Talking slavery and freedom

April 11 2014 / 11 Nissan 5774
Volume 18 – Number 13
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Jewish Report
south african
Photo: Ashleigh Sacks
www.sajr.co.za
Talking slavery and freedom
“Why is this night different from any other night?” Mac Maharaj, Presidency spokesman and Struggle veteran, seems to be asking Johnny Copelyn CEO
of HCI and Zev Krengel, president of the SAJBD, at last week’s Freedom Seder hosted by the SAJBD at Arcadia in Johannesburg. This event aimed
at providing a distinctively Jewish vehicle through which our community could participate with their fellow-South Africans in celebrating 20 years of
democracy. It featured a smorgasbord of speakers, including Maharaj, Copelyn and Krengel, as well as Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Robyn Curnow of
CNN, Wendy Kahn, national director of the SAJBD and Mary Kluk, chairman of the SAJBD. See stories on pages 6, 8 and 38.
SAKS: Recognising Israel,
a bridge too hard to cross
CHIEF RABBI GOLDSTEIN:
The big picture
Jews tend to be pragmatic and
flexible in finding solutions to
day-to-day disputes. By contrast,
the Muslim world view tends to
be more rigidly black and white.
One of the great teachings of
the Torah is that nothing in
this world is random; no event
is an isolated occurrence and
everything is part of the Divine
sweep of history.
9
Delectable
Pesach recipes
from Shelley
Geffen
Karabus book: good
Pesach reading
With iNumber Number,
Gavshon moves from TV
to film
Suzanne Belling’s book on the
Cyril Karabus saga, releases
next week. See our website for
an opportunity to win yourself
a copy.
2
24-26
“Even though this film doesn’t
necessarily address me as a
white, English-speaking Jew, it’s
entertaining.”
3
20
At a time when we talk about the exodus from Egypt….
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Wishing all our clients and friends aHappy Kosher Pesach
2
SA JEWISH R
REPORT
EPORT
Community
News
Pesach: The big picture
CHIEF RABBI WARREN GOLDSTEIN
We live in a world with lots of information but
little perspective; news cycles seem to be getting shorter and shorter and the explosion of
electronic communication and social media has
fragmented our understanding of what’s going
on around us - making it all the more difficult to
gain the proper perspective necessary to understand world events in their fullest sense.
The Gemara describes a foetus in the womb
for the purpose of teaching us important ideas
about life. It describes how the foetus “can see
from one side of the world to the other”.
What does this mean? It cannot mean that
the foetus has unlimited physical vision, but
rather, that a human being, in order to achieve
greatness, needs to have vision; to see things in
greater perspective; that when we look at things,
it should not be in a fragmented or one-dimensional way, but rather we should see the full and
broad perspective.
The Torah is Hashem’s system of wisdom and
action that gives us a full perspective on our lives
- to understand who we are and where we come
from, and what our purpose is on this Earth.
We can also apply this idea on the occasion of
the 20th anniversary of freedom and democracy
in South Africa. So often we get caught up in the
latest headlines and crisis and scandal, and yet
this milestone is an opportunity to step back
from the fray of day-to-day politics and governance and to appreciate the 20-year journey of
South Africa and where we have come from, to
appreciate that the country has embarked on
a journey from the tyranny of apartheid where
human rights were routinely abused, to a new
dispensation where institutions of freedom and
democracy are well established in South Africa.
Shabbat Hagadol Acharei Mot
Rabbi Shmuel Kagan
Or Zarua, Mizrachi Young
Adults
Why would someone drive drunk? Why would
two incredibly holy Kohanim whose father was
Aharon the High Priest, dare to enter the Holy
of Holies under the influence of alcohol? Why
would they enter such a holy place without caution and permission? What is the cause of people
having a lacklustre attitude to serious situations
with far-reaching consequences?
This week’s parsha, Acharei Mot, begins with a
description of life after the tragic deaths of Aharon the Kohein Gadol’s two older sons, Nadav
and Avihu. These young men had a reputation
of righteousness and outstanding ability and
talent. They were spiritual guides to the Jewish
people and could have grown up to take Aharon’s
place at the pinnacle of spiritual service.
They died while passionately and spontaneously serving Hashem bringing incense offerings
in the Holy of Holies. This may sound like an
unjustified death, but after struggling to find an
appropriate reason for Hashem’s punishment,
the sages over the millennia have come up with
Let us step back and appreciate and thank
Hashem for the miracles that allowed South Africa to make a peaceful transition. That is not to
gloss over the problems and serious issues that
our country faces, but it is to say: Let us have a
look at things from a broader perspective.
And it is the same with Israel. We need to step
back and look at the State of Israel in terms of
the enormous miracle that it
is, given what has taken place
throughout Jewish history.
We so often get caught up
in the latest political wrangle
around the negotiations, or
with the unjustifiable hate and
criticsim levelled at the Jewish State, that we forget how
unusual and miraculous it is to
have Jewish sovereignty in the
Land of Israel - something that
for almost 2 000 years, Jews
were not blessed with. Perspective in life is everything.
It is also crucial to understanding our own
lives and appreciating the blessings that we have.
As the Gemara says, a person should give thanks
to Hashem for every breath of air.
Perspective is to look at the broader picture of
our lives, and in spite of whatever problems and
challenges we may be facing, to see our G-dgiven lives in their fullest sense and not to allow
ourselves to get pulled into one specific problem
that dominates everything else and causes us to
lose sight of the overall picture.
Pesach is a time of perspective - when we go
back to the beginning, to our formative moments as a people, and in so doing, gain an understanding of the full sweep of Jewish history,
right up until the present day.
On seder night, we are commanded by G-d to
speak about the Exodus from Egypt. We don’t
just recount the historical facts, but tell the story
in the manner in which G-d has shown us.
The Passover Haggadah is constructed in such
a way that in retelling the events and re-experiencing the miracles which G-d performed for
our ancestors in Egypt, we are actually putting
the various fragments together to form a large,
integrated whole.
For example, we do not look at the Ten
Plagues as isolated occurrences,
but see the pattern within
them.
As we go through the
Haggadah we realise that the
Exodus from Egypt was not an
isolated event but one which
occurred in the context of our
people’s history, going all the
way back to our forefathers and
matriarchs, Abraham, Isaac,
Jacob, Sarah, Rebecca, Rachel
and Leah.
On seder night we do not
just tell of the Exodus experience, but about how we got to Egypt in the first
place, the destiny of our people and the events
subsequent to our liberation - the giving of the
Torah at Mount Sinai, entering the Land of
Israel, the final redemption.
We look at the full sweep of history, not just at
isolated events being recounted at that moment.
Through this, G-d teaches us an important lesson: that we need to look at the broader perspective and to contextualise the events of history in
order to make sense of them.
Often we get pulled into the vortex of a particular event’s intensity, to the point where we
are not able to see the larger picture. But one of
the great teachings of the Torah is that nothing
in this world is random; no event is an isolated
01 11
- 08
June
2012
– 25
April
2014
occurrence and everything is part of the Divine
sweep of history.
We need to piece together the fragments so
that they cohere in a meaningful way which
reflects G-d’s master plan.
The mitzvah of retelling the story of the Exodus from Egypt, enables us to glean and impart
to the next generation, a coherent, comprehensive picture of our people’s history and destiny.
It’s not just about relating the individual
incidents and miracles, but about seeing things
from a broader perspective.
From the Haggadah we learn to see ourselves as central characters in the unfolding
story of Jewish destiny, as guided by G-d; we
learn to see events not as random, fragmented
headlines, but as part of the meaningful story
of who we are and what our mission is in this
world, to find our clarity of purpose and sense
of Divine mission.
Gina and I would like to take this opportunity to wish our entire community a joyous and
kosher Pesach.
Shabbat and YomTov Times
Parshat Shabbat Hagadol Acharei Mot
April 11/ April 12
17:38 18:26Johannesburg
18:11
19:01
Cape Town
17:43 18:32Durban
17:24 18:13Bloemfontein
17:42
18:32
Port Elizabeth
17:34
18:24
East London
First Day Pesach, Monday April 14
17:35Johannesburg
18:07
Cape Town
17:20Durban
17:40Bloemfontein
17:38
Port Elizabeth
17:30
East London
Second Day Pesach, April 15/April 16
Candle-lighting Yomtov ends
(from a pre-existing flame)
18:23
18:22Johannesburg
18:58
18:56 Cape Town
18:10
18:09Durban
18:29
18:28Bloemfontein
18:29
18:28 Port Elizabeth
a constant reminder to the Kohein Gadol that he 18:20
18:19 East London
is in the midst of Holy, solemn work.
Pesach Chol Hamoed Shabbat
The error of these men in not wearing the
April 18 / April 19
me’il, was that once they would have placed
17:31 18:20Johannesburg
it over their shoulders the bells would have
18:02
18:53
Cape Town
17:16 18:05Durban
shouted to them that serving in the Temple is
17:36 18:25Bloemfontein
not some spontaneous, spur-of-the-moment
18:24
Port Elizabeth
reaction. Such holy service requires passion and 17:33
17:25
18:16
East London
new-found energy, but with such great consequences, that passion must be carefully directed Seventh Day Yomtov, Sunday April 20
Candle-lighting
and the resulting behaviour thought out.
Alcohol removes one’s clarity of thought and 17:29Johannesburg
18:00
Cape Town
often brings flippancy to serious situations.
17:14Durban
The problem is not the alcohol, but the lack
17:34Bloemfontein
of appreciation of what is needed in such a
17:31
Port Elizabeth
situation.
17:23
East London
These brothers had a remarkable future to
Eighth Day Yomtov, April 21/April 22
expect but in a moment of genuine and rightCandle-lighting
Yomtov ends
eous passion, they acted with too much heart (from a pre-existing flame)
and not enough head! The bells ringing would 18:18 18:17Johannesburg
have awakened their mind and the wine they
18:51
18:49
Cape Town
drank clouded their senses.
18:03 18:02Durban
May we all recognise the appropriate behav- 18:23 18:22Bloemfontein
iour each situation warrants before we need
18:22
18:21
Port Elizabeth
the consequences to teach it to us.
18:13
18:12
East London
Kohanim, drunk driving
31 possible causes. One is that the brothers were
intoxicated while they were performing the holy
sacrifice and such a lack of appreciation the need
for caution during such a process in such a holy
place, can result in tragedy. It is similar to a surgeon arriving for an operation, inebriated.
Another suggestion for their death is that
of the Midrash, saying they were not dressed
appropriately! The act they were attempting was
similar to that of the High Priest so they should
have been wearing the me’il, a blue tunic which
had bells at the hem and was exclusively worn by
the Kohein Gadol.
Why this suggestion is so perplexing is that it
is considered not only inappropriate, but sinful
for a regular priest to don the unique garments
that only the High Priest would wear. How then
could Nadav and Avihu be punished for not being fully dressed when wearing the clothes they
were lacking, would constitute a grave transgression? And why out of all the special garments
that the Kohein Gadol alone could wear, does the
Midrash specify the me’il?
This tunic was adorned with bells at its bottom
edge. This not only beautified it, but also acted as
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News
11 – 25 April 2014
Karabus book: good Pesach reading
ANT KATZ
Suzanne Belling’s book, Blood Money: The Cyril Karabus Story, will be released
in paperback (R195) and e-book versions next week.
“Murderer, murderer! You are under arrest!” The shock of being arrested at
Dubai Airport was almost too much for the ailing 77-year-old Professor Karabus, a world-renowned paediatric oncologist en route home to Cape Town with
his wife and family after attending his son’s wedding in Toronto.
Without his knowledge, Karabus had been tried in absentia in 2004 in Abu
Dhabi and found guilty of manslaughter after the death of a three-year-old
Yemeni girl who had died from acute myeloblastic leukaemia. Karabus had
worked as a locum in the United Arab Emirates in 2002 when this death occurred.
Charges were trumped up against him by the child’s
father, who demanded blood money - which, according to Sharia law, is only payable after a criminal
conviction - despite the fact that the girl was not even
Karabus’ patient.
The book tells the engrossing story of Karabus’
fight to prove his innocence and secure his release
from jail in the UAE, where he was confined for nine
months. It also lifts the lid on all the extraordinary
behind-the-scenes attempts and manoeuvres to free
him.
The “Free Professor Karabus” campaign was led by Cape Town lawyer
Michael Bagraim and was embraced by the medical community. This involved
boycotts of Dubai-based medical conferences, public protests, website petitions and fundraisers to help meet the professor’s legal expenses.
As the book reveals, it was a leading South African businessman and former
student of Professor Karabus at the University of Cape Town, Iqbal Survé, who
emerged as the knight in shining armour. Using his connections to the Abu
Dhabi royal family, he made two trips to the Emirates on Prof Karabus’ behalf
and in the end his efforts proved successful.
Suzanne Belling (pictured) also co-wrote The Travelling Rabbi: My African
Tribe (Jacana) about Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft - the popular SA Country Communities rabbi.
Publishers Jacana have given the Jewish Report website (sajr.co.za) five
copies to give away to lucky readers. See the website for full story and more
details. Also see “What’s on the Web” in Jewish Report.
Wishing all of our
customers a joyous
and kosher Pesach.
Visit our stores or browse online
for the largest range of kosher
beverages, all under one roof!
Keeping the community
in fine spirits for over 38
years.
SA JEWISH REPORT
3
Israel’s
embassy staff
back at work
ANT KATZ
The two-week long Israeli Foreign Ministry
strike ended late last week - and the Pretoria embassy has been working overtime
and has almost completely eliminated the
backlog of work.
The year-long labour dispute ended
with an agreement to increase pay for
diplomats. The Foreign Ministry Workers
Union called the deal with the Finance
Ministry an “outline” of a collective agreement that will be signed within a month.
Michael Freeman, the deputy head of
mission at the Israeli embassy in Pretoria,
told Jewish Report that since the end of
the strike “embassy staff had worked
extra hours to catch up with the backlog”
of paperwork and they will be up to date
soon.
“The most important thing,” says Freeman, “is that we would like to thank the
public for their patience.” Freeman said
that if anyone had special travel requirements, they should contact the embassy.
Under the collective agreement reached
in Jerusalem, diplomats’ salaries will be
adjusted according to the cost of living
in the country in which they are working. Also, there will be compensation for
spouses of diplomats for loss of work in
their field and the Foreign Ministry will
help pay for the education of foreign
diplomats’ children.
Read a more detailed story on our
website.
4
2
Pesach
News
SA JEWISH R
REPORT
EPORT
01 11
- 08
June
2012
– 25
April
2014
To each his own – Pesach is personal
RABBI YOSSY GOLDMAN
SYDENHAM HIGHLANDS NORTH SHUL
peel and accidentally spills her milk tea into your pot of chicken soup… Do not
throw out the soup! Call your rabbi. Depending on the circumstances he may be
able to help and save your Friday night dinner from disaster.
You know the story of Tevye der Milchiger? He was the milkman in the shtetl.
Pesach is such an interesting Yomtov. While the basic observances are pretty
Well, one day, the unthinkable happened and the caterer was preparing a wedding
much universal, everybody seems to have their own unique way of celebrating.
feast and one of his workers indeed slipped
Each family has its own distinct tradion the proverbial banana peel and his milk
tions and customs handed down from
tea went flying into the vat of meat on the
generation to generation. Whether it’s
fire.
how to do lose or find the Afikoman, or
Can you imagine the calamity if there
which are our favourite seder songs, we all
would be no dinner for the hundreds of
seem to have very definite views of how
hungry wedding guests? So the rav of the
things ought to be done.
shtetl was called in to deal with this most
And sometimes our personal Pesach
serious halachic question, a very grave
practices can be pretty outlandish too.
shaaloh indeed.
Take the woman who does not actuThe wise old rav called in Tevye the Milkally keep kosher all year round but come
man to his private study. He closed the door
Pesach and she “changes over”. Does that
tightly and whispered into the milkman’s
make sense, or is it absurd? Is it logical?
ear.
Not really.
“Tevye, tell me the truth, how much
But who am I to be dismissive of a Jew’s
water do you pour into your milk?”
desire to connect to Hashem and keep a
“Rebbe, you would accuse me of cheating
mitzvah? I can only hope she will change
my customers?!”
over permanently and keep kosher the
“Tevye, it’s just me and you here behind
rest of the year too.
closed doors. Please, it’s very important
The fact is that, historically, most famithat I know. How much water?”
lies were stricter on Pesach than the rest
“Rebbe, efsher ah bissel” (“Maybe only a
of the year. The most religiously observant
little”).
people had stringencies on Pesach that
“Tevye, I beg of you, your secret is safe
they never kept during the year.
with me. Please tell me the truth. How
When I was growing up in Brooklyn,
much water do you add in to your milk?”
we never ate out on Pesach; even at our
What should I tell you? By the time the
most frum friends, even people we ate
rav extracted the whole truth from Tevye he
at throughout the year on Shabbos or
was satisfied that the meat for the wedding
Yomtov. But never on Pesach.
was not only strictly kosher but that Tevye’s
Why not? Well, I suppose it was because
milk was probably parev!
every family has its own hidurim, strinBut on Pesach, you see, the kashrut congencies they observe on Pesach. This one
cept of Bittul - nullification - does not apply.
does this and the other does that. This
Chametz is such a strict prohibition that it
fellow won’t eat this product and the other
can never be overwhelmed; no matter how
doesn’t touch that vegetable and we all re- “Next Year in Jerusalem.” © 2011 Mark Podwal (from Sharing the
big the pot may be. Even an infinitesimal
spected each other’s right to be “meshugga Journey: the Haggadah for the Contemporary Family. CCAR Press,
iota of chametz will render the biggest pot
frum” on Pesach.
New York)
of Pesachdik food absolutely forbidden.
But why?
So we must be as stringent as possible to keep even the smallest piece of
There are two basic reasons behind this special scrupulousness on Pesach. One
chametz far and away from us and our families. Hence, our extreme strictness on
is practical and the other is halachic and somewhat technical.
Pesach.
Practically speaking we need to be stricter and take additional precautions on
Some people ask why we need so many “kosher for Passover” products today
Pesach because foods that are perfectly kosher a whole year, are for this one week
when in the good old days we never had all those options on our menu and it was
strictly forbidden. Bread and biscuits, chocolate cake and kitka, pizza and pasta,
just fine.
wafers and whisky may be 100 per cent kosher and deliciously edible every week
Other people insist on every convenience over Pesach to make it more enjoyof the year, but during the one week of Pesach these very same foods become
able. Still others will go to a beautiful hotel, here or in Israel, where every luxury is
absolutely treif!
laid on and it is truly their “Festival of Freedom”.
We could easily make an innocent mistake and take a bite of any of these foods
To each our own. Whether it is our unique childhood memories of fathers or
were they available and within easy reach. So we make sure the house is thorzaides conducting a traditional seder, or the seder songs of our youth that still
oughly cleaned up and all chametz is locked away so that no innocent errors can
ignite our neshamas, the dedication to Pesach is alive in Jewish hearts.
be made, even inadvertently.
Indeed, so should it be for the festival that celebrates the very birth of our naThen there is the halachic reason. You may have heard of the concept of “botul
tion.
b’shishim”. This a principle of kashrut which means that there are times when,
So while it may be our national birthday and the very beginning of Jewish
for example, a small amount of milk becomes mixed into a larger amount of meat
peoplehood, Pesach is also a very personal Yomtov, and we each celebrate it in our
and the milk will be overwhelmed and “nullified” by the meat and the usually
own unique ways and styles, with our own special memories and even our own
forbidden mixture may still be kosher. I hasten to add that these questions must
curious idiosyncrasies as well.
be answered by a qualified rabbi only!
Chag Kosher vSameach.
So, say you are preparing Shabbos and your domestic chef slips on a banana
The management and staff wish all our customers,
family and friends Chag Sameach
I-DEAL VALUE
I-DEAL SERVICE
WE GUARANTEE TO BEAT
ANY WRITTEN QUOTE
What’s on
the web?
ANT KATZ
The Jewish Report website
(www.sajr.co.za) is giving
away five copies of Suzanne
Belling’s book on Prof Cyril
Karabus, delivered to your
doorstep, anywhere in the
world! (See page 3). Excerpts
of the book will be published
in Independent Newspapers’
weekend editions.
Our website carries a host
of exclusive stories (not
found in the print edition)
and, in many cases, longer
versions of the stories in the
newspaper with additional
pictures.
www.sajr.co.za also sends
out a free newsletter every
Wednesday with a downloadable PDF version of the
week’s print copy. So, by
signing up for the newsletter,
you can be the first to have all
the week’s news! Simply go
to the website, give us your
e-mail address (no other info
required), and join our over
6 000 subscribers worldwide.
For Pesach: sajr.co.za has
all the latest information
from the UOS and will be the
only Jewish medium that will
update special Pesach kashrut
notices on the day the Beth
Din issues them - right
through the holidays.
Read the South
African Jewish
Report online
www.sajr.co.za
11 – 25 April 2014
Pesach
SA JEWISH REPORT
5
The artist behind our spectacular Pesach cover
Podwal became a regular illustrator. “At some point, I decided I only
wanted to draw on Jewish themes
and medical issues.”
In his quest for a focus for his
next anthology, Podwal came
across the letter sent by 18 Jewish
families of the Soviet Union to the
Commission on Human Rights,
which argues for the right of Soviet
Jews to emigrate to Israel.
“As a Jew, I was moved; as an artist I
felt an urge to illustrate that letter. At the
Passover seder that year, I realised the only
effective way to do this was to create an
“The Bread of Affliction.” © 2011 Mark
Podwal (from Sharing the Journey: the
Haggadah for the Contemporary Family. CCAR
Press, New York)
ROBYN SASSEN
Our glossy cover - and other illustrations in
this Pesach issue - draws from the Haggadah
illustrations of Brooklyn-born Mark Podwal
(pictured), a clinical professor of dermatology who is currently showing work at the
Terezin Memorial, in Prague.
He told the SA Jewish Report: “Though I
always loved to draw, I never pursued formal
art training. My parents encouraged me to
become a physician.”
Surgery seemed an obvious choice of
specialisation for Podwal, as he was skilled
with his hands, but “I realised a surgeon’s
life would leave little time for drawing. A
professor who liked my drawings advised me
to choose a specialty that would afford me
time for my art: dermatology, pathology or
radiology.”
Podwal opted for the former; he knew
it was competitive. Again, his art opened
doors. “NYU’s chair of dermatology so liked
my drawings he approved my application
before I completed it.”
American politics in the 1960s, while Podwal was still a student, ignited his artistic
passion; he created political drawings which
resulted in his first book, “The Decline and
Fall of the American Empire”.
“It came to the attention of the first op-ed
page art director at The New York Times,” he
recalls. “In 1972, my first drawing appeared
on the NYT op-ed page. It was of the Munich
Massacre.”
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entire Haggadah on the plight of
Soviet Jewry.”
That Haggadah entitled, “Let My
People Go”, broke new ground, reshaping the modern Haggadah as a
contemporary political tool. Podwal
has since illustrated more Haggadoth and over 11 other books.
Podwal has exhibited all over the
world, but has developed a special
bond with Prague. In August 2012,
Rabbi Norman Patz, president of the Society
of the History of the Jews of Czechoslovakia, invited him to exhibit at Terezin. “The
42 works are about how Europe’s Jew-hatred
laid Terezin and Auschwitz groundwork.
“Each work illuminates the saying ‘Misfortune seldom misses a Jew’. Yet despite this,
Jews sustain their faith in G-d. The postbiblical tragedies in these works are paired
with verses from Psalms.
“In addition to the original works there
are 70 sets of giclee archival prints. The US
Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Library
of Congress, Florida’s Jewish Museum and
the Terezin Memorial are among the many
institutions acquiring these portfolios.”
Podwal’s Terezin show opened this
week and will be on show until July.
www.markpodwal.com
Opinion and Analysis
SA JEWISH REPORT
Jewish Report
south african
Liberating slaves
and slave-masters
We didn’t achieve South African democracy easily, after
decades of apartheid and colonialism which existed before
that - indeed, ever since white people arrived in this part
of the world. And apartheid’s aftermath will be with us for
generations to come.
Nevertheless, here we are, 20 years after our first free
poll in 1994 and, despite the country’s many political and
social problems, our democratic institutions are holding
up. The elections on May 7 look likely to provide a muchneeded shake-up of our politics.
As South African Jews celebrate Pesach this coming
week, the Jews’ liberation from Egyptian slavery resonates with the liberation of this country’s people from
the slavery of apartheid. We publish in this issue not only
Pesach stories, but also stories relating to South Africa’s
own Struggle.
An inspiring “Freedom Seder”, organised by the SAJBD
last Thursday, had South African Struggle veterans talking alongside the Chief Rabbi and other Jewish leaders.
Enslavement and freedom are fertile topics loaded with
1 000 questions about what they mean and to who.
A major exhibition of black and white photographs
funded by the International Center of Photography in
New York is reviewed on page 18, called “The Rise and Fall
of Apartheid”. In it, the work of numerous photographers
active during that time - many of them Jewish - focuses
on what the racial bureaucracy did to ordinary black and
white South Africans, and the bizarre situations it created,
such as a black maid carrying her white employer’s child
and having to decide whether to sit on a “Europeans” or
“Non-Europeans” park bench.
We also report on the keynote speeches delivered at the
Freedom Seder by Struggle veterans Mac Maharaj, imprisoned for 12 years on Robben Island with Nelson Mandela
after conviction for sabotage in 1964, and Johnny Copelyn, a former leader in the black trade union movement,
who asks how close the South African Jewish community
- along with other white groups - came to being like Pharaoh in relation to blacks.
The peaceful transition to democracy which we like to
boast about today - Mandela’s “miracle” - was not such a
certain thing at the time. Before the 1994 poll, there were
major threats of it being violently sabotaged by rightwingers with bombs and guns, as well as by black-on-black
power and ethnic struggles.
As is often said, freedom is the beginning of the journey,
not the end, both for former “slaves” as well as for their
masters. We may have achieved freedom in South Africa,
but we are still on the journey towards consolidating our
post-apartheid identities and democracy.
We have dragged many of the old racial structures and
attitudes with us into the new dispensation. Transformation is difficult and slow.
Former slave and master need to find each other. Trust
must be earned. It doesn’t automatically come from the
best constitution in the world. South African Jews, like
other groups, need to earn the trust of the black majority,
and vice versa.
We tend to think of transformation in terms of large
gestures such as reparations and political power. But it is,
equally, small daily acts of kindness and connecting with
the other, that make a difference.
For whites, one challenge is to get out of the mode acquired during apartheid - when they were the “masters”
and “madams” - of being patronising towards black people. Equally, to stop their constant whingeing about the
country and, instead, become actively involved in repairing it.
With elections coming up in a few weeks’ time, it is clear
South African politics is more fluid than at any stage since
1994, with new parties in place and major parties not as
sure of their positions as before. In the run-up to the polls,
racial politics is likely to become more pronounced to garner those precious votes.
This Passover is a time for celebration and introspection, not just as Jews, but equally as South Africans. What
will we do with our freedom?
– Geoff Sifrin, Editor
11 – 25 April 2014
Maharaj: You don’t negotiate with
friends. You negotiate with enemies
GEOFF SIFRIN
At 11 pm on a Saturday night in March 1993 - a year before the
1994 democratic elections, when there were many threats of
political violence - Mac Maharaj (pictured) got a call from ANC
comrade Mo Shaik to meet him at one o’ clock that morning in
Pretoria. He was nervous, but went.
Mo led him to a building and up a fire escape. It was security
police headquarters. In a room at a long table, sat a group of
white men. He recognised some as generals; some had been his
“torturers in 1990”.
One man took videos from a briefcase, saying: “These are
booby-trapped.” Others pulled out other weapons, ranging
from laser guided pistols to homemade shotguns and rifles.
They said: “These weapons have been captured from the right
wing including the white right. We called you to tell you we have
decided we will protect the elections. We tell you because we
know Mandela trusts you.”
“They were true to their word,” says Maharaj, addressing the
SAJBD last Thursday in Johannesburg. “The last bombs went off
the night before the elections, at Jan Smuts Airport. Those who
carried it out were arrested shortly thereafter. Later, in 1998, two
years after the Truth and Reconciliation Commission started, a
group of security officers were granted amnesty. Among them
were those people I saw that night. For me it closed a book.”
South Africans have yet to complete the process of building a
nation. “We are in the beginnings of sharing our experiences, our
memories, our history, because that is the glue that holds people
together.
“It is fine to say ‘unity in diversity’, asserting the right of
each of us to be what we are, respect our religions, cultures and
languages. But that unity has been the overarching concept of a
nation. For the first time, South African people have to do that.
[We must have] a common understanding of what liberation
means for all of us, black and white.”
The key to their liberation, he says, is that South Africans found
the way to present their cases rationally. “When you present
your case rationally, you afford the other person to contradict
your case. If you put your case purely emotionally, there is no
discussion. You are talking past each other.”
The negotiating process between liberation movements and
the South African regime, “was a learning process, to begin to
listen to each other; not as a debating trick for wrong words and
false statements, but to try and understand where the other side
is coming from.”
After 1994 Maharaj participated in the Arniston Conference,
bringing warring parties from Northern Ireland together for
dialogue.
“They travelled in separate planes. They were at one venue, but
wouldn’t share the dining room, or the pub. We had to discuss
with them in separate rooms: Republicans in one, Unionists in
another.
“When we called President Mandela, we were in trepidation.
Madiba said it was fine: ‘I will address two separate meetings.’ He
walked into both rooms and said one simple message: ‘You do not
negotiate with your friends, you negotiate with your enemies.
One day you will have to get into the same room.’ Before they left
Arniston, they were in the same room.”
Maharaj congratulated the South African Jewish community
for linking their exodus from Egyptian slavery with a celebration
of 20 years of South African democracy.
“We need to tell our different stories of our different
communities, whether we were forced into those ghettos of
mind and physical tragedy by law or choice. Those stories are a
common story of humankind’s march to freedom. This is a neverending journey because we cannot imagine what we will be like
as the horizons are expanding.”
Compromising was crucial to achieving peace in post-apartheid
South Africa. “My privilege in the negotiations was not to do the
talking, but see that the process was always on track, that people
kept talking.
“Whenever they got stuck, it was hard to bring them back. To
do that I had to specially listen to each party. There were 19 at that
table. Madiba would have called many Mickey Mouse parties. But
we had to treat them as equals, to listen and understand where
they had come from, so I could go to my ANC colleagues and say:
‘I think this is their concern.’ What we have today is the outcome
of parties listening to each other’s concerns and seeing which
they can address and how.”
The ANC was determined negotiations should lead to one
person one vote and South Africa should have equality. “We
had to build a bridge between those parties with their different
interests and fears and bring them on board to universal adult
suffrage and equality. To do that we decided on an interim
Constitution which would allow a final Constitution by an Act of
Parliament. I reported to Madiba in November 1993, waking him
at night, saying I think we’ve got a deal.
“I could tell you many stories of dramatic moments, but those
are tailored by how we look at it. When I go back to Robben
Island today, people ask why I look at it with such joy? It’s simple:
because we succeeded in winning freedom and democracy.
“Had we not done this I would be only thinking of the pain,
cold winds and brutality of the warders. Because freedom is
acquired, I look at it as a privilege. The journey we took should
not be seen just in terms of sacrifice.”
Mac Maharaj belonged to the ANC’s armed wing Umkhonto we Sizwe, was sent to Robben Island in 1964 after being
convicted of sabotage, and was imprisoned with Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu and Ahmed Kathrada. Released in
1976, he smuggled out the first draft of Mandela’s autobiography. He helped negotiate transition to majority rule
and was transport minister during Mandela’s presidency. Today he is President Jacob Zuma’s spokesman.
China’s Kaifeng Jews returning to roots to celebrate Pesach
KAIFENG - China’s ancient Jewish community in
Kaifeng is set to celebrate a traditional Passover seder
for what may be the first time in centuries.
The seder is being sponsored by Shavei Israel, an
Israeli organisation that helps “Lost Tribes” and other
forgotten Jewish communities return to their roots.
The seder will be conducted by Tzuri Shi, a Kaifeng
Jew who formally converted and immigrated to Israel
a few years ago.
“We are proud and excited to organise this historic
event,” Shavei Israel Chairman and Founder, Michael
Freund stated.
“Kaifeng’s Jewish descendants are a living link
between China and the Jewish people, and it is
very moving to see the remnants of this community
returning to their Jewish roots as they prepare for
Passover,” he added. (JNS.org)
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
6
A model of a synagogue in Kaifeng, China.
11 – 25 April 2014
News
SA JEWISH REPORT
7
Photo: Shulamit Seidler-Feller
New platform to engage with Jewish ideas
A musical performance at the recent International Jewish Artist Retreat in Garrison, New York.
MICHELE ALPERIN
NEW YORK
Many young Jewish artists struggle to define who they are
personally, artistically, and religiously. Against the backdrop
of that struggle, the recent Asylum Arts International Jewish
Artists Retreat on the Hudson River in Garrison, New York
provides space for some 70 young Jewish artists to explore
Jewish ideas, build community and a culture of reciprocity,
and learn skills to assist their careers.
“We are trying to encourage people to engage in Jewish
themes,” says Rebecca Guber, director of Asylum Arts. “If you
provide artists with a platform, encouragement, and support,
these are rich and meaningful ideas that many artists want to
grapple with.”
While Asylum Arts supports the inner searches of young
Jewish artists, the new network is not prescriptive about who
is a Jew. “We allow everyone who wants to be there and has a
commitment to exploring Jewish identity,” Guber says.
The artistic pursuits of retreat attendee Aaron Samuels reflect his upbringing in a multi-racial household in Rhode Island. His father, raised a Protestant, is part African-American,
part Jamaican. His mother, of a mixed Russian and Polish
background, was raised in an Orthodox Jewish community in
New York, but she distanced herself from Judaism because of
her community’s sexism. When Samuels was in third grade,
she made a conscious commitment to bring Judaism back into
her and her children’s lives.
“Even if some parts are sexist, some racist, and some toxic,
there are some parts that can be brilliant, whole, communityoriented, and amazing,” he says.
A writer, poet, and spoken-word performer, Samuels said
his Judaism was intertwined with his race. “I have been the
only black person in a room full of Jews, and the only Jew in
a room full of blacks,” he says. “I can understand both sides.”
Rebecca Ora, a retreat attendee who is a University of California doctoral student in film and digital media, was raised
modern Orthodox together with her six siblings.
Her work is inspired by conflict, often centring on Israel and
Jewish identity. “It is also how I was raised. You can show you
love or care about something is by arguing about it.”
As they left the Asylum Arts retreat, Guber says many artists told her how strongly the event had affected them. “They
know so much more about what being Jewish can mean, and
were feeling deeply supported in being out in the world as an
artist.” (JNS.org)
“Your Travel Experts for special packages to Israel
or any destination of your choice”
Contact Sandra Slater on 011 788 2050
Harvey Travel 20x3 181013.indd 1
2013/10/29 2:3
8
2
OpinionNews
and Analysis
SA JEWISH R
REPORT
EPORT
01 11
- 08
June
2012
– 25
April
2014
GEOFF SIFRIN
to the toilet. My grandmother asked:
‘Where do they go?’ and suggested
she try the basement.”
Black workers could not defend
themselves at work, since they had
no unions. To participate in collective
bargaining, unions had to exclude
Africans from membership. Employers hired and fired black workers at a
whim.
“Black people were fired for being
slow, cheeky, sullen, being union
members, or for any reason. It was as
simple as this: ‘You’re fired, get out’. A
1974 booklet on the textile industry
from the National Productivity Institute said the labour turnover for less
than one year’s service was 119 per
cent. So, of every 100 black workers
hired, virtually all were fired during
the first year.”
Copelyn asks uncomfortable questions from South African Jews: “In
the seder story, G-d sent Moses to
talk to Pharaoh, resulting in the Ten
Plagues. It says G-d hardened Pharaoh’s heart, to have no pity.
“Did we [SA Jews] find that our
hearts were hardened to the suffering? The most striking fact is that we
lived as Jews, as whites, comfortably,
notwithstanding this humiliation
around us. I don’t say we didn’t have
pity or sympathy, but by and large
we were pretty comfortable the way
things were. Not only the laws were
like that, we ourselves were like that.
“I grew up in a house, for example,
where our domestic had her own cup,
an enamel cup especially for her. My
friends were the same.
“Her hands were great for washing
our plates, but the idea that her lips
might touch our cups was a whole
other story. We had a concept of
‘boy’s meat’, which was horse meat.
I grew up believing black people
wanted to eat ‘boy’s meat’. When you
think that’s actually the meat people
really wanted, then [things are very
wrong].”
Eventually in the 1980s, apartheid’s rigidity began to erode. Bizarre
situations arose. “It started when I
was a child, with black people being
appointed traffic officers. There was
a vibrant debate in newspapers over
whether it was proper for a black
traffic cop to give a white person a
traffic ticket. And if the white person
resisted, what was to happen?”
After 1994, Copelyn went to
parliament as an ANC member.
When Finance Minister Liebenberg
suddenly took ill, Trevor Manuel was
appointed, the first finance minister
who wasn’t white. In response, the
conversation in his community was
that the finance minister was not
really the man to watch for; while
[white] Chris Stolz remained Reserve
Bank governor, things would be okay.
“Then Tito Mboweni took over the
Reserve Bank, and we arrived in the
21st century.”
Copelyn has little patience for how
South Africans complain about the
country today. “A play in Cape Town
with John Kani called ‘Missing’, has a
line: ‘We fought for freedom and what
did we get? We got democracy.’ Well,
here we are 20 years later moaning
and groaning as loudly as Aviram and
Datan in the Torah.
“When the Jews left slavery, they
got to the first place and didn’t have
enough water: moan, groan. They
got to the edge of the Red Sea, didn’t
know how to cross: moan, groan.”
And so on. Twenty years into democracy and freedom, Jews should look
at themselves honestly and never
forget how comfortable they were
under apartheid.
He also believes South African
whites have been blessed with
something Egyptians never had
- being liberated from the role of
“slave masters”. Egyptians continued owning slaves, although not
Jewish, and never experienced the
freedom a slave master acquires
when the slave is let go.
“Whenever slaves achieve liberation, free people celebrate the
struggles of slaves to be free. But
the slave master is also freed. We no
longer are cast in the slave master
roles we once were in. Each of us
was granted a piece of liberation
and it has made us somewhat more
human.”
Johnny Copelyn was head of the politically active SACTWU during apartheid.
He was elected to Parliament for the
ANC in the post-apartheid elections. In
1997 he moved to Hosken Consolidated
Investments (HCI). He is today head of
Tsogo Sun.
KINGJAMES II 051
Remembering at Pesach “how things
used to be” as slaves in Egypt, is
important in a special way for South
African Jews who lived in apartheid,
said Johnny Copelyn (pictured) to the
guests at the SAJBD Freedom Seder
in Johannesburg last Thursday. The
Jewish story resonates with their past
here. He described circumstances he
lived in when growing up.
“Black people couldn’t enter a city
- any city - unless they had a permit.
They could only come to seek work. If
they couldn’t find work, they had to
get out within 30 days. They had to
come alone, they couldn’t bring their
families.
“If they lost their jobs, they had to
go through the whole exercise again,
getting out of town, then applying for
permits to come back in. The only way
out of this was to work for one person
for at least 10 years, more than one
for 15 years, or to have been born in a
‘white’ area.
“Every black person had to carry
a passport which could be solicited
from them any time, day or night.
They were required to produce it. We
had shops where black people were
encouraged to shop.
“I remember a department store in
Johannesburg, coming there with my
grandmother. We came across a black
woman with her child in distress. She
asked if I knew where there was a
toilet for black people. I had no idea
black people would ever want to go
Photo: Jason Crouse
Jewish story resonates with their past in apartheid SA
Warm wishes for a blessed Passover,
full of love and peace.
www.europcar.co.za
11 – 25 April 2014
Opinion and Analysis
SA JEWISH REPORT
9
Recognising Israel,
a Palestinian bridge
too hard to cross
BARBARIC YAWP
David Saks
Last week, a month short of 16 years since
the issue first arose, the SAJBD and Islamic
Unity Convention (IUC) finally put to bed the
vexed dispute over Radio 786 and the antiSemitic programme it broadcast way back in
May 1998.
Both sides, predictably enough, claimed
victory, and unusually enough, the two claims
are not mutually exclusive. The SAJBD can
demonstrate that in the end, it had achieved
most of what it had set out to, namely to
receive a formal hearing into its complaint by
the relevant broadcasting regulatory body, to
demonstrate why the programme in question
had made grossly anti-Semitic and defamatory accusations against the Jewish people
and to have Radio 786 acknowledge this to
have been so.
All this was ultimately achieved, albeit that
the manner in which the latter acknowledgment was worded fell short of a formal apology. For their part, throughout the process,
the IUC stuck to their position that what had
been broadcast had not been of such a nature
as to constitute prohibited hate speech and
that it was permissible in terms of the right to
media freedom and freedom of expression.
In the end, and probably much to the relief
of its members, the Complaints Compliance
Committee of Icasa was not required to rule
either way on the question.
In truth, the whole matter should have
been done and dusted inside a year. Why
it dragged on for so long was due to the
extraordinary lengths the IUC was prepared
to go to avoid having to answer to the Board’s
complaint at all.
Multiple challenges, on technical, procedural grounds as well as against the constitutionality of the entire complaints adjudication
process, were launched in the High Court and
Constitutional Court.
By early 2006, these options had finally
been exhausted, but when it was ruled that
a hearing would at last be held, the IUC’s
response was to walk out of the proceedings.
Only in December 2012, when the entire
matter was heard afresh, did the IUC finally
submit to being present while the Board’s case
was argued.
In retrospect, an interesting aspect of the
case - with the obvious caveat that one is
speaking here in broad terms - was how it
revealed the fundamental differences between
the Jewish and the Muslim approaches to
temporal realities.
Because of the nature of their historical experience, perhaps, combined with the
Talmudic-based culture of weighing up various opinions and angles in seeking a resolution, Jews have tended to be very pragmatic
and flexible in finding solutions to day-to-day
problems and disputes.
A recognition that distinctions often have
to be drawn between an ideal standard on
one hand and the necessity of settling for
something somewhat short of that standard
in light of practical realities not only underpinned Jewish self-government in the exile
era, but is very much characteristic of how
the modern-day State of Israel operates.
Here, I am referring less to questions of
religious, halachic import than to the area of
political compromise. Certainly, without the
give-and-take horse trading between factions
with widely differing agendas, chaotic as this
inevitably can be, it would be impossible to
govern Israel at all.
By contrast, the Muslim world view tends
to be more rigidly black and white, with little
in between. One of the results is that conceding fault in the course of trying to resolve a
dispute is very much harder.
The question of not being seen to be stepping down or losing face, also becomes a
critical obstacle. As a result, peace-making
becomes a matter of finding solutions
whereby the necessary concessions are made
in practice while maintaining the illusion that
the party making them has not “sold out” in
any way.
For the IUC, the need to avoid being seen
to have been somehow put on the spot by
the Jews/Zionist lobby, became such an issue
as to lead to vast expenditure aimed, in the
end unsuccessfully, at preventing that day of
reckoning from coming about.
As a result, a single offensive broadcast
from the last century that should have long
been dealt with and forgotten, was continuing to generate negative publicity and soaring
legal costs more than 15 years later.
An obvious illustration of this whole
culture clash has been the continual failure
of Israeli-Palestinian peace initiatives. No
matter how many material concessions the
ever-pragmatic Israelis have been prepared to
make - releasing convicted terrorists, removing checkpoints, territorial withdrawals and
the like - these have consistently foundered
against the inability of the Palestinians to
reciprocate, even symbolically.
Simple logic declares that the latter should
come to terms with the reality and legality
of Israel’s presence after having obtained the
best deal they can, but as the frustrated John
Kerry (like Clinton before him) has discovered, logic is seldom the governing factor in
Middle East politics. Abba Eban’s famous
aphorism that the Palestinians seldom miss
an opportunity to miss an opportunity, in a
way missed the point, namely that Palestinians might be willing to forfeit the chance
of attaining full independence altogether
rather than concede that Israel has come to
stay.
It might seem a relatively innocuous
thing for Abbas to recognise Israel as the
state of the Jewish people as a precondition
for Palestinian independence, but in reality
it is an emotional bridge most Palestinians
are simply incapable of crossing.
Read the South African Jewish
Report online www.sajr.co.za
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His journey ultimately led him to convert to Judaism and serve in the IDF.
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SA JEWISH REPORT
advertorial
11 – 25 April 2014
Community Talk
A story not to be missed
WIZO South Africa proudly presents a journey of discovery
and healing from the ruins of the Third Reich. The son of
a decorated German officer, Dr Bernd Wollschlaeger, was
forced at a young age to confront his father’s unbroken
allegiance to the Nazis. His journey ultimately led him
to convert to Judaism and serve in the IDF. To hear his
unmissable story, see the advert in this edition for booking
and contact details.
Unique opportunity for
would-be entrepreneurs
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Business” competition. The competition is
open to any and all inspired and driven Jewish
entrepreneurs who have a great business idea,
but need the tools to make it happen.
With an esteemed Judging and pitching panel
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top 10 contestants will gain precious advice and
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The winners
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Mizrachi Annual Golf Day
The SAZF in May 2014
Sunday night, May 4: Yom
Hazikaron; guest speaker Dr
Daniel Weiler; starting time
18:30 at Yeshiva College
campus.
Monday night May 5: Israel’s
66th birthday: “A toast to Israel”
- a cabaret dinner at Summer
Place. Delicious dinner and
accompanying entertainment
from Israeli singing sensation
Hananel Edri, brilliant Israeli comedian David
Kilimnick, live band and the chance to win
two free El Al tickets to Israel. Only R180 per
person.
Tuesday May 6: the Children’s
Carnival at Gold Reef City: R50
entrance includes all rides;
starting time 12:00.
For bookings and details,
contact Lisa at lisa@beyachad.
co.za; or call (011) 645-2510.
Tuesday night May 6: The
party to end all parties, for the
18 - 35-year-olds!
For details, contact Ari Kruger on ari.
kruger@liblink.co.za; or benji@beyachad.
co.za
Chev’s JEI event attracts over 500
Rob and Renee Israel, owners of Doc Popcorn
(one of the fastest growing popcorn franchises
in the US, with over 100 stores), were the
exciting guest speakers at this year’s 8th annual
Chev Helping Hands Jewish Entrepreneurs
Insight (JEI) event, which attracted over 500
community members eager to hear their
amazing success story.
As always, the event was hosted at Investec
and a light supper was served. James Beers
was the winner of the main prize - a two night
stay for two people at the 9-star Molori Safari
Lodge, including all meals, flights, game drives
and more.
Mizrachi South Africa hosted its Annual Golf Day
this week, the last one at which Rabbi Laurence
Perez will be present in his current position.
One of the first projects launched by Rabbi
Perez 15 years ago, it has become known as
a stand-out on the communal sports/business
calendar.
The grand prizes included a weekend at
the Malori Game Reserve, the Chivas Regal
Family, holidays and flights throughout South
Africa and more. Mizrachi also paid tribute to
Jolene Swartz who initiated the project with
Rabbi Perez and has championed it all the way
through.
Appeal to community to help us fill in missing pieces
The Hebrew of David has been a
part of the tapestry of Jewish
life in South Africa since
1904. This year the Order is
celebrating 110 years of that
association with the community
and is in the process of updating
its archives.
The Order is calling on the community
in South Africa and around the world
for assistance in filling in the missing
information and recovering items of interest
to add to our archives. We know that the
Hebrew Order of David touched
the lives of so many South
African Jews in many ways
and are asking for you, the
knowing community to be a
part of this project.
For more information contact
info@hodavid.org or call (011)
640-3017 and we’ll get together for a
discussion.
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News
11 – 25 April 2014
The Jewish
World
in 7 seconds
European Jewish Press, Europe:
www.ejpress.org
‘Israel’s added value to the EU featured in
new report’
“Europe is more secure, innovative and relevant on
the world stage thanks to the tools Israel provides,”
according to a new report by Oren Kessler, a
research fellow at the Henri Jackson Society.
Arutz Sheva, West Bank, Israel:
www.israelnationalnews.com
‘Leftists, Temple Mount activists clash at
Knesset hearing’
The Knesset Interior Committee’s Subcommittee on
Temple Mount Issues held its first meeting, in which
MKs discussed what rights Jews had on the Temple
Mount.
The Jewish Chronicle, London, UK:
www.thejc.com
‘Hungarian election ‘a wake-up call’ for
Europe’
Electoral gains made by the far-right party Jobbik
should be a source of grave concern for Europe,
European Jewish Congress said in a statement
following the Hungarian election on Sunday.
Canadian Jewish News, Toronto, Canada:
www.cjnews.com
‘Lev Tahor members ordered deported to
Israel’
Three members of the haredi Orthodox sect Lev
Tahor based in Ontario have been ordered deported
to Israel, over suspected immigration issues.
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, international:
www.jta.org
‘Co-ordinated cyber attack on Israel
brings down websites’
International hacking group Anonymous announced
that last Monday would be “Operation Israel”, a day
of targeting Israeli websites in retaliation for Israel’s
“assault on the people of Gaza”.
Ha’aretz, Israel:
www.haaretz.com
‘Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney dies’
Actor Mickey Rooney, who became the United States’
biggest movie star while still a brash teenager and
later a versatile character actor in a career that
spanned eight decades, died on Sunday. He was 93.
The Algemeiner, Brooklyn, UK:
www.algemeiner.com
‘Hezbollah claims responsibility for
Israeli bombing on Lebanon border’
Hezbollah was responsible for a March 14 roadside
bomb attack on an Israeli patrol in Shabaa Farms,
along the border with Lebanon, said Hezbollah
leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah in an interview with
Lebanese daily As-Safir on Monday.
SA JEWISH REPORT
What made the news
Jewish Report
and was addressed by Rabbi Baruch
Rapoport, dayan of the Johannesburg
Beth Din.
“Said Rabbi Rapoport: ‘What we are
opposed to is people espousing things
that are contrary to Judaism and mankind coming to talk to our children. I
have the right to defend myself before
a robber kills me - it is my duty to protect my child from spiritual murder’.
“Rabbi Rapoport said the Talmud regarded one who called another to sin in
a worse light than if he had murdered
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him. To a shouted chorus of ‘Yes!’ from
sections of the audience, he asked:
‘Would anyone accept the idea of a
prostitute coming to school and talking about the virtues of prostitution?
Freedom of speech has to be restricted
when it can impact on the spiritual
national security of Israel.’
“Replying to a questioner who asked
if he would throw a homosexual child
of his out of the house, Rabbi Rapoport said he would not, but would do
his best to ‘help and educate’ him.”
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Greenberg gay issue and ‘spiritual murder’
“A debate on the extent to which Jewish law accepts or constrains freedom
of speech provoked a lively response
from an audience that clearly wanted
answers - why gay Orthodox Rabbi
Steven Greenberg was denied a platform at a communal Jewish venue as
well as at the Jewish day schools when
he visited the country,” wrote Moira
Schneider.
“The debate was held under the auspices of the Cape Council of the South
African Jewish Board of Deputies
11
Chag PesaCh sameaCh
THE ADVANTAGE OF KNOWING
How well do you know your
investment terminology?
14
SA JEWISH REPORT
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.
11 – 25 April 2014
Guidelines for letters Letters up to 400 words get
preference. Provide your full name, place of residence,
and daytime contact phone number. We do not publish
letters under noms de plume. Letters should be
e-mailed. Letters may be edited or shortened.
The Editor, PO Box 84650, Greenside, 2034 email: sharon@sajewishreport.co.za
‘Ubuntu’ settlement doesn’t sit well with letter writer
It was with a sinking feeling that I read the article in the Jewish Report of April 11, “Radio 786
case settled - in spirit of ubuntu”.
The headline suggests we could expect to read
that the radio station accused of broadcasting
an anti-Semitic editorial had shown ubuntu by
issuing an unqualified apology.
A misleading headline if ever there was one
- it was the Board that caved in, not the radio
station.
To bring the matter into context, this is the
same Board that sanitised the attempt by Johannesburg Mayoral Committee Member Christine
Walters to close down Ba’al Shem Tov Shul in
an epic battle that lasted a good three years or
longer, which attempt ended in 2010 with a
crushing defeat of Walters and her camp… no
thanks whatsoever to the Board.
Fast forward to the present. For the record,
the radio station involved has, for no less than
16 years, steadfastly refused to take one step
backwards in its defence of its virulently antiJewish talks broadcast on its wavelength and
under its banner.
And what does our heroic Board do? True to
form, it “agreed to proceed no further with the
matter”.
It’s ubuntu, you understand. Ubuntu doesn’t
bar a radio station from broadcasting antiSemitic diatribes, but ubuntu does indeed shield
said radio station from the consequences of its
actions. The Board agrees with this “logic”.
The article quotes the radio station as admitting to broadcasting material that “may have
been viewed as nonsensical and anti-Semitic”
(sic).
One can identify another work that “may have
been viewed as nonsensical, and anti-Semitic”.
The work was titled Mein Kampf.
Stanley W Luntz
Kensington, Johannesburg
It seems that our letter writer, in his irritation with
the “settlement”, takes out his anger on the “messenger”. The headline is completely factual in the
context of the article; Jewish Report is merely an
objective reporter. - Editor
UN General Assembly should give Egypt a mandate on Gaza
INVESTMENT TERMS:
1. Investment term - The period
over which an investor agrees to
maintain their investment plan.
It might also be the period over
which the investor commits to
make regular investments (such
as monthly premiums).
2. Maturity value - A value of the
investment at the end of the
investment term.
3. Alternative investments - These
are investments made outside of
the mainstream assets of shares,
bonds or cash. It’s a relatively
loose term as it includes such
diverse items as precious metals, art, wine, antiques, coins
or stamps and some financial
assets, such as commodities, private equity and hedge funds.
4. Market cap - More formally
known as market capitalisation,
is the total value of the issued
shares of a publicly traded company. This value is equal to the
share price times the number of
issued shares.
5. TER - This stands for the Total
Expense Ratio which equals the
Total Funds Costs Over a Year/
Total Fund Assets. These costs
consist primarily of management
fees and additional expenses
(such as trading fees and other
operational expenses). The size
of the TER is important to an
investor because the costs come
out of the fund, thus affecting
the investor’s returns. For example, if a fund generates a return
of 7 per cent for the year but has
a TER of 2 per cent, then the 7
per cent gain is reduced by the
costs and so investor receive an
actual return of 5 per cent.
6. REITs - This stands for Real Estate
Investment Trust. This is a security
that sells like a stock on the major
exchanges but invests in real
estate directly.
7. Blue chip - This term is applied to
the shares of companies who are
among the biggest and most important in their particular sector.
8. Bear market - When general sentiment about the prospects for
companies to make increased
profits is negative, which encourages sellers more than it does
buyers of their shares, and so the
trend in share prices is to fall.
9. Bull market - The opposite to a
bear market. Sentiment is that
companies’ future prospects are
good and so the trend in share
prices is a rising one.
10. Property fundamentals - The key
factors that drive the value of
property. Always location and
often also includes rental prospects and borrowing costs.
11. LISPs - This stands for Linked Investment Service Providers. But
more simply this is a single platform that enables investors to
buy and sell investments, such
as unit trusts, offered by multiple
asset management companies
and receive consolidated reporting from the provider.
For more information, speak to your
broker or a Liberty financial adviser.
You can also contact the
Liberty contact centre on 0860 327 327.
Liberty 39x4 070414.indd 1
2014/04/08 12:07 PM
A United Nations General Assembly mandate for Egypt to administer Gaza is required
because:
1. Gaza has been potentially independent since 2006, when Israel withdrew as
requested.
2.The 2006 autonomy for Gaza has increased
violence towards Israel with well over 7 000
rockets, with Gaza citizens relying on Israel
for medical treatment, water and electricity.
Is this reasonable reciprocation?
3. Can Israel reasonably withdraw from any
land west of Jordan River (West Bank), if
another 7 000 rockets are predicted, by
continuity? Probably not.
4. It appears Gaza violence has sealed the
West Bank status quo, for risk management.
5. Is Gaza making sufficient progress towards
independence, after seven years?
6. This month Hamas was banned by Egypt,
for threatening Egyptian internal security?
7. What is more practical; independent peaceful Gaza, Gaza in Egypt, or Gaza in Israel.
Conclusion: A UN mandate for Egypt to
administer Gaza appears to be the most
practical option. Thus, a UN motion appears
to be the practical solution. Remember that
in 1947 when Great Britain partitioned India
and Pakistan, 15 million people moved across
the border. Let Jordan stay as the Palestinian
state being 66 per cent of Palestine, before
1948!
Dr Gerald Levin
Orchards, Johannesburg
Board’s settlement in Radio 786 issue, a ‘disgraceful surrender’
The SAJBD’s announcement, with apparent
satisfaction, that it had settled its prolonged
contention with the Islamic Unity Convention
(on the Radio 786 anti-Semitic issue), is profoundly disturbing.
The settlement, in the absence of any admission by the IUC that the views expressed by Dr
Yakub Zaki, broadcast by the IUC, (without a disclaimer), constituted virulent anti-Jewish hate
speech, is a disgraceful surrender by the Board.
The absence of an unequivocal admission and
sincere apology, demonstrates the absence of a
spirit of “ubuntu” on the part of the IUC.
That the proceedings were prolonged to a
Dickensian extent, by unsuccessful attempts by
the IUC to avoid the issue raised by the Board’s
complaint, is no reason for the Board to have
accepted the meaningless words in which the
settlement is expressed.
That he IUC finally agreed to acknowledge
“that the material aired on Radio 786 could be
viewed as anti-Semitic and nonsensical”, is not
an admission of the Board’s allegation. The hate
speech was unequivocal, not capable of misunderstanding or misinterpretation for something
other than what it was, any less than one of
Hitler’s diatribes denouncing Jews.
The wording to which the IUC has been constrained to subscribe, indicates a persistence in
the dismissive attitude adopted by the IUC from
the outset. It should not have been accepted by
the Board.
Stanley Sapire, Johannesburg
Ubuntu effect plus natural law reproduce nepotism
I would like to comment on the editorial in
Jewish Report of March 28, headlined: “Are
we a failing state?” and the editorial of April 4,
“Taking a bribe and getting caught”.
Ubuntu is defined in Collins Dictionary as
“humanity or fellow feeling, kindness”. Unfortunately practising ubuntu can lead to either
highly desirable or calamitous results.
Natural law guides us to provide first for
one’s family, then for one’s extended family,
then for one’s friends, then for one’s tribe/coreligionists etc, in an ever-widening circle. The
ubuntu effect plus this natural law, produce
nepotism which is disastrous for a free market
capitalist democratic system.
China is succeeding with a command
economy, but at the expense of devastating
the environment and the absence of workers’
rights, for instance no trade unions.
The National Socialists in Germany in the
1930s, also revived their economy but at the
expense of the trade unions (banned) and 30
to 50 million lives. In Zimbabwe, Zanu PF
provided farms to the peasants at the expense
of the economy. The choice is ours.
John Brenner
Johannesburg
Letters
11 – 25 April 2014
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.
SA JEWISH REPORT
Guidelines for letters Letters up to 400 words get preference. Provide your full name, place of residence, and
daytime contact phone number. We do not publish letters under noms de plume. Letters should be e-mailed.
Letters may be edited or shortened.
The Editor, PO Box 84650, Greenside, 2034 email: sharon@sajewishreport.co.za
kosher chicken PRICES – AGAIN
I read with great interest the articles in the
Sunday Times and Jewish Report with regard
to the price of kosher chicken. In October 2008
I wrote a series of letters regarding this matter.
The result of this was an inquiry spearheaded by
the Chief Rabbi and the UOS.
The very Mike Kingston referred to in the
articles, seemingly gave the answer to this perennial conundrum: Lack of economies of scale in
the kosher supply chain was trumpeted as the
“bad boy”.
Quite frankly I do not know what further
there is to say, seeing that the last time around
things were inconclusive and left hanging in the
air. As far as I am concerned the whole kosher
supply chain is making a “killing” at our expense.
It has been so ever since our bobbas’ and
zeidas’ days and will be so as long as there is a
captive market. With no disrespect to the Chief
Rabbi, perhaps the UOS can issue all of us with
discount coupons when we buy kosher chickens.
Stanley Klompas, Glenhazel
Why settle ‘in the spirit of ubuntu’?
I don’ quite get it why the SAJBD settled the
complaint of hate speech against Radio 786 as
reported in the Jewish Report of April 4. The
reason given was “in the spirit of ubuntu”, etc.
The Islamic radio station got rid of a case
against them. Where was the quid pro quo for the
Jewish community? In the same edition of the
paper, there is a report about the Arab League
who vowed to never recognise Israel as a Jewish
state. So nu!? When will we, as Jews, ever realise
that Arabs and Muslims are not particularly fond
of Jews, let alone Israel?
Israel will soon be in Gaza, to occupy it in order
to stop the rockets raining down on its people.
Israel will once again be unpopular.
So, my question is: Why should we be prepared
to settle “in the spirit of ubuntu” ?
And do we really care, as Jews, whether or not
the Arab League recognises Israel or not.
Israel has chalked up enough victories for the
Arabs to know who we are.
Nathan Cheiman, Northcliff
Liberty Group Ltd – an Authorised Financial Services Provider in terms of the FAIS Act (Licence No. 2409).
The Advantage of Knowing
Celebrating
freedom and
the knowledge
Wishing you
a blessed Pesach.
that
leads
there.
that
leads
there.
Wishing you
a blessed Pesach.
the knowledge
freedom and
Celebrating
The Advantage of Knowing
Liberty Group Ltd – an Authorised Financial Services Provider in terms of the FAIS Act (Licence No. 2409).
15
16
2
Pesach
News
SA
SAJJEWISH
EWISHREPORT
REPORT
01 11
- 08
June
2012
– 25
April
2014
Next Year in Jerusalem
ARON MOSS
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Wishing all our Jewish
customers and families a
very happy Pesach
Imagine you are in your car, stuck in heavy
traffic. You are late for an important meeting,
and you see someone struggling to enter your
Question:
lane from a side street. You are faced with a
We traditionally end the Passover seder with the
choice: to let them in, or to remain preoccupied
wish, “Next Year in Jerusalem!” What if you’re
with your own pressing needs and drive on.
living in Jerusalem? Do you say, “This year in
If you do not allow them in, you’re still in
Jerusalem!” or just leave that line out?
Egypt; your selfishness has overtaken your goodness. If you overcome your concern for your own
Answer:
needs and let them in, you have just left Egypt.
You can be miles away from Jerusalem even
You allowed your innate goodness to prevail over
while living there. And you can be on the other
your instinctive selfishness. You’re out of Egypt,
side of the world but only a step away. Because
but you’re not yet in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem is much more than a city. It’s an ideal
In Jerusalem, you would automatically want
that we are struggling to reach.
to let them in. Your important meeting would
The Jewish story can be summed up as a
pale into insignificance in
journey from Egypt to
comparison with an opJerusalem. Beyond being
portunity to do a favour
geographical locations,
for another person. You
they symbolise oppowouldn’t have to conquer
site spiritual states. The
your selfish nature; your
journey from Egypt to
nature would itself be
Jerusalem is a spiritual
kind and selfless. The
odyssey.
Jewish people were born
As a nation and as inin Egypt, in slavery. But
dividuals, we have always
they were told on the
been leaving the slavery
other side of a vast desert
of Egypt and heading
lies their destiny, their
towards the freedom of
Promised Land. As our
the Promised Land. By
forefathers walked out of
analysing the psychoEgypt all those years ago,
logical Egypt and the inner
they were taking the first
Jerusalem, we will see how
steps of a long journey to
this is a road we still travel.
Jerusalem.
The Hebrew name
The journey continues
for Egypt is Mitzrayim,
with us. But we haven’t
which means limitations,
“Elijah’s Cup” © 2011 Mark Podwal (from
got there yet. Even if you
restrictions, obstacles. It
Sharing the Journey: The Haggadah for the
are living in the city called
represents a state in which
Contemporary Family. CCAR Press, New York)
Jerusalem, as long as
our souls are trapped in
there remains suffering, injustice and unholiness
our bodies, enslaved to material desires. It is a
in the world, we haven’t reached the Promised
world in which righteousness, justice and holiLand. As long as we remain slaves to our own
ness are held captive to corruption, selfishness
negative instincts and selfish desires, we are still
and egotism.
struggling to leave Egypt.
Jerusalem means “the City of Peace” - a place
Perhaps this year, our efforts to better ourof peace between body and soul, heaven and
selves and our world will bring the fulfilment of
earth, the ideal and reality. When our body
the words of the Haggadah:
becomes not a prison for the soul but rather a
This year we are here, next year we will be in
vehicle for the soul’s expression; when we live
the Land of Israel. This year we are slaves, next
our lives according to our ideals rather than our
year we will be free. Next year in Jerusalem...
cravings; when the world values goodness and
generosity over selfish gain - then we are in Jeru- literally.
• Reproduced with kind permission of Chabad House
salem, we are at peace with the world.
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A young boy in need of kidney dialysis, a family of five with nowhere to live, a woman seeking a way out of her
abusive marriage. These people and hundreds of others like them, know that if life takes a turn for the worse,
they can turn to the Chevrah Kadisha for assistance. It is our sincere privilege, through your support, to be able
to help in the way we do. But with this responsibility, comes the reality of increasing financial commitments that
will exceed R220 million in the coming year. As you and your family celebrate Pesach, we appeal to you to make
a contribution to help ensure that the Chev can continue to perform its vital role within our unique community.
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You can also sms CHEV to 37613 and we will call you back.
AT THE HEART OF COMMUNITY WELFARE
18
2
SA
SAJJEWISH
EWISHREPORT
REPORT
Tapestry
News
01 11
- 08
June
2012
– 25
April
2014
A mammoth exhibition that stuns to the core
The space sucks you in, with layer upon layer of visual documentation of the complex machine of
apartheid.
This show’s critical edge is that
it comprises not necessarily or not
only the photographs that have
slipped into popular consciousness. Its subheading, engaging
with how the banality of apartheid evil touched the life of the
ordinary citizen in suburbia, lends
the work presence which is about
how all of us fit into history.
Mixed with images of atrocities
are whiffs of nostalgia, in some
cases strong enough to overwhelm
you. But also to make you smile
- in a lift-shaft-high image of Miriam Makeba, or in the hairstyles or
car fashions of the 1950s, 1960s,
1970s and 1980s.
Exhibition: Rise and Fall of Apartheid: Photography and the Bureaucracy of Everyday Life, MuseumAfrica, Newtown
Curators: Okwui Enwezor and Rory
Bester
Until: June 29
REVIEWED BY ROBYN SASSEN
This leviathan exhibition of 800
photographs and 27 films will
coil itself around your entrails,
whether you lived through apartheid or not; but you must allow it
time and focus.
Extending across two floors of
MuseumAfrica, the show does
everything a project billed with as
much importance as it is should
do. Celebrating the 20 year old
demise of apartheid, it brings a
beautifully displayed understanding of the racist ideology that is
balanced, yet critical; and while
horrifying and direct, the exhibition is not without levity.
(To page 19)
Unidentified Photographer: November 1956. The Black Sash. Courtesy
MuseumAfrica.
Jodi Bieber: Marketing’s loss is
photography’s gain
“One, two, three and… The Ennerdale Academy of Dance, Ennerdale, south of
Johannesburg” 1997 Pigment inks on fibre-based paper. (On show from next week at WAM)
ROBYN SASSEN
Acclaimed photographer Jodi Bieber, 47, cut her
darkroom teeth by coincidence. “It’s about timing,”
she says. Considered an activist by some, an artist by
others, she shows new work at the Goodman Gallery,
a mid-career overview at Wits Art Museum and has
works on the Rise and Fall of Apartheid Museum at
MuseumAfrica.
In 2010 she rose into general awareness after
photographing 18-year-old Afghanistani, Bibi Aisha,
whose face was mutilated, with her nose cut off, by
her family. Bieber’s photo appeared on the cover of
Time Magazine and earned her World Press Photograph of the Year.
Her Goodman exhibition, Quiet, comprising 35
portraits of men, represents a digression for her. For
years, Bieber focused on women. “In doing so, I became aware of how men are projected: in suits, criminality, power, war; I never ever saw men reflected in
quietness.
“The idea started when I was in Basra, Iraq, on assignment. At the airport, there were lots of soldiers,
sleeping. I thought it would be interesting to focus on
men’s vulnerability.” But she was “pipped” by photographer Tim Hetherington.
She rethought the idea, but fear froze her. “I’d look
at a guy, and say ‘Come on Jodi, go and ask him.’ I
just wouldn’t.”
But once she got started, it seemed easy. “I met
Julius Maake at an event at Ellis Park. He’s from Diepsloot. I asked if he was interested. He said yes. He said
his friend was also interested. We arranged to meet at
Diepsloot Mall; I accompanied them to buy underwear,
then we went to the one guy’s shack.
“I did both shoots. It took a few hours. It was a really
good joke: no one would believe this whitey in Diepsloot is photographing guys in their underwear.”
All her sitters, from “lawyers to unemployed” wear
underwear only: “It’s about stripping away uniform.”
Bieber plans to publish Quiet, “but it’s long-term”.
More important for her is the conversations the work
can stimulate.
Her WAM mid-career retrospective, Between Darkness and Light, has shown in Cape Town and Germany. “The title is self-explanatory: after covering the
elections and losing colleagues, my work was dark.
(To page 19)
11 – 25 April 2014
(From page 18)
These forays don’t detract from a
respectful reflection on the wounds left
by the system. For instance, in the photographs taken on March 21 1960, in Sharpeville, or those taken on June 16, 1976 in
Soweto, the enormity of the injustice of
apartheid is brought to bear with loudness
and clarity in a way that will chill you to
the marrow.
The research that has gone into this
exhibition is admirable. From copies of the
ADA magazine documenting the lives of
“Swankers” to Staffrider issues from the
1980s, featuring the work of Afrapix, under the leadership and behind the lens of
Omar Badsha and Paul Weinberg, the work
splays from Crown Mines to Khayelitsha.
There’s David Goldblatt’s beautiful series
of works “The Transported of KwaNdebele”, as there are early works by Roger
Ballen and Gideon Mendel’s photo-essay
on Yeoville. We get to understand the thrill
and adrenalin rush of milestones like the
1994 election, and we glance at the mortality of it all, with images of Dr Hendrik Verwoerd after his first assassination attempt,
and Steve Biko in his coffin.
Sadly, the space at MuseumAfrica,
(From page 18)
But as the years passed, lightness evolved.”
After matric, Bieber studied marketing, but “by
fate, one day my purse was snatched; a piece of
paper fell on my friend’s leg, advertising a part-time
photography course at the Market Photo Workshop.”
Her first photo job, from September 1993, was at
The Star, under the late Ken Oosterbroek - one of four
photographers collectively known as the Bang-Bang
Club - from 1993. “The influence was enormous. The
timing was perfect: just before the (first democratic)
elections. “When I do a project, I do it single-mindedly; I don’t look for funders first, or consequences. If
I waited to say ‘I’ll wait for funding,’ I’d probably still
be in marketing.”
• Quiet
at the Goodman Gallery ends April 26: (011)
788-1113; Between Darkness and Light at WAM is
from April 17 to July 20: (011) 717-1365.
• S ee http://robynsassenmyview.wordpress.
com/2014/04/05/jodi-bieber-takes-on-the-behemoth-of-maleness/ for my review of Quiet.
Tapestry
replete with tired little geological exhibits, and bits and bobs of
other display ideas, neither fully resolved nor exciting, which feel
amateurish and sad, still makes it feel too tatty a place to completely allow this photographic exhibition the gravitas it warrants.
Similarly, the behemoth exhibition bowls you over with material.
There is no clear comforting path into its depths; rather you feel
SA JEWISH REPORT
19
bombarded. But the distractions must be cast aside: take a long
time to look at this exhibition. It’s worth it.
• Guided tours: Tuesdays and Thursdays. Contact Melissa: (011) 8345624.
• A monumental pubklication accompanies the exhibition. It will be
reviewed in these pages soon.
20
Tapestry
SA JEWISH REPORT
11 – 25 April 2014
With iNumber Number, Harriet
Gavshon moves from TV to film
Pouyoukas grains
food of the
health generation
The grains
of time
Promotional poster for iNumber Number.
ROBYN SASSEN
April 25 sees the nationwide release of thriller
film iNumber Number. It’s a first for Milparkbased Quizzical Pictures (formerly Curious
Pictures), Harriet Gavshon’s company, which
has, until now, specialised in television.
iNumber Number is written by Donovan
Marsh who wrote the Spud movies’ screenplays. “We learned on the job,” says Gavshon.
“And we were supported by film bodies, trying
to grow the industry.”
Harriet Gavshon.
The film’s lead S’dumo Mtshali was discovered in 2010 when he entered and won
the SABC1 reality competition Class Act. He
landed his first lead in Quizzical Pictures’
SABC1 drama series Intersexions, which won
a Peabody Award in 2011 and last weekend
bagged four Saftas (South African Film and
Television Awards).
“To star in a film where corruption is the
norm and gangsters relate to each other in
‘tsotsi taal’ was huge fun for me,” said the
Durban University of Technology graduate,
who co-stars with Brandon Auret and Hlubi
Mboya, from Isidingo.
iNumber Number is about a policeman
(Presley Chweneyagae) and his undercover
partner (Mtshali) who feel hard done by the
corruption in their industry. Says Gavshon:
“It’s extremely stylish and dramatic. It was the
best luck to get it into the Toronto Film Festival in 2013. That opened doors for us.”
The film will be distributed locally and in
the US. Los Angeles production and distribution company WrekinHill Entertainment, has
acquired its North American rights and will
release it in theatres nationally later this year.
Also, Universal Pictures has optioned remake
Choose life.
Choose health.
Choose Pouyoukas.
For more easy creative
recipes visit our website
www.pouyoukas.co.za
JR0414
Promotional poster for Sleeper’s Wake
rights to iNumber Number.
Director and writer Barry Berk also gravitated to film via television. His 2013 film
Sleeper’s Wake, with actor Lionel Newton in
the lead, won a best cinematography Safta for
Willie Nel, last weekend.
It’s a thriller based on the eponymous novel
by Alistair Morgan, and focuses on a transgressive relationship and witnessed trauma.
“Raising capital”, is in Berk’s opinion the
biggest challenge in today’s local filmmaking.
“Very few South African films see a return.
This has to do with the size of our cinemagoing population and the cheapness of tickets.
And then there’s quality.”
Berk studied drama in Cape Town and film at
New York University. “I got a break when New
Directions commissioned me to make a film
called Angels, about Cape Town’s Bergies: I won
Best Director for it at the industry awards of
the time.”
And then he freelanced: He’s directed and
had a hand in writing the SABC3 series The Lab
and Gaz’lam, for SABC 1, among other projects.
He’s optimistic about the future of South
African film. “We’re making more films than
ever, annually. But we need to start creating
films we can export.”
Gavshon speaks of the demise of cinema
audiences. “Nothing compares with the magic
of being in a cinema,” she bemoans the death
of the drive-in.
Barry Berk.
“We must embrace change. Language is an
important concern; but given the plethora
of languages in this country, subtitles have
become a part of film’s design. Even though
this film doesn’t necessarily address me as a
white, English-speaking Jew, it’s entertaining:
We have to build bridges.”
11 – 25 April 2014
Tapestry
Art funding: Many innovative
ways of skinning a cat
SA JEWISH REPORT
21
Gil Hockman.
ROBYN SASSEN
“From this you make a living?” This disbelieving stereotypical Jewish
mother’s question is oft applied to arts professionals. SAJR spoke to rock
musician Gil Hockman and photographer Anthea Pokroy, who have used
“crowd funding” to help bring their ideas to fruition.
Hockman, 37, began his career in journalism. “I ended up in music,”
he explains his chequered path from events management to stage. Four
years ago he decided to go solo.
He’s sung and played bass guitar for alternative Afrikaans band, the
Buckfever Underground since the 1990s,
with Toast Coetzer, John Savage, Stephen
Timm and Righard Kapp. “I’d never sung
alone in public,” he admits. “I started from
scratch. My first album was mainly covers.”
Hockman felt he was ready last year for
a new album. Money had to be found for
printing, mastering and mixing. As recording studios are expensive, he planned to set
himself up to record music from home.
Hockman finds the idea of sponsorship
anathema to his creative freedom. Enter
indiegogo and kickstarter. Hockman’s tried
both. “Kickstarter requires a US bank account; indiegogo requires a PayPal account.
With kickstarter, you set your target; if you
don’t reach it, you don’t get it.”
Wits-trained Pokroy, 28, co-founder of
Assemblage in Newtown agrees: “Indiegogo
has flexible funding; if you reach say 20
per cent of your target, you can take it as a
start. I’ve been aware of crowd funding for
awhile,” she adds.
“In 2013, I had an exhibition. I wanted a
catalogue for it, and I wasn’t going to take
‘no’ for an answer.
“I wanted it to be a hard-cover coffee-table book. It would have cost R100 000. That
was my indiegogo goal. I felt I’d developed
a community through I Collect Gingers, my
exhibition which comprised 500 photographic portraits of people with red hair.
“My expectations drastically shifted: 129
contributed; 102 were from South Africa;
The ACDP supports
47 were family friends; 18 were strangers;
just 64 out of 500 were gingers.” She didn’t
the right of Israel to
reach target, but raised enough to create
exist within safe and
a small catalogue, with a little help from
secure borders and its
BASA.
right to self-defence.
Pokroy speaks of the 2010 Giving Report,
a survey on philanthropy practices in South
We have a proven track
Africa. “Art is not charity. But I don’t think
record and are committed
our Internet culture is as developed here as
to standing for Israel
overseas; I don’t believe crowd funding has
and actively opposing
taken off properly here.”
“I reached my target of $1 700 in under
the Boycott, Divest and
two weeks, with indiegogo,” adds Hockman.
Sanctions campaign (BDS),
He was packing for Berlin where he’s curboth in South Africa and
rently showcasing the new album, Dolorous.
internationally.
It’s more complicated than asking and
receiving: “For it to work, people need to
know what they get for their money. For
$5, I’d give them the album’s download. For
$10, I’d give them the download and the
CD. And so on.”
“You have to be smart about what people
get back,” agrees Pokroy. “People don’t give
to be nice. I had a range from $5 to $500. A
pre-ordered copy of the book was $25. For
$50 you’d get the book and a portrait. It’s
all about the sell.
Photo By Christelle Duvenage,
Courtesy www.samusicscene.co.za
Friends of Israel
ACDP Presidential Couple,
Rev. Kenneth & Lydia Meshoe
at the Knesset
Support those who
support Israel
Banking Details
ACDP National Account
Standard Bank
Account 070126917
Branch Code 000909
22
2
Tapestry
News
SA
SAJJEWISH
EWISHREPORT
REPORT
01 11
- 08
June
2012
– 25
April
2014
A powerful and poignant testimony
Lost and Found in Johannesburg by Mark Gevisser
(Jonathan Ball, R236)
REVIEWED BY GWEN PODBREY
It was travel writer Paul Theroux who
wrote: “You go away for a long time and
return a different person - you never
come all the way back.” Leave-takings and
homecomings are indeed disruptive experiences, but - as Mark Gevisser reveals in
his new work - they are also enriching.
A child of Johannesburg, the city was
where he came of age, and where the
privileges of a white, Jewish childhood
were offset by the searing injustices
around him.
Growing up in the seventies, Gevisser
eschewed the company of peers, instead
turning inwards. His favourite preoccupation - one that would become compulsive
- was sparked by “Holmden’s Register of
Johannesburg”, a cartographic guide to
the landmarks and byways of the city.
Dispatching imaginary emissaries to its
various sections, and plotting the route
they should follow, he acquired an expert
knowledge of its streets, parks and “grey”
areas, the demi-monde where individuals of all races and
sexual orientations fed off their own spiritual economy, flouting the prevailing racial and homophobic laws.
Balancing the often contradictory influences of a politically
liberal home, European Yiddishkeit, apartheid South Africa
and the stress (and, at that stage, shame) of homosexuality,
the young Gevisser needed stability: fixed points, both internal and geographic, which he found in the cafés, libraries and
shops around his suburb.
These spaces remained in him after he had left the country
to work and study abroad, where - despite his best efforts at
Arts Briefs
integration - the place which had weaned him stayed imbedded in his DNA.
Returning to South Africa at the time of its liberation,
Gevisser found a different, vibrant and often menacing energy
pervading the city. Seeing areas he had known intimately, altered almost beyond recognition, he was
overwhelmed by loss and nostalgia.
As both a Johannesburger and a Jew,
his past had been ransacked and his
identity violated. Even the dead had
been made obsolete. In the old Jewish Cemetery in Braamfontein, longdeceased family lay in the soil on which
they’d first set foot almost a century
before, completely forgotten.
Once bustling, heady areas like
Hillbrow, and affluent suburbs like Killarney, had been overtaken by shifting
demographics and, frequently, dereliction. To add to these blows, Gevisser
experienced first-hand the realities of
the new South Africa, as a victim of a
traumatic robbery in which close friends
were also sexually assaulted. The shocks
of homecoming were compounded by
PTSD.
Eventually, however, a greater revelation came to him: that, despite Johannesburg’s many changes, he could again believe in it and its
future. Having mourned the former selves he’d once invested
in the city, he could finally jubilate at discovering them still
very much alive.
Gevisser occasionally lapses into self-indulgent reminiscence, and there is an element of overshare about his sexual
awakening. Nevertheless, the book remains a beautiful,
almost elegiac homage to his home town. It is about the convergence of personal and political history; about dispossession
and belonging; and about coming out, coming back and coming full circle. A poignant and powerful testimony.
Blood Brothers extends - again
- into May
Willy Russell’s hit musical Blood Brothers - this year’s Naledi
award winner for best adaptation of a musical - directed and
adapted by David Kramer (pictured) and produced by Eric Kramer,
extends again - into May - at Cape Town’s Fugard Theatre. This
is the second time the production’s season has been extended.
Starring Bianca le Grange, who won the Naledi for best female
lead in a musical, this show will warm the cockles of your heart.
In this season Marlo Minnaar plays the Narrator, David Johnson
plays Mr Lyons and Jill Levenberg plays Mrs Lyons. Booking at
Computicket or the theatre box office: (021) 461-4554.
De-Con-Structure on at InToto
in Birdhaven
InToto Gallery in Birdhaven, Johannesburg, hosts De-ConStructure, an exhibition featuring work by Leanne Shakenovsy
and Pamela Phatsimo Sunstrum. Each artist questions how we
see the world, with a vocabulary encouraging more questions
than answers. Challenging notions of financial value ascribed
to artworks as well as the constructed concept of the “perfect
family”, Shakenovsky explores the idea of worth on a monetary
and familial level. Within the spheres of mythology, literature,
science and art, Sunstrum questions how humans imagine
themselves in the world, finding links between contemporary
science and ancient mythology. De-Con-Structure is on show
between May 8 and June 9. (011) 447-6543.
The course examines the Chumash from seven key perspectives while
at the same time giving over a methodology for analysing any part of the
Chumash, utilising classic methods of analysis.
Without an holistic understanding combining the framework, an overview
of the geography and timeline of Chumash, with an insight to the key
personalities, the commandments and a perspective on G-d, it really does
end up looking less than it really is.
Join the Sydenham Shul, Rabbi Ramon Widmonte and the Academy and get
the whole picture!
In partnership with Sydenham Shul
6 Monday night sessions with
Rabbi Ramon Widmonte
Torah in a
Nutshell
Venue
Sydenham Shul
24 Main Street, Rouxville
Regular time
Course begins
Monday 12 May
7:30–9:30pm
Cost
R700 once-off
What would it be like to
comprehend the Chumash (the
first five books of the Torah) as
a complete, organic entity? Not
a bit here and a bit there, but
a solid grasp of how it all fits
together along with a grounding
in all the foundation concepts?
This pioneering course from
the London School of Jewish
Studies, under its president,
Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks, has
given thousands of people
world-wide a paradigm-shifting
perspective in just 6 sessions.
In association with Mizrachi South Africa and the
London School of Jewish Studies
(President: Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, Dean: Dr. Raphael Zarum
In the case of financial need, please contact the Dean directly on ravramon@TheAcademy.org.za
For more information:
Email: info@TheAcademy.org.za
Tel: 011 485 3624
Web: TheAcademy.org.za
ARE YOU VOTING FOR
A FRIEND OF ISRAEL?
african christian Democratic Party
Leader: Kenneth Meshoe
Seats in Parliament: 3 seats
Statement on Israel: The ACDP is known to
have a sense of solidarity when it comes to Israel
due to our mutual biblical history (MP Kenneth
Meshoe, 2012)
inkatha freeDom Party
Leader: Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi
Seats in Parliament: 18 seats
Statement on Israel: I have suffered criticism for
supporting Israel... I am often both embarrassed and
ashamed of the way Israel is sidelined by our country’s
leaders (Prince Mangosuthu Buthelezi, 2011)
gooD frienD
Democratic alliance
gooD frienD
congress of the PeoPle
Leader: Helen Zille
Seats in Parliament: 67 seats
Statement on Israel: A lasting peace is generated
through the creation of a two-state solution, which
will see Israel and an independent Palestinian state
coexisting in peace and harmony (DA statement, 2009)
Leader: Mosiuoa Lekota
Seats in Parliament: 30 seats
Stetement on Israel: Committed to a twostate solution to the conflict (Former COPE
representative Lynda Odendaal, 2009)
FRIEND
NEUTRAL
african national congress
Leader: Jacob Zuma
Seats in Parliament: 264 seats
Statement on Israel: The ANC is unequivocal in its
support for the Palestinian people in their struggle for
self-determination, and unapologetic in its view that
the Palestinians are the victims and the oppressed in
the conflict with Israel (Mangaung Resolutions, 2012)
NOT A FRIEND
Political Party Friends of Israel Score Card
Policy and approach to israel acDP
ifP
Da
coPe
anc
Accepts Israel’s right to exist in peace and security
P
P
P
P
P
No anti-Israel resolutions passed at party conferences P
P
P
P
No party members responsible for Israel related anti-Semitism P
P
P
P
Does not support undemocratic anti-Israel countries
P
P
P
P
Senior party members attend Yom Haatzmahut celebrations
P
P
P
Party members have visited Israel
P
P
P
Makes pro-Israel statements in Parliament P
P
Public support for israel P
combating anti-israel activities
Youth groups have opposed anti-Israel actions at Universities
P
Has joined in pro-Israel demonstrations
P
P
Has criticised anti-Israel government statements and policies P
P
10
9
total
Parties have been identified and rated on criteria including, size, manifesto and political activity over an
election cycle. Analysis of parties is based on publically available information and has been scrutinized.
The South African Zionist Federation accepts no liability and/or responsibility for any omissions and/or
errors that may have occurred.
not a frienD
P
7
neutral
4
frienD
2
gooD frienD
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
24
SA JEWISH REPORT
Pesach Recipes
11 – 25 April 2014
Mushroom and potato
baked fish - Pesach
• 10 Large potatoes
• 30 Hake fingers
• Salt and pepper
• Lemon juice
• White button mushrooms sliced
• Sliced onions
• Onion soup powder
• Fresh garlic
• Cardin margarine
• White wine (optional extra)
• ¼ Cup onion stock powder
• 1 Cup water
• ¼ Cup oil
Method:
• Peel and slice the potatoes into discs, place into cold water and bring to the boil, cook till almost
ready.
• Slice the mushrooms and the onions, but keep them separate.
• Sauté the onions add garlic before adding the mushrooms (if one has fresh thyme or rosemary,
it can be added too).
• Add the white wine just before taking off the mushroom mixture.
• Season the fish with lemon juice, salt and pepper.
• Layer the fish fingers (the correct culinary term for this is a Goujon) between the sliced potato
and mushroom mixture, last layer should be potatoes.
• Mix half a cup of the onion stock powder with 2 cups of water and a quarter cup of oil.
• Pour the liquid over the fish.
Bake at 180°Celsius for approximately 30 - 45 minutes, until potatoes are brown and crispy.
PS: Hake is great fish for this dish as it flakes and crumbles and doesn’t over-cook easily.
Pesach Recipes
11 – 25 April 2014
SA JEWISH REPORT
25
Banana sponge cake with cinnamon streusel
smooth.
• Transfer yolk mixture to a
bowl. Slice thin remaining 2
bananas and fold into yolk
mixture.
• In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat whites until
they just hold soft peaks.
• Gradually add remaining ¼
cup granulated sugar, beating, and beat meringue until
it just hold stiff peaks.
• Fold about one fourth me
-ringue into yolk mixture to
lighten and fold in remaining
For streusel:
• ½ Cup firmly packed light brown
sugar
• 2/3 Cup matzah meal (not cake
meal)
• 1 Teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ Stick (¼ cup) unsalted margarine or butter melted or
• 4 Tablespoons vegetable oil
For sponge cake:
• 6 Large eggs separated
• ¾ Cup granulated sugar
• 4 Ripe large bananas
• 2 Teaspoons vanilla
• ½ Teaspoon salt
• ½ Cup matzah meal (not cake
meal)
• ½ Cup potato starch
Make streusel:
In a small bowl stir together
brown sugar, matzah meal and
cinnamon until combined well.
With a pastry blender or your
fingers, blend in margarine, but-
ter, or oil until mixture resembles
coarse meal.
Make sponge cake:
• Preheat oven to 180° and grease
a 30 x 23 cm glass baking dish.
• In a food processor process yolks
with ½ cup granulated sugar
until thickened slightly and pale
golden.
• Add 2 bananas, chopped with
vanilla, salt, matzah meal, and
potato starch and blend until
meringue gently but thoroughly.
Pour batter into prepared baking
dish, smoothing top, and sprinkle evenly with streusel.
• B ake sponge cake in middle of
oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until
gold and tester inserted in centre
comes out clean.
• Cool sponge cake in baking dish
on a rack (sponge cake will fall as
it cools).
• Sponge cake can be made 3 days
ahead and kept, tightly wrapped,
chilled or frozen.
• Serve at room temperature.
DID YOU KNOW?
You may be eligible for EU citizenship based on
ancestral heritage. No Borders currently specialises
in citizenship applications for Germany, Latvia,
Lithuania and Poland, with applications for other
EU countries available in the near future.
For more information,
contact Rael Cynkin:
info@noborders.co.za
T . +27 11 485 3955
C . +27 83 346 4627
Our future
begins with
our past
As a bank that looks to the future, history and tradition are very much a part of our present.
From humble beginnings in the textile business, to a specialist banking and financial
services group driven by entrepreneurs, we have over 100 years of experience behind us.
Today, we offer the full range of Business Banking facilities, Treasury, Capital, Commercial
Solutions and Wealth Management services. Sasfin has the expertise it takes to grow your
business and enhance your wealth, so that you can make the most of life’s opportunities.
We wish all our clients, staff and associates a meaningful Pesach.
www.sasfin.com | 0861-sasfin(727346) | info@sasfin.com
Sasfin Bank Limited Reg No. 1951/002280/06. Sasfin Bank Limited is an authorised Financial
Services Provider 23833 and a Registered Credit Provider NCRCP22. A member of the Sasfin Group.
10688_SAS_Pesach Ad 2014_Jewish Report_210x265_Final.indd 1
2014/03/18 3:02 PM
26
2
Pesach
News
Recipes
SA
SAJJEWISH
EWISHREPORT
REPORT
01 11
- 08
June
2012
– 25
April
2014
Fruit tart cake topping /
or base for fruit tart cake
Chocolate fridge cake
• 600g Dark chocolate
• 250g Margarine (parev)
• 500 ml or ½ cup sugar
• 6 Eggs separated
• 10 -11 Matzahs
• 250ml or 1 cup sweet red wine or black coffee
Method:
• Melt the chocolate in a double boiler.
• Cream margarine and sugar until fluffy.
• Add one yolk at a time, beating well after each addition.
Yeshivah – Beth Rivkah Colleges
(YBR), a Chabad Community
School for girls and boys, is
the fastest growing Jewish Day
School in Melbourne, Australia
catering to over 1300 students.
(Yeshivah College - boys campus;
Beth Rivkah Ladies College girls campus). In response to
this growth and to meet our
present and future needs, we
are recruiting men and women
for key leadership roles in
our pre-schools, elementary
and high schools.
• Add the melted chocolate and beat well.
• Beat the egg whites stiffly and fold into the chocolate
mixture.
• Dip each piece of matzah in the wine or coffee and
drain off excess liquid.
• Place on plate and spread chocolate mixture over.
• Keep layering until the matzah are used up and only
enough chocolate remains to cover the sides and top.
• Refrigerate
Novel cake to serve with coffee or tea: Makes a delightful dessert, sliced thinly with ice cream.
Head of Hebrew K-12
(YBR Colleges)
Head (Dean) of Students
Grade 7 – 12 (Beth
Rivkah Ladies College)
Head of Primary Jewish
Studies Grades P – 6
(Yeshivah Boys School)
YBR Colleges is looking
for a dynamic educational
leader to head the K-12
Hebrew Faculty across
all its campuses, with the
following qualities:
Beth Rivkah High School is
looking for a female role
model to serve as the new
Head of Students (Welfare /
Discipline), who is:
The Yeshivah College Head
of Primary School will lead
the Primary School in its
entirety. The successful
candidate will require:
• Passionate about
Student Wellbeing
• Experience with
curriculum organisation
and documentation
• Passionate about Hebrew
Language Education
• A dynamic, forward
thinking educational leader
• Classroom practitioner
par excellence
All roles will require a minimum
of 7 years educational experience
and 2–3 years coordinator/
leadership experience.
Attractive packages
commensurate with experience;
relocation costs inclusive.
• An insightful and
experienced educator
• Able to support a strong
team of Year Level
Convenors
If you fit the above criteria
and are looking to be a part
of a large, vibrant and growing
community in an extremely
high achieving school
environment, this may be
the opportunity for you.
• Minimum of a teaching
degree but preference for
a Masters
• Ability to motivate and
lead a strong team of
educators and support staff
Expressions of Interest,
or for further information,
please contact the Principal,
Rabbi Yehoshua Smukler,
via Lanie Goldberger,
PA-to-Principal@ybr.vic.edu.au
• 6 Eggs
• 1 Cup oil
• 2 Cup sugar
• ½ Cup matzah meal
• ½ Cup potato starch
• 1 Teaspoon vanilla essence
• 2 Teaspoon baking powder
Sprinkle cinnamon & sugar, equal quantities.
Method:
• Beat eggs, oil and sugar together until fluffy.
• Fold in balance of ingredients.
•A
s a topping, place over cooked fruit; sprinkle
cinnamon and sugar on top of the dough.
• Bake for three quarters of an hour at 180°.
As a base, place in dish and put the fruit on top.
Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
Bake for half an hour at 180°.
Roasted plums / or nectarines:
1 kg of fruit.
Cut into halves and remove pips.
Place on an oven baking pan, cover liberally
with sugar and drizzle with balsamic
vinegar and 1 teaspoon vanilla essence.
Place in a very hot oven and bake for about ½
an hour till soft and cooked.
Pesach recipes
11 – 25 April 2014
SA JEWISH REPORT
27
Super
For ALL your design requirements
Tel: 083-460-3633
Pesach
Design Bandits
www.designbandits.co.za
recipes from
top caterer
Shelley
Geffen
Shelley Geffen’s friendly professionalism
belies the tremendous focus and drive that
has helped her kosher catering company to
the forefront of the industry… and indeed
has forced changes on the entire industry in
which she operates.
Imaginative and tremendously varied
menus allow clients to have their personality and needs perfectly expressed with the
well-known Shelley Geffen attention to detail
and appropriateness and, of course superb
culinary and presentation skills.
Shelley’s Granny Cohen, who owned the
busy Grand National Hotel in Klerksdorp,
taught Shelley not only the beautiful “traditional” recipes and kitchen skills to be a first
class chef, but also showed her the direct and
positive mindset necessary to run a successful
professional kitchen.
Her positive leadership has enabled Shelley Geffen Catering to successfully manage
projects of every size and degree of difficulty
with aplomb.
Shelley trained in graphic design in South
Africa, being privileged at times to learn even
from Cecil Skotnes, and did post-graduate
work in London. So, her love for quality, fresh
food that both looks and tastes superb, is
more than understandable.
To Shelley, every client is an individual and
every function receives precious individualised consideration and respect.
CHAG SAMEACH
and a GOOD PESACH
3964 Jewish Report F/P.indd 1
Bertie & Hilary Lubner and family
2014/04/01 1:32 PM
28
2
Pesach
News
SA
SAJJEWISH
EWISHREPORT
REPORT
01 11
- 08
June
2012
– 25
April
2014
Matzah: Racing out of Egypt
RABBI TZVI NIGHTINGALE
No time left for you
On my way to better things
No time left for you
I’ll find myself some wings
No time left for you
Distant roads are calling me
I got, got, got, got no time
-The Guess Who
The definitive symbol of Passover is
matzah, unleavened bread. The entire baking process of matzah, from
the mixing of flour and water to its
baking in the oven, must be done in
less than 18 minutes, before it can
leaven or ferment. Visit a matzah
bakery and you will never see Jews
move so quickly (except when attacking a kiddush).
The Haggadah teaches us the
meaning behind the matzah:
What is the reason for this matzah
that we eat? Because the dough of
our ancestors did not have enough
time to become leavened before
G-d revealed Himself to the Jewish
people, and redeemed them, as it
says (in the Torah): “They baked the
dough which they took out of Egypt
into matzah because it did not rise
since they were driven out from
Egypt, and they could not linger.”
Hence, matzah is associated with
the haste and swiftness by which
the Jewish nation left Egypt. But
why indeed did G-d have to rush us
out of Egypt? We were already there
for 210 years. What’s another day
or two for us to gather our things
together, plan properly for the journey ahead and maybe make a trip to
Grodzinski’s Bakery and pick up a
rye (with seeds, please) and a danish
for the road?
In truth, the manner by which the
Jews left Egypt expresses an integral
lesson and ingredient of the entire
Passover experience of Freedom and
Redemption. Haste was a necessary
and definitive component of that
momentous event and serves as a
paradigm for all future Redemptions,
both personal and national.
In everyone’s life, at some point
or another, events arise without any
sign or indication, and even if there
is some sort of hint of their arrival,
there is still a certain quality of disbelief once they indeed appear.
One can plan for a wedding many
months in advance, know that a
child is to be born for the good part
of a year, or on the other end of the
spectrum of lifecycle events, know
with a degree of certainty that the
demise of a loved one is on the
horizon. But when it happens, there
is a stark and unexpected reality to
it that no amount of preparation or
prearrangement can ever provide.
These events are so dramatic that
they catapult us into new ways of
viewing and living our lives. They
become such eye-opening and lifechanging experiences that alter us so
dramatically that sometimes we can-
not even relate to the person whom
we were prior to their happening. In
a very real sense, they are moments
of deliverance from a previous life.
This is what Judaism means by
geula (redemption). We become
redeemed and released from the
constricted and limiting lifestyle
and worldview that had dominated
and defined us previously. In essence, we each leave Mitzrayim
(Egypt) - which means the land
of limitation and constriction,
coming from the word maytzar in
Hebrew. We depart the place that
squeezes and suffocates the life
of all who dwell there. We become
free and released, we become a new
person.
Matzah is the symbol of redemption because haste is inherent to
redemption. No matter how fast
or slow redemption happens, it
is always too sudden for significant change, by its very nature, is
something that we can never fully
understand or know until we get
there. It is something that we
will never be able to anticipate or
pretend to understand until it has
already arrived.
While there may be a build up to
it, there is no process to Redemption; it is a momentary happening
that alters things forever and happens in a split second. Redemption
may come through sorrow and pain
or may come through joy, but it is
never on time.
Reproduced with kind permission of
AishHaTorah.
Chag Sameach
1184706
to all our Jewish customers
www.picknpay.co.za. Customer Care 0800 11 22 88. Toll free landline only. Cellphone rates apply.
5774
30
2
Pesach
News
SA
SAJJEWISH
EWISHREPORT
REPORT
01 11
- 08
June
2012
– 25
April
2014
The Vilna Gaon’s explanation of the famous Passover song
RABBI ALEXANDER SEINFELD
The Passover Haggadah ends with the fun but
peculiar song, Chad Gadya - An Only Kid.
This colourful song features a baby goat
purchased by “my father” for the price of two
zuzim, an ancient coin.
No sooner does he buy the kid, it is eaten by
“the cat”, which is in turn bitten by “the dog”,
which itself suffers being beaten by “the stick”.
The stick doesn’t get off lightly for its beating; it
is burnt by “the fire”, which is naturally doused
by “the water”.
What happens to the water seems quite natural: it gets lapped up by “the ox”, which leads to
the fatal slaughtering of the ox by “the butcher”.
The butcher faces none other than the Angel
of Death, and in case you thought that this
dastardly fellow was invincible, he is ultimately
vanquished at the conclusion of the song by the
Holy One, Blessed be He.
The symbolic meaning of this sequence of
people, animals and objects remained obscure
until the Vilna Gaon presented the following
interpretation:
The kid is the birthright mentioned in
Genesis 25. This is the right to take the baton
that had been passed from Abraham to Isaac, to
continue Abraham’s mission to build a world full
of loving-kindness and monotheism and devoid
of idolatry, child sacrifice and other evils.
My father is Jacob who bought the birthright
from his twin brother Esau, who had been
born first and thus had the natural right to the
birthright.
The two zuzim are the bread and stew Jacob
paid Esau for the birthright.
The cat represents the envy of Jacob’s sons
toward their brother Joseph’s, leading them to
sell him into slavery in Egypt.
The dog is Egypt, where Joseph landed, and
where eventually the entire clan of Jacob and
the subsequent Israelite nation lived, were
enslaved and were redeemed.
The stick is the famous staff of Moses, used
to call forth various plagues and part the
waters of the sea for the Israelites to cross.
The fire represents the thirst for idolatry
among Israelites that proved to be a persistent bane for over 800 years, from the year
they left Egypt until the destruction of the
First Temple in the Fifth Century BCE.
The water represents the Fourth Century
BCE sages who eradicated idolatry.
The ox is Rome (Esau’s descendent) who
destroyed the 2nd Temple in 70 CE.
The butcher is the “Messiah Son of
Joseph” (Mashiach Ben-Yoseph) who will
restore full Jewish sovereignty in the Land
of Israel.
The Angel of Death needs no introduction;
in this song he represents the death of Messiah Ben-Yoseph.
The Holy One also needs no introduction;
here He arrives with Messiah Ben-David.
The repetition in each stanza underscores
the ebb and flow of Jewish history - sometimes
we’re down, but then we rise up. While most of
the song looks backwards, it ends with an optimistic view toward the future, a fitting conclusion to the seder.
• Adapted from the Art of Amazement Haggadah:
Leader’s Edition. This Haggadah includes tips and
tricks throughout the text, including questions and
answers on various details of the seder.
An illustration from Chad Gadya by Russian constructivist artist El Lissitzky (1917).
Reproduced with kind permission of Aish HaTorah
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Community
11 – 25 April 2014
Spine-chilling ghost stories nothing
but urban legends, says Goldstuck
LIONEL SLIER
Most ghost stories are urban legends, Arthur Goldstuck (pictured)
remarked when he addressed the
weekly meeting of the United Zionist
Luncheon Club recently. Goldstuck,
maybe better known as one of the
country’s leading IT fundis, also has
another passion: urban legends. He
has written several books on the
subject and has also written ‘The
Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Internet”
and “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Going
Wireless”.
“Most ghost stories are bobemeisses,” he said “and urban legends are
stories told as if they were true, which
over time add details to give credibility so that they spread like wildfire.
But the fact remains that the story
did not actually happen.
“Similarly ghost stories, when they
are researched, turn out to be urban
legends. Some people convince themselves that ghost stories are somehow
supernatural. They are not!
“One of the most famous ghost stories in the South African supernatural
lexicon is the Uniondale-Willowmore
incident in the Eastern Cape. One
Easter Friday a young girl was hitchhiking outside the town of Uniondale
and a couple in a car stopped to give
her a lift.
“After driving for a while, there was
a sudden cold blast in the car and the
back door opened. Thinking that the
girl had fallen out, the driver turned
around and went in search of the girl,
who had disappeared. She could not
be found.
“Now there have been several
reports over time of sightings of the
girl hitchhiking, then disappearing.
Police confirm that they had received
reports of the girl standing at the side
of the road. One story is of a motorcyclist giving her a lift on his bike, but
when he got to Willowmore she was
no longer a passenger.
“The motorcyclist also reported to
the police that the girl had fallen off
somewhere along the way. The story
has even turned up in America as ‘The
Vanishing Hitchhiker’.”
Goldstuck said another story which
left the audience bemused, was that
of the old lady in a white coat standing at midnight in the Club Street dip
in Sandringham, Johannesburg. She
had been killed in a car accident in the
area and now spends most midnights
waiting there. There have been various sightings reported.”
Goldstuck then turned his attention to the Castle in Cape Town, built
on the site of Jan van Riebeeck’s
original fort; this is reputed to be
the most haunted building in South
Africa. Goldstuck said when he visited
the Castle he found it to be cold and
windy, almost unnaturally so. It felt
as though it should be haunted.
Then there was Daisy de Melker,
the second woman hanged in South
Africa - on New Year’s Eve, 1932. De
Melker had poisoned two husbands
and also attempted to murder her son
- all for insurance money.
She is reputed to be a most restless
spirit, haunting the old Women’s
Jail in Hospital Hill, Johannesburg,
as well as the old Children’s Hospital
where she once worked. Jailed inmates
reported seeing and hearing here there.
Then, for those who want a more
“spiritual experience”, Goldstuck spoke
about the Nottingham Road Hotel in
KwaZulu-Natal which offers a “ghost
experience” when you book into room
number 10 for the night.
Anyone wanting to curl up on a
stormy night full of lightning and
thunder, should look no further than
Goldstuck’s “The Ghost That Closed
Down The Town”.
SA JEWISH REPORT
31
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Community
News
SA
SAJJEWISH
EWISHREPORT
REPORT
01 11
- 08
June
2012
– 25
April
2014
Betar founder recalls Jabotinsky weekly meetings
ANT KATZ
Photos supplied
In a nice and neat Sydenham house
lives 87-year-old Annette Bert (née
Rosenberg) and her husband, Jack,
a pharmacist who will be 90 this
year and who - believe it or not - still
works as a pharmacist in a hospital.
Passers-by would have no idea that
Annette’s roots are deeply intertwined with those of Ze’ev Jabotinsky
(see below) and the Betar movement.
Annette told Jewish Report:
“Jabotinsky used to hold weekly clandestine meetings to teach the Jewish
people to defend themselves - ‘don’t
bend your knees to anyone,’ he would
tell them, “it was time to hit back’.”
She knows this because her late
mother, Reizel Rosenberg (née Kaplan) used to attend the Jabotinsky
meetings in the forest outside Shavel
(now called Shauli) around 1912.
Annette Bert (née Rosenberg) in Israel.
16-year-old Annette Rosenberg, seated second from right in the front row, at a Betar camp in 1942
“My mother talked of Jabotinsky
all the time,” says Annette. She was a
committed disciple and instilled his
vision among all she met.
“He had been my mother’s mentor. Anti-Semitism was rife in South
Africa those days,” she remembers.
Reizel Rosenberg became one of
the founders of the Betar movement
in this country. Eventually, in every
small town in South Africa, where
there was a Jewish community, there
was a Nesher, a Betar youth group.
Annette headed her own group of
about 20 members.
“We dressed in black and khaki and
the other Jewish youth movements
called us Nazi Jews,” she says.
“We were a thorn in the side of all
other youth movements; they believed in buying land but we believed
in fighting for it,” she says emphatically.
Jabotinsky visited South Africa
twice: in 1936 he addressed Johannesburg Jewry at the Plaza Cinema
in Rissik Street; and again in 1939
where Annette, who was by now living in Bertrams, Johannesburg, met
him at the HOD Centre.
By the time of his second visit,
Lilly, her youngest sister, was there
too. “I remember how proud he made
me feel,” she tells SAJR of Jabotinsky.
“He told us to be proud to be Jewish
and not allow ourselves to be bullied.”
Annette recalls Jabotinsky telling
them how everyone had to work
towards a future Israel on both sides
of the Jordan River.
Looking back, says Annette: “We
were fighting for an Israel, we wanted
a state, but we never in our wildest
dreams would have believed that we
would have what we have today.”
• Ze’ev Jabotinsky MBE, was a famed
revisionist Zionist leader, author,
poet, orator, soldier, and founder of
the Jewish Self-Defence Organisation in Odessa. He was born Vladimir
Reizel Rosenberg met Louis
Rosenberg, a coppersmith, in
Lithuania. After the birth of their first
daughter, Cecelia, Louis emigrated
to South Africa around 1914 to avoid
the First World War. It would be nine
long years before he could bring
them out to South Africa where they
settled in Winburg in the Free State.
Five more Rosenbergs were born of
the marriage: Issy (‘21), Sam (’23),
Barney (’25), Annette (’26) and the
baby, Lilly, in ’28.
Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky in 1880
and died in 1940.
With Joseph Trumpeldor, he
co-founded the Jewish Legion of the
British Army in the First World War
and later established a number of
Jewish organisations such as Betar,
Hatzohar, and the Irgun.
More details on this story on our
website.
Pesach
11 – 25 April 2014
SA JEWISH REPORT
33
The fifth question – for the child
YANKI TAUBER
Mah nishtanah halailah hazeh... “Why is
this night different from all other nights?”
our children ask us at the Passover seder.
Because, we answer, we were slaves to Pharaoh in Egypt and G-d set us free.
Free? Are you free?
Can a person with a mortgage be free?
Can a person with a mother-in-law be free?
Can a person with a job be free? Can a person without a job be free?
Freedom! Is there anything more desired
yet more elusive? Is there a need more basic
to our souls, yet so beyond our reach? How,
indeed, do we achieve freedom from the
demands, cares and burdens of daily living?
But look at your child. Observe her at
play, immersed in a book, asleep and smiling at her dreams. Assured that father and
mother will feed her, protect her and worry
about all that needs worrying about, the
child is free. Free to revel in her inner self,
free to grow and develop, open to the joys
and possibilities of life.
This is why Passover, the festival of freedom, is so much the festival of the child.
For it is the child who evokes in us the realisation that we, too, are children of G-d, and
are thus inherently and eternally free.
It is the child who opens our eyes to the
ultimate significance of Passover: that
in taking us out of Egypt to make us His
chosen people, G-d has liberated us of all
enslavement and subjugation for all time.
The child is the most important participant at the Passover seder. The entire seder
is constructed around the goal to mystify
the child, to stimulate his curiosity, to compel him to ask: Why is this night different
from all other nights?
The child asks, and we answer. But there is
another dialogue taking place - a dialogue in
which we ask, and the child explains.
Take a good look at your child this Passover.
Pay her or him close attention - enter her or
his mind, view reality from their perspective.
For how else might we taste freedom?
• R eproduced with kind permission of Chabad
House.
The Mahnishtanah illumination from the
famous Szyk Haggadah, published in Poland
in the 1930s.
World News in Brief
Israelis warned against
travelling to Sinai,
Turkey, Morocco
JERUSALEM - The Counter-Terrorism Bureau of
the Israeli PM’s Office issued travel advisories last
week, ahead of the Pesach holiday.
The bureau warned Israelis against travelling
to Sinai, Turkey, and Morocco, citing “concrete
intelligence indicating a clear and imminent
threat” to Israeli tourists in those locations.
Additionally, the bureau repeated its standing
warnings against Israeli travel to 27 other
countries, including Egypt, Jordan, Thailand, and
the Kashmir region of India. The warning reiterated
that Israelis are barred by law from visiting Iran,
Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Yemen and Saudi Arabia.
(JNS.org)
Bipartisan bill in
House seeks to bolster
sanctions against
Hezbollah
WASHINGTON - A bipartisan group of US House
of Representatives members have introduced a
new resolution to strengthen sanctions against the
Lebanese terror group Hezbollah.
Titled the “Hezbollah International Financial
Prevention Act”, the legislation seeks to impose
“severe new sanctions” on Hezbollah’s fundraising
channels as well as “restrict its ability to use
funds” that finance its international terror network.
It was introduced by US Represenatatives
Mark Meadows (Republican North Carolina),
Brad Schneider (Democrat Illinois), Ed Royce
(Republican Carolina), and Eliot Engel (Democrat
New York).
According to Schneider, Hezbollah is currently
using global finance networks to fund its terror
activities. “Right now, Hezbollah uses its global
financial connections to launder money and help
fund terrorist activities. This bill will help stifle that
financial network and give the United States more
tools to crack down on Hezbollah’s global terrorist
activities,” he said. (JNS.org)
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SA
SAJJEWISH
EWISHREPORT
REPORT
Community
News
01 11
- 08
June
2012
– 25
April
2014
KDL sells placemats to help
stricken matric learner
At - nearly - 101, Hennie
Nochimowitz feels very blessed
JODI STARKOWITZ
Hennie Nochimowitz (pictured), mother of radio icon
John Berks, considers herself blessed to have grown
up in the countryside. “I had a very happy youth. I’m
truly grateful and thankful. These days, I can’t see. And
I can’t hear, and I’m tired of not being able to do what
I’m used to,” she adjusts the oxygen which supports her.
“But don’t get me wrong: I’m not complaining, I
thank my lucky stars that I’ve lived so long, but this
blindness and deafness: it’s not me. I’m not used to
being idle.” She will celebrate her 101st birthday on
August 4.
Born in Liverpool, Hennie was three when her
father’s doctor told him his asthma was worsened by
English weather, and recommended that he take his
Manchester-born wife and two daughters to South
Africa. “I was brought up in the northern Free State,
because of its dry climate.
“My father was a tailor - a skill he’d learnt in England
- and he became really highly thought of. As a matter
of fact, he became the deputy mayor of Koppies, the
farming village 37 miles (60 km) from Parys, where we
lived. His friends were English or Afrikaans, very few
were Jewish.
“As a child, I thought my dad was out of this world.
I thought he was an artist. He came from a little town
in Russia and he learned to read English with the help
of Bobbies on London’s streets. He would ask them to
pronounce street names, and that was how he learned
to recognise the English alphabet.”
Hennie went to school in Heidelberg (in what is now
Gauteng) and boarded with her father’s sister. After
matriculating, she got an office job at the local mill, and
was trained from scratch in bookkeeping. “They used to
say: ‘Ek het haar groot gemaak’,” she said.
Photo: Robyn Sassen
ROBYN SASSEN
She married her first husband in 1958. Tragically he
died six years later, and she raised her three children
on her own. She moved to Johannesburg in 1985, with
her second husband, Harry Nochimowitz,, a widower
who had been a farmer in Lichtenburg (in Northwest
Province). They met through their children who knew
each other through Habonim.
Theatre veteran Annabel Linder and her jazz clarinetist husband Sam Sklair, recently went to celebrate Hennie. Said Linder: “Sam took his clarinet. I sang ‘I’m glad
there is you’, and I held her hand. She is just fantastic.”
Hennie smiles at this recollection. “I love music. My
mother was the daughter of a chazzan.”
Hennie lives alone in an apartment in Johannesburg,
with the daily assistance of a young woman, Agnes. “I
went through a bit of a mill, you know, the usual,” she
says, brushing away the spectre of disappointments
and challenges she has faced. “Johnnie and Cynette (her
daughter) visit me often,” and she lists the names of her
children and grandchildren, without missing a beat.
King David Linksfield has been selling
Pesach seder placemats to raise funds
for one of its matric pupils, Chaim Daniel
Leib, who suffers from Ewings Sarcoma.
The placemats are a way to keep him
in our thoughts and prayers at every
seder table this Pesach while he is in
New York receiving treatment.
Besides being a unique addition
to every table setting, the placemats
contain a graphic of the seder plate, the
explanations of the elements that make
up a seder, as well as a special prayer.
The King David logo and the name
Photo supplied
34
2
Chaim Daniel Leib ben Yehudit Avigal,
are the two symbols in the middle that
provide a reminder of the unifying force
of our amazing and strong community.
The placemats were sold for R180
for 12 and the school and matric learners sold 5 000 in six days.
It was amazing to see the chesed of
the community and how many people
ordered these mats. There were even
orders from Australia, Canada and
closer home, Cape Town.
Pictured is student leader Levi
Cohen and head student leader Nicole
Pantanowitz, selling the placemats at
the Kosher Strip last Sunday.
Community
11 – 25 April 2014
Rabbi Dennis Isaacs as a schoolchild: A trip to
Doornfontein school nostalgia
One of our readers, Jack Shnaier sent us this photograph from the standard 3 class of Doornfontein School in 1939. He has identified the following: Second row from left: Jack Shnaier;
Dennis Isaacs; Benny Josselowitz; Rachel Segal; Toby Segerman; Vivian Viviers; Katie Sarachik;
Issie Shapiro; and HJ Juyn, the class teacher, who later became mayor of Alberton. Can you
identify any of the others?
Johannesburg Forum bus tour a
resounding success
LAUREN PHILLIPS
Photo supplied
amazing research and information with the
commuters through Doornfontein, Yeoville,
Bellevue, Upper Houghton and Norwood;
An exhilarating, informative, and nostalgic day
enthralled a full busload of participants on a tour remembering people such as Joe Slovo, Arthur
Goldreich, Harold Wolpe, Dennis Goldberg,
of “Remembering the Jewish Contribution to
Rusty Bernstein, Isie Maisels etc. Flo Bird, the
the Struggle” recently.
Brett McDougall and Merle Ruff of the Johan- dynamic fighter for Johannesburg’s heritage,
was the navigator.
nesburg Heritage Foundation, shared their
Packed lunches were
eaten at the historic home
of Eli and Violet Weinberg
(now preserved by Brett
McDougall) the famous
Struggle photographer.
The cherry on top was the
visit to “Liliesleaf” where
participants shared some
of the experiences of the
Rivonia trialists, including
Nelson Mandela, Achmed
Kathrada, etc.
There was unanimous
agreement that this tour
definitely needed to be
Kim Wainer; Andrea Wainer: Marcia Parness; Ayala Sharir; and
undertaken again.
Molly Jayes.
Mitzvah of chesed in a tangible and
meaningful way
LORI LEWIS
MARKETING MANAGER
YAD AHARON & MICHAEL TZEDOKAH FOOD
FUND
Yad Aharon & Michael is fortunate to have a longtime supporter of the calibre of Morris Behr, whose
ongoing interest in the organisation’s work has
resulted in the launch of a new initiative entitled
“Chesed from the Garden of Eden”, on April 30.
This is a joint initiative between Yad Aharon & Michael and Soul Workout, led by Rev Ilan Herrmann.
The project aims to involve Jewish day schools
in Johannesburg in the giving of tzedakah by making the mitzvah of chesed tangible and meaningful
to the children.
The Yad Aharon & Michael bayit houses a very
popular dry-goods supermarket which is used by
our recipient families on a continual basis and the
idea is to keep their shelves stocked with groceries, toiletries and cleaning materials, which will be
contributed to the project by the families in every
participating school. Their support of this project
has been tremendous.
The organisation aims to spread the project
out over the entire year, giving each grade/class a
week in the year to bring their contributions.
Chesed from the Garden of Eden will be providing the schools with branded plastic packets
containing a letter outlining the need for this
project, as well as a list of suggested items to be
purchased.
The idea is for the children to take the packets
home and bring them back with their contributions, which will be collected on a pre-arranged
date. We are grateful to Hirsch Lyons Schools, Torah Academy, Yeshiva College and the King David
Schools, for their unconditional support.
We are fortunate to have Adrienne Hersch
Properties and Chatz Cellular as the sponsors of
this initiative and Adrienne Hersch has offered to
host the official launch.
SA JEWISH REPORT
35
36
SA JEWISH REPORT
Youth
11 – 25 April 2014
Giving a woman a seed of hope... Miriam Peretz inspires
CHANA RIVKA LEWIN
Photo: Supplied
Seeds have been sewn for the benefit of children in less
privileged schools, piloted by the University of the Witwatersrand early childhood department.
In a partnership created with Wits students, Torah
Academy Nursery School, under the leadership of principal Sara Bronstein, and Reggio enrichment specialist
Chana Rivka Lewin, a training workshop was run by
Lewin to launch the project for the fourth year students.
The topic was on how to incorporate recycled play apparatus and natural objects to enhance outdoor play opportunities for the young child.
The students gained much valuable and practical tips
on how to construct their own play materials.
This learning will be translated into usable play materials which the students will be taking to benefit the
Wits outreach schools. The aim is to involve community
at all levels.
Older women will be drawn in to collect the recycled
materials, which will be used by the teachers in the
schools. The schools will be shown the many possibilities
of using materials at little or no cost to extend play and
learning for the young children in their care.
As the saying goes: “Give a man a fish and he has food
for a day... teach him how to fish and he has food for a
lifetime.”
The credo of this project is: “Give a woman a seed of
hope... and she has produce for an eternity. One woman
can change a whole community.”
YC High Schools
LERON BERNSTEIN
Last week Thursday Yeshiva College schools were privileged to hear the inspiring
message of Miriam Peretz (pictured, third from left) and her son, Elyasaf, visiting
from Israel. Miriam lost two of her sons fighting in IDF unit.
Before the tragic loss of her second son, her husband had suffered a fatal heart
attack, stricken with grief from the loss of their first son.
Miriam stood up in front of Yeshiva College’s Boys’ and Girls’ High Schools and
shared her story and all the meaning and strength she had found in personally living
through the story of Am Yisrael in the most challenging of ways.
It is hard to fathom where she finds such strength, resolve and vision from, but
her audience was able to leave with a sense of individual and national mission for
the Jewish people. Like so many mothers in Israel, Miriam sent four sons into battle
to not only help secure the future for the Jewish people, but the present and future
safety of every Jewish community in the Diaspora, including South Africa’s.
As a mother Miriam paid the ultimate and most tragic price, yet her faith remains
unshaken as she focuses on the gifts Hashem gives her in the present and her future
with her immediate family and the entire nation of Israel.
And the Oscar
Yiddish Folk does chesed for the Chev goes to… Joshua
Broomberg!
ANDY HAEFNER
Photo: Lauren Segal
What a beautiful vibe there was in our school when the grade R children and their parents joined in to help pack over 6 000
Shabbas/Yomtov candles for needy families during the chag of Pesach.
Our children learnt about tzedakah and chesed, maths, team work and co-operative learning.
It was a win-win and proactive morning for all. Kol hakavod to our grade R teacher, Tracey Friedman for such a wonderful
initiative.
MK Tzachi Hanegbi talks to KDVP
assembly on ME issues
HANNA BEN-MOSHE
Photo: Yael Gordon
Tzachi Hanegbi, a member of Israel’s Knesset, on Tuesday March 25 addressed King David Victory Park High
School at a special assembly.
He talked about his background as a son of “Lechi”
fighters, Geula Cohen and Emanuel Hanegbi and about
current events in Israel, including the ship carrying arms
to Gaza that was stopped by the Israel Defence Forces
some three weeks ago and the humanitarian help that
Israel offers Sudanese refugees and victims of the massacre in Syria.
These events emphasise the humanity of Israel, he posited, adding that Israel was calling for peace and was preparing to negotiate and compromise with the Palestinians.
Hanegbi is currently chairman of the Knesset House
Committee, and a member of the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee. He has held various ministerial positions in the Knesset.
He was elected for the first time as a member of the
Knesset for the Likud party in 1988; he served in the
Israeli parliament for 22 consecutive years.
A trained lawyer, Hanegbi served as a paratrooper in
the IDF.
Tal Kattan; Rabbi Mendel Rabinowitz; Jacob Mendelowitz; Shaun Bolnick; Tzachi Hanegbi; Jonti Strimling; Naomi Hadar;
Amy Strous; Hanna Ben-Moshe; and Nicole Sachs.
Joshua Broomberg with Barbara Wolf.
BARBARA WOLF
On Wednesday evening last week, at an event hosted by St Mary’s School
in Johannesburg, Joshua Broomberg, King David Victory Park’s competitor in the final of the “Best Individual Speaker” section of the High
Schools’ Public Speaking Competition, was the overwhelming winner of
the Sir John Adamson Trophy.
After presenting his speech, he, like the other four contestants, had
questions directed at him about the content of his speech. The adjudicators were highly impressed by the aplomb with which he handled
the questions, as they were with his unprepared speech, entitled “The
Blurred Lines”.
Teachers, parents and pupils from other schools were unanimous in acknowledging Josh’s ability to engage an audience by his riveting content
and his delivery.
What a shame that there was so little support from the school to share
in Joshua’s and KDVP’s award-winning victory and that the public speakers missed a wonderful opportunity to hear public speaking at this high
level.
Youth
11 – 25 April 2014
SA JEWISH REPORT
37
TA tots learn about matzah making
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY CHANI ZWICK
Grade one boys and girls from Torah Academy Primary
School are pictured at their visit to the matzah factory at
Chabad House in Johannesburg, an annual event to learn
how to make matzah from start to finish.
The children made and kneaded their own dough and
produced their own shmurah matzah under the strictest
conditions.
Schoolchildren visit the matzah factory each year before
Pesach. It is a project of Chabad House, under the direction
of Rabbi Pini Pink.
Children in the community also were able to take part in
the “Model Matzah Bakery Open Day” on Sunday, April 6.
Photo: Sheva Messias
A cake and a half to celebrate Pesach by
STORY SHEVA MESSIAS
PRINCIPAL, KDL PRE-PRIMARY
SCHOOL
For Rosh Chodesh Nissan, the children of
King David Linksfield Pre-Primary School
were given the pleasure of watching a
Pesach show by Rachel Diamond.
They were also treated to a magnificent
cake that was baked and iced by one of our
chairmen, Simone Shapiro. The cake, which
is a metre in length, elicited much excitement from the youngsters.
The top of the cake shows Moshe crossing the Red Sea. There is also a table with a
white cloth and seder plate all made out of
icing. Around the sides of the cake are the
10 Plagues. Pictured are Simone Shapiro
with her two children, Gabrielle and Li’ohn.
Playschool at Great
Park has reopened
ANDY SUBEL MALKA
Photo: Belinda Sacks
The playschool at the Great Park Shul has been
reopened and Rabb Dovid Hazdan of the Great Park
Shul came to put up the mezuzahs recently.
Parents as well as children so enjoyed the ceremony as Rabbi Hazdan said the brochas and we
all sang a mezuzah song!
The rabbi also told a lovely story about the importance of the mezuzah. What a blessed morning!
Amber Bernstein; Lily Sacks; Emma Barlev; and
Ruth Blumenfeld.
T & C APPLY
38
Community Columns
SA JEWISH REPORT
A column of the Chevrah Kadisha
A column of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies
The high price of freedom
It’s that time of year!
Wherever you look people are rushing about
shopping for Pesach,
worry etched across
their faces, many sharing audible expressions
of dismay about the
price of goods.
Can you imagine, for
just a moment, if it’s
that daunting for famiPartners in lies, how it is for the
Chev which supports
Chesed
hundreds of families
Michael Sieff and feeds thousands of
Group CEO
people over this chag?
Happily, many of
our donors appreciate the challenge we face
and make an effort to time their contributions
accordingly. And you’ve probably seen Matzah
Man with Chev volunteers at Pick n Pay. He collects huge amounts of Pesach foods from generous shoppers and from delighted kids at Jewish
day schools.
That’s the thing about freedom. Celebrating it
may be costly, but it also brings out the very best
in our community who rally together to help, in
whichever way they can.
11 – 25 April 2014
And that’s another thing about freedom: its
essence is elusive. It would seem that for most
of us, our choices are very limited - where we’re
born, whether we’re healthy or sick, rich or poor
(or somewhere in between), how our relationships work out, how long we live and how well.
It’s a complex discussion and one of life’s great
mysteries.
Every day the Chev assists people whose lot in
life is not of their choosing. They may be elderly,
disabled, destitute or unwell and they come to us
because they need help.
Most often we are not given the freedom to
choose our circumstances, which causes me to
believe that the only real freedom we have is the
freedom to choose how to respond in any given
situation. We can choose to care, to despair, to
retaliate, to participate, to defy or co-operate,
to love or to hate. Our choices are limited, but
they’re powerful too.
Those of you who have chosen to share responsibility for our community should know that
your choice relieves suffering and changes lives.
You demonstrate true and meaningful freedom,
and we are grateful. I know you are grateful too
- that you have the freedom to make that choice.
Best wishes for a chag kasher v’sameach
May our partnership continue to thrive!
This column is paid for by the Chevrah Kadisha
Story of Exodus resonates
with post-apartheid SA
Last Thursday, the
Board held a special
“Freedom Seder”,
bringing together
a wide range of
political and religious
leaders, members of
the media and civil
Above Board society, to celebrate
20 years of South
Mary Kluk
National Chairman African democracy
in the context of the
traditional Passover narrative.
The purpose of this event was to provide a distinctively Jewish vehicle through
which our community could participate
with their fellow-South Africans in
celebrating this important milestone in
our country’s history.
While the Biblical story of the Exodus
focuses on the liberation of the Jewish
people and their birth as an independent
nation, its underlying themes are universal
and have obviously have specific resonance
for South Africa.
The event was an inspiring success, in
large part thanks to our distinguished
guest speakers who addressed specific topics relating to the theme of the evening.
Following my welcome and introductory
remarks, presentations were given by Chief
Rabbi Warren Goldstein, SAJBD President
Zev Krengel, legendary anti-apartheid
activist Mac Maharaj, former trade unionist and philanthropist Johnny Copelyn and
CNN’s Robyn Curnow.
All provided moving and thought-provoking insights on the legacy of South Africa’s
struggle for democracy and the enduring
responsibilities that this attainment of
freedom had brought with it.
Just as Pesach is about remembering the
miraculous transition of the nascent Jewish
nation from servitude to national freedom,
so is it also about remembering the harsh
times of oppression that preceded it.
Likewise, the celebration of South Af-
rica’s democratic transition was combined
with the remembrance of the oppressive
days of the apartheid era, and the high
price paid by those who, like Mac Maharaj, fought against it. In remembering our
own liberation, we also need to remember
those around the world who have not yet
achieved their freedom.
CNN presenter Robyn Curnow’s summary of the scourge of modern-day slavery
and what the CNN Freedom Project is doing to raise awareness of it, was a sobering
reminder of how many people, especially
in Africa, remain subjected to appalling oppression and exploitation.
Today, we talk about the “Born Free”
generation, that is, those South Africans
born after the democratic transition. One
of the educational challenges facing us
today is to imbue our youth with an appreciation of what it is to live in a society
where discrimination of any kind is illegal
and all fundamental democratic freedoms
are upheld.
For that, they need to remember the circumstances that gave birth to a free South
Africa, and realise that without the sacrifices and wise choices made by previous
generations, they would not be enjoying
the basic democratic freedoms which are
today all but taken for granted.
It brings to mind the passage in the Haggadah where we are enjoined to imagine
that in recounting the Pesach story, it is we
ourselves who are going out into freedom.
In conclusion, I wish everyone a Chag
Pesach Kasher v’Sameach. In celebrating
this age-old festival of Jewish freedom
among our friends, families and loved ones,
may we also be inspired to fulfil our role as
responsible South African citizens dedicated to doing whatever we can to upholding
the values of our democratic society.
• Listen to Charisse Zeifert on Jewish Board
Talk, 101.9 ChaiFM every Friday 12:00 13:00.
This column paid for by SA Jewish Board of Deputies
Chag Pesach Sameach
The festival of freedom
The partners and directors at Grant Thornton are
making a donation to Hatzolah to commemorate
freedom for all.
www.gt.co.za
Legal and Tax
wishes you and your family a
happy, healthy and Kosher Pesach
© 2014 Grant Thornton South Africa. All rights reserved. Grant Thornton South Africa is a member firm of
Grant Thornton International Ltd (‘Grant Thornton International’).
Jewish Report_Pesach.indd 1
2014/03/27 2:54 PM
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What’s On
Classifieds
11 – 25 April 2014
To book your classified notice or advert contact: Tel (011) 274-1400, Fax 086-634-7935, email:
jrclassified@global.co.za IMPORTANT NOTICE - The Jewish Report runs adverts in the Classified section in
good faith, however we cannot be responsible for the quality of services offered and claims made.
SERVICES
LIFTS OFFERED
PROPERTY
MEMORIALS
FOR SALE
Hawley Marble and
Granite Works Est. 1948
Monumental masons. We
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Hawley Tel: (011) 8289010 Chaim Silver
(011) 485-3005
House for sale in
Gallo Manor
4 bedrooms + study +
pool. Walking distance
to Chabad Shul
(approximately 300 m).
R 2,7 mil
Contact Connie
076-699-5012
BEAUTY & HEALTH
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For all your travel
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PROPERTY
Experienced, reliable
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Contact Gerald
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OR Tambo, Pretoria.
Reasonable rates!
Ivan 082-962-5007
SMILE-LEE’S LIFTS
A reliable lift service.
Specialising in
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airports, shops,
appointments, casinos and courier.
Charna
083-391-6612
LIFTS OFFERED
EMPLOYMENT
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Let Warren Pogorelsky
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SAM
(011) 728-5219
083-627-8516
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from R170.
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Reasonable rates to
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Require debt
collector.
Candidate should be 50
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Send CV to isac@
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Require real estate
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Candidate should be 35
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Send CV to colin@
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or
Fax: 0866575141
FOR RENT
RAANANA
Newly-renovated
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for holiday/shortterm rental.
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bathrooms, parking.
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HOME SERVICES
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Fridges, stoves,
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Free quotations.
Call Jason
082-401-8239/
076-210-6532
VEHICLES
WANTED
IF YOU WANT TO
BUY OR SELL
A VEHICLE
E-mail
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Contact:
Solly Kramer
082-922-3597
HOME SERVICES
FOREIGN CITIZENSHIP
reference AKIVA.
SILVER
REPAIR &
REPLATING
(011) 334 1102
082-473-6040
Deceased
estate house
clearances
Entire households
cleared,
professionally and
confidentially. I’ll
take the burden
off your shoulders
and pay you for it.
Please contact
Ladislav Miklas
079-810-8837
For a trusted and
professional service.
Also clear garages,
cellars, storage
rooms and storage
facilities.
• Big Band Music Appreciation Society’s April
meeting takes place at St John’s College
Auditorium, Houghton. an audio will be presented by broadcaster Don Albert, followed
by a selection of Big Band videos. Time:
14:15 sharp. Enquiries: Marilyn, 072-2437436 or Jack, 082-450-7622.
• Second Innings hosts Patricia Glyn, adventurer and broadcaster, on “An Illustrated
Presentation on her Two-month Journey
into the Kalahari with a Family of Komani
Bushmen”. Venue: The Gerald Horwitz
Lounge, Golden Acres. Time: 10:00 for
10:30. Cost: R20 members, R40 visitors.
Contact Grecia Gabriel. (011) 532-9718.
Monday (April 14)
• Greenside Shul invites you to join their 1st
night Pesach Seder after the shul service.
Adults R320, children under 13 R160, children under six, free. Details: Nadine, (011)
788-5036 or e-mail info@greensideshul.co.za
Wednesday (April 30)
• Chev Social Services/CAJE’s “Enrich Your
Life” series present Wayne Katz and Luke
Lamprecht on “Help! There’s a Stranger in
My House!” Navigating the teenage years.
Venue: Sydenham Shul Hall. Time: 19:45.
Cost: R30 (light refreshments served). Booking: Sharon, (011) 532-9616 or sharonp@
jhbchev.co.za
Lithuanian / Polish /
German citizenship
Many South African Jews
are eligible for EU citizenship.If you are interested,
please contact me.
I specialise in obtaining
Lithuanian, Polish and
Sunday (May 4)
German citizenship. I
am able to obtain the
required documents from • Embassy of Israel, SAZF, Israel Centre SA,
archives in Europe.
Rael Cynkin CA (SA) • UJW Leora Project, lending of rehabilitative apinfo@noborders.co.za
pliances: Need a walker, wheelchair, crutches?
083-346-4627
Borrow equipment on a short-term basis for a
Toronto real
estate relocation
Thinking of
moving?
We are a relocation team
who can assist with renting/buying and more!
Call Daniel Bloch
@ 416-666-0311
daniel@danielbloch.com
Or visit
www.DanielBloch.com
When last were your
Mezuzahs checked?
A professional scribe with 35 years
experience (Rabbi Klein) will inspect
all Mezuzahs and Tefillin.
Supplier of new Scrolls and Tefillin
refundable deposit. Information: (011) 6481053.
• The Brakpan Hebrew Congregation holds services on Friday nights and Saturday mornings
every week. Personal Haskarrahs and individual
Mishaberach are made from the bimah for the
sick and for those attending the service when
requested. Contact: Jeff Waner, 082-424-8417.
• The Selwyn Segal Gift Centre’s Yomtov Shop
is open. Stunning gifts for Pesach. Visit www.
selwynsegalgifts.co.za, call (011) 640-6413 or
pop in to the gift shop at 113 George Avenue,
Sandringham.
• The Benevolent Gift Shop (formerly Benarc Gift
Shop) has gift presentations for all occasions,
made to order. Call (011) 485-5232, JWBS. All
kosher under the Beth Din. Proceeds to support
the less fortunate in our community.
• Elise WIZO Gift Shop has an exciting range of
gifts available. Contact (011) 640-2760 or call
in at Genesis, bottom level of the Genesis Shopping Centre, 3 Bradfield Drive, Fairmount.
PROPERTY
FOR SALE
Prime position in
Rivonia - last acre
Subdivision approved.
R5,2 mil
Contact Connie
076-699-5012
Sunday (April 13)
We will remove and refit your Mezuzah
Phone Ivor on
(011) 615-8738 or 082-682-3438
NB: Mezuzahs and Tefillin must be
checked twice every seven years
• Chabad Chai Seniors Club meets Monday to Friday every week, 09:00 to 13:00. Venue: Chabad
House. Refreshments and lunch provided.
Mondays: Brain exercises with occupational
therapist and computers and Internet (16:15).
Tuesdays: Exploring the myths and mysteries of
SA JEWISH REPORT
39
IUA-UCF and the Zionist youth movements,
host a Yom Hazikaron ceremony memorial
day for Israel’s fallen. Time: 18:30. Venue:
Yeshiva Campus, Glenhazel, Solly Liebgott
Hall. Information: Miriam Garb, (011)
645-2531, fax (011) 640-1325 or e-mail:
miriam@beyachad.co.za
Tuesday (May 6)
•W
IZO Johannesburg hosts a Yom
Ha’atzmaut celebration with live music and a
tea. Time: 09:30. Cost R75. For venue details
and bookings, Sandy, (011) 645-2515.
Sunday (May 11)
•B
ZA WIZO biennial campaign, hosts guest
speaker Dr Bernd Wollschlaeger, son of
a Nazi officer who converted to Judaism.
Venue: President Hotel, Bantry Bay. Time:
17:00. Information: (021) 464-6729.
Wednesday (May 14)
•W
IZO Johannesburg hosts “Turn a Life
Around” with Bernd Wollschlaeger: “I am the
Son of a Nazi”. Time: 18:30. Venue: Killarney
Country Club, Lower Houghton. Cost: R220
(incl finger supper). Contact: (011) 645-2515
or sandy@beyachad.co.za
Thursday (May 15)
• WIZO Johannesburg hosts “Turn a Life
Around” with Bernd Wollschlaeger: “I am
the Son of a Nazi”. Time: 09:30. Venue:
Killarney Country Club, Lower Houghton.
Cost: R180 (incl tea and refreshments).
Contact: (011) 645-2515 or sandy@beyachad.co.za
Judaism. Ladies learning with Aviva Goldman.
Wednesdays: Torah studies and computer and
Internet training (16:30). Thursdays: Living with
the times with Rabbi Shlomo Raitport and ladies
shiur with Rebbetzen Chaya Haller. Fridays: Living Torah with Rabbi Shlomo Raitport. Distribution of take-home food. Information: Chabad
House (011) 440-6600, e-mail rak@chabad.org.
za www.ChabadJoburg.org/seniors.
• Bnoth Zion Association WIZO is collecting
anything of value for its store. Contact (021)
464-6729 or Linda Saban 072-245-3225 or
Cherna Kredo 084-589-8588.
• Intimate Antiques Fair held on last Sunday of
every month at Cedar Square corner Witkoppen/
Cedar Avenue in Fourways, from 09:00 - 16:00.
Contact Robyn 083-311-4768.
• Join WIZO every Thursday for a “Lunch & Learn”
shiur with Rabbi Michael Katz, 13:00 - 14:00
at Beyachad. Information: WIZO office (011)
645-2515.
• Stellenbosch Hebrew Congregation has a Friday
evening service every week in shul, starting at
18:45. Contact (021) 886-5257.
• The Yiddish Academy offers weekly basic,
intermediate and advanced classes on Monday
evenings at 19:30, Tuesday mornings at 10:30
and Thursday evenings at 19:30 at the RCHCC,
Glenhove Road, Houghton. Conversational
groups. Contact: e-mail yiddishacademy@gmail.
com or call Hazel Cohen on (011) 728-8088.
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LCA_KOSH_0017JEWISHREPORT
20
Sport
SA JEWISH REPORT
30 November – 7 December 201
Perfecting
the
art
of
how
not
to
lose
Fifa threatens Israel over Palestinian issue
Sport
11 – 25 April 2014
SA JEWISH REPORT
40
game one needs to defend a lead. Howe
er, defence is seemingly quickly becomi
and he knows how to use it to his advantage.
what South African sport is all about.
He clearly is a shrewd politician as he has kept
While the Boks held England at bay
his position as president since 1998, despite
in
the
north, managing to cling to a one
ROCKING
ROCKINGTHE
THEBOAT
BOAT many challengers and challenges.
point
win,
the Proteas looked to be hea
He is also known as the “Teflon” president
Jack
Jack Milner
Milner
ing
for
certain
Test defeat Down Under
as no charges ever seem to stick. Throughout
as they ended the fourth day under the
I have never been a fan of world football body his reign, Fifa has been plagued with corrupI do President
not profess
be an In
authority
on
cosh at 77 for four wickets, chasing 430
tion issues, but nothing sticks to the presiFifa
SepptoBlatter.
the build-up
rugby.
During
myCup
time
at school
I actually
to win.
dent. However, according to Mark Pallios,
to
the 2010
World
in South
Africa,
I
developed
a hatred
theconferences
game because former Football Association chief executive,
The match looked all over, with a wi
attended
a number
of for
media
it was continually
down ourof the trust in the organisation’s credibility may
for Australia certainty, but AB de Vilconducted
by Blatterjammed
and the arrogance
throats.
liers, Jacques Kallis and especially Faf d
never be restored until Blatter finally stands
man
was astounding.
However,
as IWorld
got older
and
becamehas down. “If you look at governance, he’s obviPlessis, had other ideas. De Villiers kep
With
the Soccer
Cup he
certainly
more
the world
of sport
and
Du Plessis company for 68 overs and a
ously overstayed his welcome,” Palios said,
one
of involved
the world’sinmost
marketable
products
began to understand the nuts and bolts
nobbled Kallis for another 40 overs in
of the game, I actually began to enjoy
the searing Adelaide heat, as Du Plessis
tenaciously defied the Australian bowlin
it very much. Whatever I might think I
Fifa President Sepp Blatter with Palestinian football official
Jibril
attack
forRajoub.
nearly eight hours.
know, I will always bow in admiration to
Cricketer
Faf
du
Plessis
is
supported
by
his
team
as
he
pulls
off
a
stunning
save
of
the
second
This
all
came
to a head
earlier
thisfound
year the
urging
a
two-term
limit
on
the
presidency.
the likes of commentator Dan Retief who
Many people
would
have
Test
match
against
Australia
in
Adelaide.
when
two
teenage
Palestinian
soccer
play“I
think
it’s
probably
right
to
say
that
has a marvellous understanding of the
pushing and prodding mind-numbing
to
ers
were
shot
by
Israeli
security
forces
thepro
people
will
tread
water
in
terms
of
their
sport.
he took advantage of a lucky bounce of
in the final minute was one of the most
watch, but it takes a special kindinof
West
Bank and
told they
were unlikely
expectations
until
such
timeThat
as Blatter
leaves
However, what I have learned during
the ball to score the only try - and furinane I have
ever
seen.
was total
ficiency
andwere
mental
aptitude
to stay ou
to
play
again.
the
scene.”
my tears as a sports journalist is how to
thermore superb defence by the Boks.
capitulation, as if to say they were happy
there for seven hours and 46 minutes, i
The
two Abu
Dis residents,
town
easthumid
Helose
has now
beenpoint.
embroiled in another
analyse a game. As I said last week, I have
I have said for the past few years that
to
by one
mainly
34 degrees
heat aand
high
of
Jerusalem,
claim
that
they
were
walking
controversy,
this
time
having
Israel
in
his
ity, with five different partners, one of
always tried to maintain my objectivthe Boks are unable to play 80 minutes of
On that subject, I was the one person
home
fromcould
a training
session
Faisal
Last
year whenbythe
Under-21
whom
barely
run, at
tothe
defy
a voraity and not become a “fan with a pen”.
attacking rugby. In the final 20 minutes crosshairs.
absolutely
delighted
that
decision
al-Husseini Stadium in al-Ram, on their way
World Championship was held in Israel,
cious and tenacious Australian attack an
Last Saturday I only managed to see the
of the game they were probably lucky to
as I had backed England on a minus 2,5
to visit a friend in a neighbourhood close to a
Blatter came out in full support for Israel as
second half of the Springboks versus Eng- have spent two of those minutes in the
spread and that whacky decision sealed
save a crucial match for his country.
border police base, when they were shot withPalestinian supporters called for the country
land Test but on Sunday morning I sat
England half. The remaining 18 minutes
me my win.
This was a monumental effort,
out warning as soon as they struck a match to
to be ejected from Fifa over the country’s
through the replay. Knowing the result,
was played somewhere on the Boks’ 22m
There is no doubt we have some
performed on debut and already written
light a cigarette.
purported treatment of Palestinian players.
I could put the excitement of a close
line.
wonderful players in our team, but one
into the folklore of South African cricke
The border police spokesman said the two
Now that the tournament is over, Blatter
encounter behind and dispassionately
There is little doubt that England,
is
never
certain
down
which
garden
path
history.
were seen just seconds before, throwing
has done a complete volte-face and Israel has
interpret what I had watched.
when it comes to attacking, are equally
coach
Heyneke
Meyer
is
leading
them.
while we
might
lackthey
thesaw
attackin
bombs So,
at security
forces.
When
the
been given until the Fifa congress to be held
After a little thought I came to the
inept and they certainly had enough
But
coming
back
to
defence:
All
sports
prowess
of
a
Genghis
Khan,
South
Afripolicemen, they attempted to run away and
in San Paulo in Brazil in June, to improve
following conclusion: In simple terms, all
chances. We kept conceding penalties in conditions
are madeforupPalestinian
of offencesoccer
and players
defence.
It is tried
can
sport
has elevated
of defenc
again
to throw
bombs atthe
theart
policemen.
and
that won us the game was an inspiration- the dying moments but one has to say
vital to
a balanced
to another
level.
I suppose“The
there
is an
According
to the
spokesman:
policeofficials
in have
the West
Bank andshare
Gaza.of both. It
al moment from Willem Alberts in which
that England’s decision to go for posts
is
also
an art to
know Association
at which point of a men
advantage
in protocol
playing for
notopening
to lose...
initiated the
fire in
The
Palestinian
Football
What’s On
Sunday (December 2)
• RCHCC is rescreening the award-winning film, “The Debt”, directed by John
Madden and starring Helen Mirren,
Sam Worthington, Jessica Castain and
Tom Wilkinson. Venue: Clive M Beck
Auditorium. Time: 19:30. Donation:
R60. Booking: Hazel or René (011) 7288088/8378, after hours (011) 728-8378,
e-mail: rchcc@telkomsa.net or rene.s@
telkomsa.net or www.greatpark.co.za
• JJMC, with musical director Evelyn
Green presents a musical tribute to the
Doornfontein Hebrew Congregation
(Lions Shul), “Memories of Yesteryear”,
as a fundraiser for the shul. The repertoire will encompass traditional Jewish songs. Secure parking. Time: 15:00.
Tickets available from Darla at R200.
083-794-6358 darlabrook@hotmail.com
Monday (December 3)
• UJW is hosting Marcia Leveson, former
professor of English at Wits, on “Please
Sir, I Want Some More”, Charles Dickens and children in this his bicentenary
year. Time: 09:30. Contact: (011) 6481053, fax 086 273-3044. Donation:
R20. Join UJW for an informal tea after
the lecture.
Thursday (December 6)
• UJW CT adult education division hosts
Isaac Habib who will talk on “Jewish Life
in the Island of Rhodes – From Beginning to End”. Venue: Stonehaven. Time:
10:00 for 10:30. Entrance: R20 (incl
refreshments). Enquiries: (021) 4349555.
Friday (December 7)
announced recently that it would at the congress demand Israel’s expulsion from Fifa, unless tangible measures are taken to ease travel
restrictions in the Occupied Territories.
Israeli football authorities maintain that
efforts are being stepped up to improve
conditions for Palestinian players and officials
in and out of the West Bank and Gaza. Israeli
and Palestinian officials made progress on
the issue when they met in Zurich two weeks
ago, according to Blatter, the latter conceded.
Blatter confirmed he would meet “the highest
political authorities in the region” before the
Sao Paulo Congress. This, despite Fifa’s rule cast in stone - never to mix sport and politics.
Blatter, who is due back in the region this
month, wants Israel and Palestine to sign a
formal co-operation agreement at or around
the Fifa congress in Brazil, but Palestinian
football official Jibril Rajoub has implied this
is some way off while travel permit restrictions continue to be imposed by Israel on
everyone - from players to consultants.
order to neutralise the threat. The suspects
were apprehended and a bomb was found on
them, which has been deactivated.”
The spokesman also provided a photograph
of the bomb, but that didn’t prevent outcries
that Israeli forces were cruelly and deliberately shooting innocent Palestinian teenagers, in
this case soccer players.
However, the fact that the two, who were
initially treated for their wounds at the Hadassah University Hospital, were players, was
exploited by Rajoub in his attempt to punish
local soccer for what he deems the sins of
Israeli occupation.
It will be interesting to see how Blatter
plays this one out. Which way will the wind
blow, because I would like to take a bet that
Blatter will go with the wind. Ironically I
don’t believe he really would like to expel
Israel. After all, the bigger the kingdom, the
more powerful the king. However, he will do
whatever is most expedient for himself and
his position.
• The United Sisterhood has its yearend book sale at the Benmore Gardens
Shopping Centre. Unwanted books and
magazine donations are gladly accepted.
Contact: Tel (011) 646-2409; fax (011)
646-4654.
World News in Brief
POPE CALLS FOR END TO PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS, NEW ME PEACE EFFORTS
The staff & management thank you for your valued support &
ROME - At a gathering in Rome with Lebanon’s new cardinal, Pope Benedict XVI launched a new appeal
for peace in Syria and the Middle East, the Associated Press reported.
“The church encourages all efforts for peace in the world and in the Middle East, a peace that will
only be effective if it is based on authentic respect for other people,” Pope Benedict told the gathering,
which included several Lebanese pilgrims.
He also spoke out concerning the plight of Christians from their traditional homelands throughout the
Middle East, calling for them to be able to “live their faith freely”.
Christian communities have come under assault by Muslims amid the upheaval related to the
“Arab Spring”. Tens of thousands of Syrian Christians have fled from the civil war there, while Egypt’s
Coptic Christian community fears the rise of the Muslim Brotherhood and the ultra-extremist Salafi
groups to power.
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Recently, several CopticTRADING
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women
were been assaulted
by other|women
on Cairo | SAT: 1/2 HOUR AFTER SHABBOS -10PM | SUN: 8AM - 10PM
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subways because their hair was uncovered. Many Coptic women are now afraid to ride the transit system
in fear of being assaulted or sexually harassed, according to Morning Star News. (JNS.org)
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