists of two showrooms, the first showing
an enormous range of lounge, dining and décor accessories and the other showing the largest selection of exclu-
sive bedroom furniture.
Both showrooms maintain a massive
selection of fabrics from all known fabric houses. A free decorating service is
offered to all potential clientele.
The majority of the furniture products
are manufactured locally from the highest quality raw materials. Casarredo
decided to keep the majority of the
production local as it facilitates customisation as well as ease of back-up
service from the manufacturers.
Casarredo Home Interiors was
established in 1993 and was bought by
the Postan brothers in 2002.
Both being from a financial and
accounting background, the brothers
had to learn the industry extremely
quickly. "We have gone through nearly
every furniture factory in the country to
ensure that we obtain standards we
want. I do not want goods on my floor
that I would not have at home, and I
am pedantic," comments Lance
Postan.
Brother Darren remarks: "We are constantly travelling to
search for the latest ideas and trends. Just this year we have
been to Italy, France and the US."
Casarredo has 2 000m2 of showroom space in Midrand and
is only 10 minutes from Sandton. "On the weekend it takes
less time to get here as there is no traffic at all," comments
Lance.
Have a dazzling white
smile on your big day
MELANY DRUIAN, an oral hygienist, has, after qualifying in 1982 and working for the past seven years for dentists, doing Power Tooth whitening, has
recently, with the change in the law, opened her own practice
"I have acquired the latest whitening technology system and have
opened an office. I would love to whiten your teeth."
Her contact number is 083-441-5255.
For more information on the system go to www.wy10.com
24
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
Bridal Supplement
Where to find exquisite giftware for that very big day
Handmade by Bev provides an exciting wedding
registry available at each of the Benmore,
Atholl and Norwood stores.
THE BRIDE to be can begin selecting a variety of as well as creating a keepsake.
items which will form the basis of her home.
For the flower-girls a wide variety of dresses and
Timeless pieces include silver trays, candlesticks, accessories can be viewed.
crystal wine decanters and
Handmade by Bev also
glassware as well as exquihas a magnificent range of
site hand embroidered chalcake stands and silver platlah covers and blessing
ters which enhance every
books.
wedding cake.
They stock a wide variety
They
have
unique
of tableware, table linen,
mezuzah covers as well as
which can be made to order
blessings for every new
in a variety of damasks, dinhome. A new shipment of
nerware, silver chargers, lead
personally selected Judaica,
crystal glassware and importimported from Israel, is cured Italian cutlery as well as
rently in store
the more elaborate items
Your
experience
at
Introducing the magnificent
such as candelabras, epurns
Handmade by Bev does not
range of metal art tableware and rose bowls.
end at your wedding; they
Metalace imported from Israel.
Handmade by Bev are
have an extensive range of
proud to introduce the magnificent "Metalace" gifts available for every memorable occasion, from
range of tableware imported from Israel which will birth to barmitzvah, engagements to anniversaries.
beautify any Shabbos table.
They are stockists of Wonkiware dinnerware,
For retinues Handmade By Bev now offer a vari- Lou Harvey, Mustardseed and Moonshine,
ety of yarmulkes which can be personalised on Lothantique and Geodesis French home and body
order, as well as being able to source unique gifts fragrances, picture frames, Di and Glynni, to name
for your guests to take home.
but a few.
A novel idea which some of their clients have
Let Handmade by Bev assist you in making your
made use of, is that of selecting some of the more wedding and future home a timeless masterpiece.
elaborate items to use on their wedding tables
Norwood Mall tel: (011) 728-9703/4
which can then become part of the bride's
Benmore Gardens tel: (011) 884-4429
trousseau, allowing them to save on hiring costs,
Athol Square tel: (011) 783-6532
By Design Jewellers - elegance & ethics
MEET BARRY and Barbara Friedland, proud
owners of the family business, which has been
in the Killarney Shopping Centre for the past 21
years. One gets a positive sense of trust in this
couple who really know their business.
Barry Friedland is a goldsmith and Barbara a
polished diamond grader - able to assess the
quality, colour and purity of a diamond.
Barry says that when beginning the design of
a piece of jewellery for a woman - especially an
engagement ring - the jeweller needs to take
three things into account: Firstly, the personality
of the wearer, secondly her physical characteristics and finally, the designer must create something that will give confidence to and enhance
the beauty of the woman.
After all, a diamond - or any other stone - is
going to be one of her most treasured possessions and must always bring a sense of glamour
to her life.
By Design Jewellers carry a large range of
jewellery: watches that are elegant or sporty,
chains, rings and earrings and a very unusual
range of pearls.
The workshop is within the store behind a
large glass window, giving a totally transparent
view to the customers of the work being carried
out on their valued jewellery - from simple
repairs to individually designed, personalised
items.
01 - 08 August 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
Bridal Supplement
Add a Persian carpet to
your bridal registry
Pak Persian would be very happy to guide the
bridal couple in selecting the carpet of their
dreams. Family and friends can come in to Pak
Persian and contribute toward the cost of this
wonderful gift that will last a lifetime and longer.
WHEN INVESTING in an authentic, hand-woven
Oriental carpet, you're investing in one of the
highest art forms practised by humankind.
At Pak Persian Carpet Gallery, our family's indepth knowledge and appreciation of this exquisite art form, spans many generations. Only carpets that have been meticulously scrutinised for
authenticity, evaluated for quality and selected
for aesthetic beauty, find their way into our
showrooms.
Our branches are situated throughout South
Africa, Europe and America and through the
years we have built a proud reputation for professional service.
Pure poetry to your living space
Our remarkable collection of hand-crafted wool
and silk carpets, rugs and kelims, are handselected to represent only the finest from Iran,
Afghanistan, Turkey, Russia, the Caucasus
region and Pakistan.
These range from gentle patterns that soothe
the eye with harmonious symmetry, to bold,
complex creations that stir the soul and inspire
the mind. Visit a showroom near you and you'll
find that our comprehensive selection offers a
joyous kaleidoscope of colour and texture,
design, motif and size.
Simply pick and choose to make your living
space come alive with luxurious warmth and
spellbinding beauty.
A treasure forever
To ensure the utmost rewards on your investment, at Pak Persian Carpet Gallery we offer the
following:
• Certificate of authenticity and origin
• A 5-year exchange guarantee
• In-home décor advisory service
• An appro service to assist you in selecting
the perfect carpet
• Professional carpet cleaning
Pak Persian Carpet Gallery has been in the
Oriental carpet business for more than half a
century.
25
26
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
Bridal Supplement
A wedding checklist is not optional: it's a must!
AFTER THE INITIAL ecstasy of announcing the
engagement, the bride-to-be soon realises
that an actual wedding now needs to be
planned. More often than not, with working
moms and busy friends, the organising of the
wedding falls to the bride.
As daunting as this sounds, it is actually a
wonderful exercise in independence - and a
crash course in event management, which can
open up a whole new career path should you
find the experience pleasant.
The following checklist is intended as a
guide only and it would be wise to remember
that each item entails an entire checklist of its
own. Try to delegate as much as you can to
responsible friends and family.
As soon as possible:
1. Choose a date - this might depend on when
overseas friends and family are able to get
tickets. It also depends on the availability of
your wedding venue of choice.
2. Book the hall and secure booking shortly
afterwards by paying the deposit.
3. Choose the rabbi (and shul) where you
would like to have the chupa.
4. Select someone who will do the invitations.
These must ideally go out about six weeks
in advance. You will also need to get quotes
on thank you cards, table cards, and table
lists. Your registry, if you want one, needs to
be mentioned in the invitation, which will
entail selecting the store(s) and choosing a
gift selection.
5. Book a photographer.
6. Book someone to take a video.
7. Choose a florist. You will need flowers for
the reception, the chuppah, the bridal bouquet, bridesmaids and possibly the male
retinue.
8. Book the band, both for the chuppah
(although many shuls have their own choir)
and the reception.
9. Choose your retinue, eg maid of honour,
best man, MC, drivers, pole holders, and let
them know if they are to make speeches.
2 - 3 months before
10. Get UOS authorisation. They have a checklist of their own which includes copies of parents' ketubahs and unabridged birth certificates of bride and groom, which may take
several weeks to get from Home Affairs.
Contact the Beth Din on (011) 485-4865.
11. Arrange Kallah classes (Jewish marriage
education). Contact Peta Welcher: (011)
440-1738.
12. Arrange marriage prepare sessions. Contact
Etta Goldman (011) 532-9616.
13. Find a dress or a dressmaker. Get material
for bridesmaids' dresses, find ties and kippot for the pole holders. Later you should
buy small gifts for the retinue. You'll need to
look for comfortable shoes for the wedding
and jewellery for the day.
14. Meet the caterer - (many halls are contracted to a specific caterer). Choose the menu
and pay the Beth Din fee.
15. Order or buy wedding band(s). Many brides
buy their groom a tallis, and depending on
his custom he will need to get a kittel (white
garment worn on wedding day and Yom
Kippur).
16. Choose your make-up and hair artists and
book beauty treatments and trial dates.
17. Choose a sheitel, buy hats and scarves etc.
18. Order your ketubah.
19. The ANC - Contact an attorney to draw up
your ante-nuptial contract.
20. Order benching cards. Also consider having
beautiful tefillat haderech cards on the table
purchased from the Kallah Fund. The money
helps brides less fortunate.
One month before
21. Meet with your rabbi to go over the ceremony at the chuppah.
22. Allocate who will recite the sheva brachot at
the chuppah. This is regarded as an honour.
23. Start taking vitamins to ward of colds and
flu.
24. Arrange seating plans with the caterer (how
many guests per table) and with the person
doing your table cards and table lists.
25. Contact friends (who have already offered)
who will host sheva brachot. Give them the
details of the guests they must invite.
26. Delegate someone to get food for the
Yichud room. It is customary to fast on the
day of the wedding, so its best to have a
light snack before post-chuppah photos
commence - and don't take too long with
those.
27. If you are going on honeymoon make necessary arrangements.
28. Delegate your retinue to organise the bachelor party, kitchen tea or pamper party etc.
The week before
29. Assuming you've found somewhere to live,
move in essential furniture (eg beds) and
essential appliances (eg fridge, stove). Toivel
items you will be using immediately.
30. Plan of Ruf lunch - this is the Shabbos
before the wedding when the groom is
called to the Torah.
31. Plan Shabbos Kallah. This is a women only
get-together on the Shabbos before the
wedding and helps to bring joy to the bride.
32. Arrange bride's table - usually where the
bride gets dressed and has photos.
33. Delegate friends to buy Shtick - fun gimmicky toys to add excitement to the wedding eg bubbles, sparklers etc.
34. Ask someone to make you a Bircat kallah a prayer sheet that you say shortly before
the chuppah with the names of people who
need your blessings. Confirm that there will
be a bedekkin chair at the chuppah to
receive guests etc.
35. Make arrangements to go to the mikvah.
01 - 08 August 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
27
Bridal Supplement
Zandwijk - kosher wines
of a very high quality
A warm welcome awaits you at Zandwijk. Situated on the cool
slopes of Paarl Mountain, one is greeted by the majestic Cape
Dutch Manor House nestling between 250-year-old oak trees.
STOP, TAKE a deep breath and allow
the tranquillity of this small piece of paradise to wash over you. It is here that
Zandwijk produces its range of high
quality kosher wines, suitable for all
occasions.
Wine holds special meaning to many
people. According to our traditions, wine
is present at Sabbath and High Holiday
tables not only for saying the kiddush,
but also to increase the festivity.
Celebrations are enhanced by the
usage of wine as an integral part of the
ceremony. A jubilant "l'chaim", is shouted as we raise our glasses aloft to cele- Kleine Draken’s new winemaker Jean van Rooyen
brate the miracle and blessing of life introducing the 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon Blanc.
bestowed upon us. It goes without saying that the wine used at these occasions should fermentation.
Furthermore, all additives are also required to
be strictly kosher.
be
kosher for Passover and every step of the
The word kosher, roughly translated, means
process,
from crushing to bottling and labelling, is
suitable. All wines and juices produced at
done
under
the strict supervision of the Cape
Zandwijk under the much sought after Kleine
Beth
Din.
Draken brand name, are not only kosher, but also
With the correct procedures and technical
kosher for Passover.
know-how,
these wines match other traditionally
The major technical difference in the winemakproduced
wines
in terms of quality and finesse.
ing process is that the juice is pasteurised prior to
Your hair must reflect your personality
THE BIGGEST mistake a bride can make on her
wedding day is to decide on something that is so
not herself. A bridal hairstyle needs to reflect the
bride's personality.
Your wedding pictures are also on your mantelpiece forever and a day and need to be classic
and not date. This is not the photographer's job
but that of the hairdresser, make-up artist and the
dress designer.
Start by looking at hairstyles and by getting an
idea of what look you want. Take into consideration the neckline of your wedding dress, your
height and that of your partner.
I always suggest to brides-to-be to wear a
similar style to a wedding or to any other outing.
If you do not have a stylist, or are not a regular
at a salon already, then talk to other brides-to-be,
ask friends or your dress designer. There are
salons that will have stylists who specialise in
bridal hair.
Take all of your photos, pictures and ideas to
your stylist for consultation. This guides the stylist with what you like and then you can both
determine what is going to suit you best.
Communicate with your stylist. Talk to him/her
about what drives you crazy etc. Don't be afraid
to let the stylist know that you don't like what they
are doing, or that you had a different vision in
mind.
Long hair looks great pulled back and if you
spend your time wearing a ponytail then the look
would be good for you.
A soft wispy hairstyle complements a full-skirted tulle gown.
A heavy-weight gown would be complemented by a very elegant smooth hairstyle with high
shine.
If you wear your long hair down all the time,
then a style that takes some of the hair away from
your face looks great with hair cascading down
your back, or piled up, letting a few tendrils
escape to float around your face.
Natural curls? Enhance them and work with them;
keep your look soft.
Straight hair? Don't expect a set to last all day.
Wear it up. If the curls are pinned in place, there
will be less worry that an up-style will last and not
shift at all.
Medium length can be worn up. You might
need the odd clip to hold it back and you would
need a stylist that specialises in up-styles.
There is so much that can be done with short
hair. A curling iron will give great fullness to the
crown and the back and keep the front straight
and sleek.
It is not a good idea to go for any dramatic
changes just prior to your wedding day. Always
test out new colours and cuts before you wedding and rather touch up for your colour.
It will always cost you more to have someone
come to your home and to the venue, but this
does save time. The salon can be exciting and
you can be pampered and seen to from head to
toe!
If your bridesmaids are also having their hair
done, then the salon is great for time, depending
on the number of stylists available.
On the day of your wedding, make sure you
wear a shirt with buttons to the salon. It's very difficult to pull a shirt up over your head with a veil
on.
Take extra clips and pins for any emergencies:
Speak to your stylist about the best way to put
your veil on.
28
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
After 40
years or
more, the
love’s still
there
AND STILL they are streaming in...
Photographs of fresh-faced young couples at
the threshold of a life together. And the proof
of the pudding is in the eating. It’s 40 yearsplus later and they can look back on a fulfilled
life. They don’t look the same as they did in
their wedding photographs, but they’re still
young at heart and the love is still there.
This may prove to be the most successful
competition WIZO, through its Glenlinks
branch, has ever embarked on.
As Marcia Parness, honorary life vice president of WIZO, recently said about the “Bride
and Groom of Yesteryear” competition:
“People in the community are very excited...
We are hoping for an avalanche of pictures.”
The competition is for couples who have
been married for at least 40 years.
WIZO’s “Bride & Groom of Yesteryear” is
looking for your wedding pictures. Couples
who have been married for at least 40 years
and are resident in South Africa, are eligible
to enter. All you need to do to enter, is a hard
copy wedding photograph of you and your
spouse, together with the details appearing in
the entry form. Prizes are still being finalised,
but it’s guaranteed to be mouth watering
stuff !
Finalists must be present at the culminating
function in Johannesburg on November 16 (at
their own cost) where the winners will be
announced. The venue will be announced later.
Entries for the competition close on October
24 and the final date on which photographs will
be published is November 7.
“Judging,” said Parness, “will be done by a
panel who are not participating in the competition. Finalists will be announced, and must be
present at the function, where elimination will
occur.”
Chairman of WIZO Glenlinks, Alice Butkow,
and Parness are co-ordinating the competition.
• Bookings are now open for the culminating
function to be held on November 16 at 10:30.
The cost of the function is R180 per person or
R350 per couple. Contact Sheila on (011) 6452517.
Dan and Bardine Levin - (nee Rogoff)
were married on August 15 1965 at the
Oxford Shul, Johannesburg.
Jack and Ray Dorfan (nee Margolis)
were married on August 22 1965 at the
Oxford Shul, Johannesburg.
Ronnie and Leigh levy - (nee Gavin)
were married on February 17 1957 at
the Berea Shul, Johannesburg.
Mel and Mashie Shorkend (nee Katzeff)
were married July 2 1967 at the
Gardens Shul in Cape Town.
Maish and Lily Sandler (nee Brown)
were married on August 16 1959 at the
Wolmarans Street Shul in
Johannesburg.
Harold and Reina Bloch (nee Bloch )
were married on August 30 1955 at the
Beth Hamedrash Hagadol in
Johannesburg.
Harry and Phyllis Barnett - (nee
Unterslak) were married on September
23 1942 at the Berea Shul in
Johannesburg.
Max and Paula Posniak - (nee Wald)
were married on February 5 1950 at the
Benoni Shul.
Stanley and Ethne Davidson - (nee
Singer) were married on December 9
1962 at the Wolmarans Street Shul in
Johannesburg.
Lou and Val Margolis (nee Paster) were
married on December 16 1962 at the
Berea Shul in Johannesburg.
Sam and Hazel Barnard - (nee
Alexander) were married on January 28
1962 at the Springs Shul.
Herman and Doris Rothenberg (nee
Speyer) were married on September 26
1948 at Temple Israel in Johannesburg.
Rules of the competitions:
• Couple must be married for a minimum of 40
years.
• Resident in South Africa.
• Entries must accompany a hard copy photograph.
• Finalists must be present at the culminating
function on November 16. Out of town finalists must note that travelling expenses are for
their own account.
Photographs can be delivered to the WIZO
Johannesburg offices at Beyachad, 2nd Floor, 2
Elray Street Raedene. (for either Sandy or
Sheila’s attention).
Entry form:
• Bride and groom’s name and bride’s
maiden name.
• Place of chuppah and date of wedding
• Contact numbers: cell, business, home
• E-mail address
• Postal address
• Signature of consent
• Would you like your picture back:
yes/no
01 - 08 August 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
WHAT’S ON
NOTE: Deadline for all entries is 12:00 on the Friday prior
to publication.
Key to organisations, venues, contact details and cost:
• The Jewish National Fund (JNF) Choir, Beyachad, 2
Elray St, Raedene. Contact Crystal Kaplan. 083-3765999.
• The Jewish Women’s Benevolent Society (JWBS) Sandringham Gardens, 85 George Avenue
Sandringham 2192. Contact Carolyn Sabbagh. (011)
485-5232.
• The Jewish Outlook Team. Contact Ryan Cane, Support
line: 27 76 215 8600; e-mail info@jewishoutlook.org.za; website http://www.jewishoutlook.org.za
• Nechama Bereavement Counselling Centre - Room
A304, 3rd Floor, hospital wing, Sandringham Gardens,
85 George Avenue, Sandringham, 2192. Contact (011)
640-1322.
• New Friendship Ladies Group - A group for single
women - contact Lucille (011) 791-5226 or 082-9275786.
• ORT and ORTJET South Africa - 44 Central Street, Cnr
10th Ave, Houghton. Contact (011) 728-7154.
• Rabbi Cyril Harris Community Centre (RCHCC) and
Great Park Shul, Johannesburg. Contact Hazel, (011)
728-8088 or Rene Sidley (011) 728-8378. Cost usually
R50, including refreshments.
• Second Innings, Johannesburg - Jewish Community
Services - Donald Gordon Centre, 85 George Avenue
Sandringham. Contact Grecia Gabriel, (011) 532-9616.
• The Israel Centre. Contact Debbie (011) 645-2560.
• The Simcha Friendship and Cultural Circle (SFCC),
Johannesburg - Sandton Shul. Contact Sylvia Shull,
(011) 783-5600.
• The United Sisterhood, 38 Oxford Road Parktown.
Contact Helen (011) 646-2409. website:http://www.unitedsisterhood.co.za
• Society of Israel Philately (SIP) - daniels@wbx.oc.za.
Contact Maurice (011) 485-2293.
• South African Zionist Federation (SAZF), Johannesburg
- Beyachad, 2 Elray Street, Raedene. Contact Froma,
(011) 645-2505.
• South African Jewish Board of Deputies (Jhb) Beyachad, 2 Elray Street, Raedene. Contact (011) 6452500 or (011) 645-2523.
• United Zionist Luncheon Club (UZLC), Johannesburg Our Parents Home. Contact Gloria, (011) 485-4851 or
072-127-9421.
• Union of Jewish Women (UJW), Johannesburg - 1 Oak
Street Houghton. Contact (011) 648-1053. Cost R10
for the Friendship Luncheon Club.
• Union of Jewish Women (UJW), Cape Town - (021)
434-9555, e-mail: info@ujwcape.co.za
• WIZO Johannesburg - Beyachad, 2 Elray Street
Raedene. Contact Joyce Chodos (011) 645-2548 or
Sandy Kramer (011) 645-2515.
• Bikkur Cholim - Jewish Society for Visiting the Sick, 7A
Chester Road, Greenside East, Johannesburg. Joy
Gafin (011) 447-6689.
• Tiyulim (Jewish Outdoor Club) - Contact Greg 082-9599026 or Martin 082-965-7419.
• King David Schools’ Foundation. King David Alumni
info@kdsf.org (011) 480-4723.
• CAJE - College of Adult Jewish Education, Sydenham
Highlands North Shul (011) 640-5021.
• JAFFA - Jewish Accomodation for Fellow Aged. (012)
346-2007/8.
• SAIJE - Sandton Adult Institute of Jewish Education,
Sandton Shul (011) 883-4210. E-mail: saije@sandtonshul.co.za.
• CSO - Emergency phone number 086 18 000 18.
Today,Friday (August 1)
• UZLC is hosting Barney Segal with “A blast from the
past”, at Our Parents Home.
• Sydenham Shul Friday Night Fever. Join Rabbi Yossy
Goldman, Chazzan Yudi Cohen and the choir for a Rock
‘n Soul Service at 18:00, followed by a “Hot Chocolate
and Cheese Cake Street Brocha”. Great prizes for kids
and teens. All welcome.
• Introductory course in Kabbalah with Rabbi Ari
Shishler at Chabad House at 20:00.
• RCHCC is screening Quo Vadis at 19:30. Donation
R50.
• WIZO Women Inspired will have a talk by Caryl
Wyatt, author of “Look me in the eye”, about financial, emotional and physical abuse, at 09:30. Cost
R80 includes tea. Bookings Joceline (011) 728-7173
or Maureen 082-445-1515.
• UJW Cape Town hosts Cynthia Maresky who will talk
on her recent experiences overseas “Bach and the
Jews”.
• Partnership 2000, Emunah, WIZO and SAZF
Ethnic Aroma host “a fabulous cookery experience” with cooks from Beit Shemesh at 10:30.
Information/tickets available from Ethne (011)
483-1005, Eli (011) 645-2551, Marcia (011)
645- 2550
Wednesday (August 6)
Sunday (August 3 -27)
• Cape Town Holocaust Centre is having an exhibition
entitled “Through the eyes of children” at the Baxter
Theatre centre, featuring the art of children of Terezin
and Darfur. Frank Joubert through Ibhabathane is
mounting an exhibition of children’s art on the theme of
identity.
Sunday (August 3)
• UJW Florentia Cape Town is having a card/luncheon
event at 12:00 at the Atlantic Bowling Club, Sea Point.
Cost R75.
• Second Innings hosts Barbara Holtmann on “Breaking
the cycle of violence for a safe south Africa”. She’s
group leader for crime prevention, safety and security
research and developments contracts manager at the
Council for Scientific and Industrial Research.
• Second Innings will attend a “Le Grande Cirque” matinee at 14:00. Depart from Oxford Shul parking promptly at 13:15. Cost R210, (additional R20 for bus). Ros
Berman (011) 880-6864, before 18:00.
• UOS and Jews for Judaism are hosting Pnina Taylor
who will talk about her journey back to Judaism, at the
Capri from 09:00 to 11:00. Cost R180. Women only.
Bookings (011) 485-4865 or email jfjsa@uos.co.za
Monday (August 4)
• SIP - Lecture and report-back on Israel 60 Philatelic
International Exhibition by South African commissioner.
At 19:30 Waverley Shul boardroom. Entry free.
Refreshments.
• UJW, Johannesburg hosts Hilary Joffee, senior assistant editor, Business Day at 09:30 - “Eskom’s power
problem - an ongoing saga”.
• Cape Town Holocaust Centre is hosting Fumiko Ishioka
(Tokyo Holocaust Education Centre) and Lara Brady
North dealer, neither vul
NORTH
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WEST
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SOUTH
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and talk by Rabbi Yitzchak Sandler on “tikkun
olam - human responsibility” and a presentation
on GIFT (gifting it forward today). at Sandton
Shul 19:00 to 22:00. Cost R85 per person RSVP
(011) 883-4210.
Tuesday (August 5)
• The launch of the next Ohrsom Israel Tour to take
place in December for young adult between 18 and
28 will start with a light supper at 19:00 followed by
an inspirational talk by “Alison”. Launch will begin at
21:00 at 32 Sunny Road, Glenhazel. Contact Ohr
Somayach for details.
• SFCC is hosting Prof Trefor Jenkins, dept of genetics, SA Institute for Medical Research, at the
Sandton Shul at 10:00.
• UJW, Johannesburg is hosting Dr Lorraine
Chaskalson, former lecturer, English Department,
Wits at 09:30 to 11:30, on “Jane Austin’s Persuasion
- a novel of second chances”.
• Cape Town Holocaust Centre presents Ernest and
Renee Samson’s 9th anniversary lecture “Through
the eyes of children: children’s experiences of the
Holocaust” by Dr Tim cole, senior lecturer in history,
Department Historical Studies, Bristol University at
20:00 at the Albow Centre.
• Sandton Shul youth vibe and Aish UK, invite
Jewish youth in their 20s and 30s to an evening
of achdut in Av. Join young professionals from
the UK on tour in South Africa for a milchik meal
Friday (August 8)
• UZLC is hosting Clem Sunter, chairman of AngloAmerican’s Chairman’s Fund, on “The world and
Africa in 2010 - the latest scenarios”.
Sunday (August 10)
• Second Innings hosts Rhoda Levy on “My visit to
what was the Soviet Union”, at the Gerald Horwitz
Lounge.
Monday (August 11)
• UJW Na’arot, Cape Town is having a “My Fair Lady”
gala evening at ArtScape.
• UJW, Johannesburg at 09:30 hosts Raenette
Taljaard, director of the Helen Suzman Foundation
and columnist for various newspapers, on “Pre-election politics”.
• Introductory course in Kabbalah with Rabbi Ari
Shishler at Chabad House at 20:00.
Tuesday (August 12)
• WPZC, BZA WIZO and P2K-Partnership 2000 are
hosting a dinner at Claremont Shul Hall. R250 per
person.
• UJW, Johannesburg is hosting Estelle Sher, presenting “Encore Rachmaninov” at 09:45 for 10:00 at 301
Eton place, Kernick Ave, Melrose North. Cost R20.
• WIZO Fortnightly Forum is hosting Dr Brenda
Lasersohn who will discuss new advances in brain
function and the effects on memory and interpersonal relationships at 09:30 at Beyachad, Raedene.
Come celebrate with
Klerksdorp community
MIKE WAKS
TO CELEBRATE the auspicious occasion
of the anniversary of the first Rosh
Hashanah service held in Klerksdorp in
1888, the congregation will be having a
mincha service commencing at midday
followed by a brunch at its complex at
THE BRIDGE LOUNGE by Jeff Sapire
SOMETIMES BRIDGE can drive one
crazy - especially when the opponents
mess up but still get a good score. Playing
pairs, West could count himself pretty
unlucky on this board.
When 2C was passed back to West, bidding 2S was automatic. How was he to
have known that NS had stopped at the
two level, with a 4-4 heart fit and 25
points between them? It's when the opponents underbid dreadfully that seemingly innocuous decisions like this can be
disastrous.
2S doubled wasn't pleasant. At trick
two North switched to Ace and another
heart, ruffed by declarer. In the fullness
of time, he lost one heart, three diamonds, three clubs and a trump, making
only five trump tricks, for a shocking 500. And it didn't matter whether or not
other NS pairs bid 4H, and whether or
not they made it - this was a lovely round
zero (known as a "bottom") for EW.
Admittedly it's not so straightforward
for NS after the 1S overcall. North is not
strong enough to reverse into 2H, and
South would be a bit nervous about trying 2NT with S10xxx.
I think he has to do something though,
and 2H, so long as it's not game forcing,
may work out okay. The answer to the
problem is to use the convention known
as Walsh. When partner opens 1C and
you have a diamond suit as well as a
major, skip the diamonds unless you
have enough points for game.
Walsh is even used on responding
hands with a weak four card major and a
Shelley Elk carro@global.co.za
(second generation survivor, Hana’s niece) on
“Historical detectives” - the story of Hana’s suitcase.
at the Albow Centre 20:00.
Monday (August 2)
• Introductory course in Kabbalah with Rabbi Ari Shishler
at Chabad House at 20:00
29
2 Youssuf Dadoo Road, Wilkoppies,
Klerksdorp, on Sunday August 31.
To facilitate catering arrangements,
people wanting to attend, are asked to
reply before August 15 to Joan de Jong on
(018) 462-2291 or e-mail pfdj@iafrica.com
The cost is R150 per adult and R50 per
primary school child.
CROSSWORD NO 81
BY LEAH SIMON
ACROSS:
EAST
9
Q862
108752
642
East
South
P
1D
P
P
P
Dbl
Opening lead: DQ
five card diamond suit. You will occasionally lose a diamond fit, but at least
the major suit will not go missing in
competitive auctions.
4H made quite a few times. Ace, king
and a small spade was ruffed and overruffed, and the diamond return was
taken in dummy. Now those declarers
who took the heart finesse through
East, playing ace of hearts and a heart
to the nine, were off to a good start.
They still had to take the club
finesse to discard the 4th spade, but
the rest of the tricks were made on a
crossruff.
1. Dodge the bird (4)
3. Does she get half a crown? (8)
8. Not any of it in Latino newspaper (4)
9. Keeping legwear in reserve (8)
11. Happy circle in the playground (5, 2, 5)
13. No salt upset by claws (6)
14. Most recent one is least lively of all! (6)
17. Ghoulish steps to take with Saint-Saens (5,
7)
20. I’m returning, surrounded by her and single girl (8)
21. An unlikely tale to tell a midget? (4)
22. Make lad paste around piece of 1
2
furniture (8)
23. Untidy army canteen 4)
DOWN:
1. Sounds like girl could be quite
explosive! (8)
2. Penny for the artist on the left - or
in the middle? (7)
4. Proportion of the north in allotment (6)
5. Corny northerner came around
to black arts (10)
6. Being naïve, returns to Swiss lake
(5)
7. Point disturbs gas - and droops (4)
10. How one lives, without a job,
money, shelter or friends (2, 4, 4)
12. Eels spill onto step for spires (8)
15. Caress me, returning to securing
strap (7)
16. She’s found in a dream - and
awakening (6)
18. Vented the melody? (5)
19. Store to make southerner jump up and
down (4)
SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD NO 80
ACROSS: 1. Clef; 3. Scholars; 8. Late; 9.
Asterisk; 11. Mother tongue; 13. Trends; 14.
Counts; 17. Taking flight; 20. Wriggled; 21.
Beta; 22. Primrose; 23. It is.
DOWN: 1. Calamity; 2. Entitle; 4. Cosatu; 5.
One and only; 6. Adieu; 7. Sikh; 10. Dead
ringer; 12. Ashtrays; 15. Neglect; 16. Agrees;
18. Alibi; 19. Swap.
3
8
4
5
6
7
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
01 - 08 August 2008
30 SA JEWISH REPORT
PLUMBERS
Tel (011) 886-0162 • Fax (011) 886-4202 • email: brittl@global.co.za
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ATHOL, SANDTON
Large one bed fully serviced ensuite apartment with sep
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September
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01 - 08 August 2008
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an advantage. Sandton Area.
To start ASAP.
Contactable references essential. Salary Negotiable.
Call Estelle 083-297-6560
SA JEWISH REPORT 31
Looking after
vulnerable kids
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
RITA LEWIS
KIDS BEING at risk was a worldwide
phenomenon said Rabbi Yair
Kramer, a graduate of Yeshiva
College who was in South Africa to
meet with educators, facilitators and
those in contact with children coming from dysfunctional backgrounds,
and to gain knowledge and insight,
which he could use to assist his own
organisation in Israel.
Rabbi Kramer heads “Kids at
Risk” in Israel, which is situated in
Givat Shaul. It hosts some 40 youngsters, most in the 14-18 year age
group and who come from broken
homes where there is little or no
parental guidance and most times no
money.
Because of these factors and their
backgrounds, most of these youngsters have learning disabilities or are
just weak at learning.
He said things were not easy generally in Israel and this often rubbed
off on the youngsters, but “our staff
of seven trained rabbis try to make
things as normal and comfortable as
possible for them.
“Our aim is to equip them (the
youngsters) to be members of the
society in which they live - to get
married, have children and live a
normal life - not to make them into
Talmud chachamin, Torah scholars.”
He said that basically they did not
have the sort of problems that normal Jewish people had, “but we give
them a religious framework and
assistance and guidelines so they
can support themselves.
“We give them incentives where
there is no incentive and ambition
where there is no ambition.”
He stressed that most were “good
kids who have been failures from the
beginning”.
His staff worked - among other
things - at building up their selfesteem and motivating them as most,
if not all of them, were capable of
doing far more than they were
presently doing.
Albeit that “Kids at Risk” was run
by a group of rabbis, “we have to
accept that these youngsters are
unable to learn (Yiddishkeit) all day,
but we keep them within the framework of Judaism, as they themselves
are not anti-religious.
“We take them on tiyulim, where
they can see the country, socialise,
go swimming and generally relax in
a situation where they can create
personal relationships - which is all
part of the wellness programme.”
Rabbi Kramer was formerly rabbi
of Claremont in the Cape, although
he spent his early years in Bulawayo,
Zimbabwe, going on to study at Ohr
Yisroel, Chevron and other yeshivot
where he learnt the ability to relate
to children and their needs.
In the late ‘60s, he became hostel
master at Yeshiva College and later
returned, where he was the principal
of two girls’ seminaries, Neva Tehilla
and Shoshanim.
Some four years ago, because of
his background in chinuch, a friend
asked him to join him at “Kids at
Risk”, and this has since become his
life’s work.
PROPERTY FOR SALE
FOR SALE
WAVERLEY – R800 000
Fully renovated duplex. 2 beds,
1.5 bath, lounge, dining, granite
kitchen and 2 parkings
Opp Waverley Shul
Contact Brad on
082-857-2502
* FREE STANDING 3 BEDROOM UNIT WITH TILED
LOUNGE, DINING, OPENPLAN
KITCHEN, LOCK-UP GARAGE
+ 2 C/PORTS AND MUCH
MORE!! ONLY R1.7 MIL.
VIEW CREST –
R1.590.000-00
MODERN CLUSTER CONSISTS OF 3 BEDS, 2.5 BATHS,
STUDY, TILED OPEN PLAN
KITCHEN, DINING, LOUNGE.
CARPORT, + 2 PARKINGS,
SMALL GARDEN, CLOSE TO
SHUL AND SCHOOLS, PLUS!!!
Tel: 011 640 4967
VEHICLES
WANTED
NEWS IN BRIEF
SOME UK MUSLIM STUDENTS BACK RELIGIOUS KILLINGS
LONDON - Nearly one-third of British
Muslim students support killing in the
name of religion, a new survey found.
In addition, 60 per cent of active
members of campus Islamic societies
said such killings could be justified,
according to a report released on
Monday by London's Centre for Social
Cohesion. The report, "Islam on Campus: A Survey of UK Student Opinion",
examined Muslim students' attitudes
on issues including religious tolerance,
gender equality and integration.
The survey polled 1 400 students;
more information was gathered in
fieldwork and interviews. Some 79 per
cent of Muslim students polled said
they respected Jews, with 7 per cent
answering that they had not very
much or no respect at all for Jews.
In other findings, 59 per cent of
those polled believed it was important
to Islam that Muslim women wear the
hijab. Forty per cent of respondents
backed the introduction of Sharia,
Islamic law based on the Qur'an, into
British law for Muslims, and one-third
supported the introduction of a worldwide Caliphate, or head of Islam,
based on Sharia.
Support for a Caliphate rose to 58
per cent when active members of campus Islamic societies were polled.
(JTA)
KOSHER FOOD SERVED IN OLYMPIC VILLAGE
BEIJING - Foreign and domestic
chefs will cook kosher meals in the
Olympic Village in Beijing.
Restaurants in the Village would
provide for dietary needs, including
kashrut, said Deng Yaping, a spokeswoman for the Village, which opened
last Sunday.
"With the efforts of 100 foreigners
and more than 2 300 chefs throughout
China, the restaurants will offer
Western and Asian cuisines on a 24hour basis, including Jewish meals,
Muslim meals, Indian meals and so
on with a clear sign on the menu for
the villagers," Deng said at a news
conference in Beijing.
The international companies hired
by the Beijing Olympic Committee
together have catered at eight
Summer Games and five Winter
Games. (JTA)
JUNE WALKER, PRESIDENTS CONFERENCE CHAIR, DIES
NEW YORK - June Walker, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish
Organisations and former national
president of Hadassah, died on
Tuesday after a long battle with
cancer. She was 74.
"Leaders of the United States and
Israel held her in high regard and
respected the person even more than
the positions she held," said Malcolm
Hoenlein, the PresidentsConference's
executive vice chairman. They, as we,
recognised immediately her integrity, her intelligence and the sincerity
of her advocacy. I am personally, as is
the conference collectively, devastated by her passing."
Walker took over last year as
chairman of the Presidents Conference, an umbrella group of some
50 Jewish organisations that aims to
forge a communal consensus on
matters of foreign policy.
She was only the second woman
to hold the position and the first
chairman to die in office.
Hoenlein told JTA the Presidents
Conference has no established plan
of succession. Before succeeding
Harold Tanner at the Presidents
Conference, she served four years
as the national president of
Hadassah, the Women's Zionist
Organisation of America.
A long-time member of the
Hadassah national board, she also
served as the organisation's treasurer. "It is with a very heavy heart
that we begin to mourn June
Walker, a unique leader and a wonderful friend to many," said
Walker's successor as Hadassah
president, Nancy Falchuk. (JTA)
MCCAIN VOWS EMBASSY MOVE TO JERUSALEM
ROYAL LINKSFIELD –
SANDRINGHAM
* 2 BEDS, 2 BATHS, 2 TILED
LOUNGES WITH OPEN PLAN
KITCHEN, 2 C/PORTS.
UPSTAIRS UNIT WITH MAGNIFICENT VIEW –
ASKING R 1.325 MIL.
AROUND THE WORLD
Rabbi Yair Kramer during his stay in South Africa.
Ohrsom plans the
‘biggest-ever’ Israel tour
RITA LEWIS
THE FORTHCOMING Ohrsom
Israel Tour in December, will have
the largest number of people participating in any tour to Israel ever from any country in the world, said
Rabbi Shmuel Moffson, one of the
organisers of the tour.
Although the figures have not yet
been finalised, Rabbi Moffson
believes there will be in excess of
300 people between the ages of 18 and
28 participating in the programme.
They will be accompanied by a
group of rabbis who have put
together a fantastic timetable,
which will include visits and lectures at various centres of learning
as well as visits to Jerusalem and
the major cities.
The official launch of the tour will
take place on Wednesday, August 6
at the Ohrsom Shul at 32 Sunny
Road, Glenhazel in Johannesburg.
The actual launch is set for 21:00,
but the function will kick off at 19:00
with a light supper, followed by an
inspirational talk by “Alison” at
19:30.
Her story is a riveting drama of
how a courageous woman found the
inner strength to triumph over
intense physical and emotional
trauma. Her courage allowed her to
transcend and transform a devastating experience into something positively life-affirming.
FOR THE RECORD
In the photo of the Chazzonus choir on page 5 of last week’s paper
(July 25, 2008), Hilton Saker (5th from left) was named as Colin Bartkunsky.
We apologise for the error.
WASHINGTON - John McCain said
he would move the US embassy to
Israel to Jerusalem upon being elected president.
"Right away," Sen. McCain, the presumptive Republican nominee for
president, told CNN last week Friday.
"I've been committed to that proposition for years."
President George W Bush also
committed to moving the embassy
during his 2000 campaign, but never
did. Presidents oppose such a move
as pre-empting Israeli-Palestinian
negotiations and endangering US
security interests in the Middle East.
McCain's rival, Sen Barack Obama,
has said he would only consider such
a move once the sides come close to a
final status peace agreement.
McCain would not comment on
how he would react should Israel preemptively attack Iran to prevent its
acquisition of nuclear weapons. All
he would say was that "the United
State of America is committed to
making sure there is not a second
Holocaust". (JTA)
JEWS PROTEST SALONIKA 'MARTYRS' DECISION
ATHENS - Greek Jews are protesting
Salonika's decision not to apply for
status as a "martyred City". More than
50 places are on a Network of
Martyred Cities and Villages of
Greece 1940-1945.
The list is being compiled to honour
the victims of the Nazi era, regardless
of religion, and for educational and
historical purposes.
In a letter to the Salonika municipality, the Central Jewish Board of
Greece wrote that the decision "was
not only an insult to the memory of
the Jews, but a reminder of sad times
of the occupation, which some want to
forget because they were the victims
and other want to forget for their own
reasons."
On July 17, the opposition party
Salonika for its Citizens and Ecology
tabled a bill that would include
Salonika.
The municipality's ruling faction,
headed by Mayor George Papageorgopoulos, rejected the bill with the
explanation that the murder of more
than 90 per cent of Salonika Jews during the Second World War were committed not in the city but in death
camps, and that Jews have lived in the
city only for 500 years.
The board's letter calls on
Papageorgopoulos to reconsider his
decision and have Salonika inducted
in the network. On the eve of the
Second World War, more than 55 000
Jews lived in Salonika.
The Germans entered the area in
April 1941; the Jews of Salonika were
deported to Poland nearly two years
later.
Local media criticised the decision
as an abomination, an insult to the
memory of the Jews and lacking in
fundamental knowledge of history.
According
to
historians,
Alexandrian Jews first arrived in
Salonika in 140 BC. During the 15th
and 16th centuries many Jewish exiles
from Spain, Portugal, Italy, Sicily and
France, as well as refugees from North
Africa, settled in Salonika. Today
about 1 000 Jews live there. (JTA)
32
SA JEWISH REPORT
01 - 08 August 2008
KDL Primary’s cross country stars
King David Linksfield
Primary School held
their cross country
tournament last
month and the winners with their medals
of the grade 3 event
were (from left): Ariel
Blumemfeld, Ryan
Horovitz and Ricky
Jayes.
Cassie (12) already dreams about the Olympics
JACK MILNER
CASSIE SHEAR may only be 12 years old
but already the swimming medals are
pouring in. Last week at the Speedo
Prestige gala held at the King’s Park pool
in Durban, Cassie came away with a medal
haul of three golds and one bronze.
Even more impressive is the fact that in
all eight events in which she participated,
Cassie achieved personal best times, a
clear indication that she is getting better
every day. As a result she is now seeded
three in the country in her favourite
breaststroke and number one in Gauteng.
Cassie began swimming when she was
just five years old and within a year she
was already taking it seriously and participating in galas, including the Southern
Dolphin junior events. By the time she was
seven she had won her first Victrix
Ludorum.
She was being coached by Galete Kirch
and was training with youngsters quite a
lot older than herself and keeping up with
girls of 11.
With her mother, Lauren, a keen swimmer, Cassie at the age of nine decided to
participate in the Midmar Mile with her
mom and the pair have continued to take
their places in that event and the
That’s exactly what happened
Sun City swim every year since
to
Cassie
at
the
Sasol
then.
Championships in Sasolburg in
In an ironic turn of events, Cassie
the first week of July. But despite
swam at an event in Florida in 2003
all that she still came away with
where she was named best swimmer.
two bronze medals, beaten by
Engraved on the trophy as the wingirls who were a year older than
ner in 1976 was her mother’s name.
her.
Not too often mother and daughter
Also during the year she reprecan claim to have won the same
sented Gauteng at SA Schools
swimming event!
event in Cape Town and also took
Although Cassie also played nether place at the Level 3 Nationals
ball and ran cross country, her curin East London in March.
rent coach, Peter Williams, has recCurrently a grade 6 pupil at
ommended she sticks to swimming
King David Victory Park Primary,
and as such those other sports have
Cassie became the school’s
been cast aside.
youngest ever recipient of
The Prestige event in Durban was
colours when she was in grade 5.
special in that a number of Olympic Swimmer Cassie Shear in action at the Level 3 Nationals
Swimming South Africa set
swimmers were at the event and that in East London in March this year.
qualifying standards for Level 3
could have spurred on Cassie someswimmers and in all the breastwhat. That is because she is very
stroke while she also made the 200m
stroke distances Cassie is within those
explicit on what is her ultimate goal: “To
breaststroke for 14 years and under, quite
requirements. The 50m standard is 39,71
win a gold medal at the Olympic Games.”
an achievement for a 12 year old.
seconds and her current best is 38,93, 100m
While her favourite stroke is breastMany people think swimming is great
124,62 (126,26) and 200m 303,03 (305,26).
stroke, two of her gold medals in Durban
on a hot summer’s day, but when one has
Unfortunately lack of funds could
came in freestyle relay events, the team
to take your place in a tournament in the
blight Cassie’s hopes of swimming at
breaking the record in the 400m race,
middle of winter in an outdoor pool,
next year’s Maccabiah, but at least she
while her third was for the 50m breastswimming is obviously only for the dedihas the Olympics to which she can look
stroke. Her bronze was in the 100m breastcated few.
forward.
Israeli Olympian released
from an Ethiopian jail
GONDAR - After four days behind bars,
Israeli Olympic marathon runner Haile
Satayin was released from prison in
Gondar, Ethiopia, last week.
The 53-year-old marathon runner was
arrested upon his arrival at Addis Ababa
Airport earlier and there were concerns
that he might even miss the Olympic
marathon on August 24.
The Ethiopian judge decided, however,
that there was no reason to keep Satayin
under arrest and the runner was set free.
“Satayin was arrested after an acquaintance of his claimed he had stolen money
from him,” Israel Athletics Association
Chairman Shlomo Ben-Gal told The
Jerusalem Post.
“Satayin said that there’s nothing to
these charges. The most important thing is
that he returns to Israel and continues his
preparations for the Olympics.”
Despite all the trouble, Satayin is intending to stay in Ethiopia in the coming weeks
and train for the Olympics as he initially
planned.
Seven months ago Satayin also spent
four days under arrest in Ethiopia and
Ben-Gal, who said he would try and convince the veteran to return to Israel, admitted last week Thursday that the IAA might
have been wrong to allow him to train in
the country ahead of the Olympics.
“We warned him and told him to make
sure there won’t be any problems, but he
said everything will be alright and told us
not to worry,” Ben-Gal said.
Festival ahead for Maccabi Golf
MACCABI GOLF has a number of tournaments coming up in the next couple of
months.
The Gauteng Championships for the
Barney Gordon Trophy is being held at the
Killarney Country Club on Sunday August
24 while the Maccabi Masters Tournament
as well as the Maccabi Festival of Golf, are
set to take place in Plettenberg Bay from
September 21 to 23.
• For information on all of these tournaments as well as the entry forms, please log
on to Maccabi Golf’s new-look website
www.maccabigolf.co.za
Erlich and Ram eye Olympic medal
TEL AVIV - One of Israel’s best medal
hopes, Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich’s tennis
pairing, have a dream to win an Olympic
medal in Beijing.
Ranked five in the world, the duo are
currently experiencing the best year of
their career, winning the Australian Open
in January and reaching the quarterfinals
at Wimbledon earlier this month.
The two, who reached the quarterfinals
at the Athens Games, will have one massive advantage at the Olympic tournament. Many of the world’s leading teams
are made up of players from different
countries and can’t play together in
Beijing as only two players with the same
nationality can compete at the Olympic
doubles tournament.
As a result, there will be many inexperienced duos in China, giving the Israelis a
big confidence boost even before the tournament begins.
The Olympic tennis events do, however,
tend to spring surprises. With players like
Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal also in the
doubles draw, not to mention the top
ranked Bryan brothers from the US, every
round promises to be a real challenge.