- SA Jewish Report

Transcription

- SA Jewish Report

Shana Tova from SA Jewish Report
The directors, editor, management and
staff, wish the Jewish community and
our advertisers, Shana Tova and a
meaningful fast. May you be inscribed in
the Book of Life for a sweet year.
www.sajewishreport.co.za
Friday, 26 September 2008 / 26 Elul, 5768
Volume 12 Number 37
Thousands turn out to
protest Ahmadinejad in NY
PROTESTERS filled Dag Hammarskjold Plaza opposite the UN on Monday against Iran's president, who came to
town to address the General Assembly. ‘The message to him is please go home,’ Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel said at
the demonstration. ‘Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, go home and stay home. We don't want you here.’ PAGE 24
Saks column:
Mandela the
mensch / 23
Livni’s daunting
task in Israel / 22
Rosh Hashanah
recipes galore!
/ 58-63, 66-68
Book review:
Barbarism and
Civilisation...
Europe in our
time / 20
Where have the
Jewish sport
stars gone? / 65
Debating SA
commitment / 9
NEXT ISSUE: Due to the
Chagim there will be no
paper next week. Our next
issue will be on October 10.
GLOSSY COVER
PICTURE:
DRUMBEATS ON A
SHABBAT EVENING
Associate Rabbi Yehuda Stern of the Sydenham Highlands North Shul, held a successful Friday
Night Club "chill and chat" evening last week, where the youth enjoyed drumming with Gary
Bezuidenhout. Afterwards a delicious tea, coffee and desert were served, after which Rabbi
Stern discussed dreams, and the role of their interpretations. In the picture, Rabbi Stern
(second from right) shows his drumming skills. PHOTOGRAPH: SHELLEY ELK
“This menorah is spiritually connecting heaven and earth,” says
artist Gail Josselsohn in describing her work “Aitz Chaim”, a
painting on silk. Trained as
an industrial textile designer,
Josselsohn is well known for her
silk paintings. In this work, we
see the menorah and the Tree of
Life conjoined, with young Jews
dancing the hora in its branches.
YOUTH TALK / 38-39, 42-43 SPORTS / 80 LETTERS / 26-28 CROSSWORD & BRIDGE / 77 COMMUNITY BUZZ / 19 WHAT’S ON / 77
2
SA JEWISH REPORT
26 September - 10 October 2008
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Repent now - avoid
the Yom Kippur rush!
ROSH HASHANAH is almost upon
us and, interestingly, is alluded to
in the opening line of this week’s
Parsha. You are standing this day,
all of you, before Hashem, your
G-d. Commentary informs us that
this day - Hayom - is a reference to
the great Day of Judgment, the day
of days.
Rosh Hashanah marks the beginning of the Ten Days of Repentance
which culminate on Yom Kippur,
the Day of Atonement. So it is not
too early to talk about repentance,
or as we refer to it in Hebrew Teshuvah.
There are two popular misconceptions about Teshuvah and, ironically, they come from opposite
sides of the spectrum. The first is
I’m too good, ie repentance is for
sinners and since I’m no sinner and
am basically a good guy and a good
Jew, this process is irrelevant to
me. No need for it on my agenda.
If I’m okay, I’m exempt from
Teshuvah. Right? Wrong! That’s
the first fallacy. No-one is exempt.
Teshuvah is not only for blatant
sins and misdemeanours, it is also
for failing to live up to our potential. Even if we did nothing wrong,
but we could have done much more
good, Teshuvah is necessary.
Even the righteous of holy rabbis
klop al chet (beat their chests in
penitence) - either for their own
subtle failings; or, for the members
of their community whom they
have not yet succeeded in transforming into a Torah lifestyle.
Only those who are 100 per cent
perfect are exempt from Teshuvah.
All others must get to work. So who
is perfect? In fact, there is no one as
imperfect as he who thinks he is
perfect.
I remember many years ago,
going to the Berea Shul in Johannesburg to hear a famous chazzan
daven on Shabbos Mevorchim Elul.
Indeed, the melodies and nusach
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Honourable Abe Abrahamson (Chairman), Issie Kirsh, Dennis Maister, Bertie
Lubner, Herby Rosenberg, Russell
Gaddin, Marlene Bethlehem,
Stan Kaplan, Norman
Lowenthal.
Mr Justice Meyer Joffe
(Chair, editorial comm)
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Rabbi Yossy Goldman
Sydenham-Highlands
North Shul
were evocative of the High Holy
Days.
Afterwards, I bumped into a
well-known baaleboss, a prominent shul-going businessman. I
said to him: “Nu, you really felt
Elul during the davening, didn’t
you?”
He shrugged his shoulders and
said: “Elul is for sinners. I don’t
need Elul.”
How wrong he was. Oy, did he
need it!
People with over-inflated egos
can sometimes fool themselves
into believing everything they
think about themselves.
The other fallacy belongs to the
overly humble, the fellow who puts
himself down so low that he really
believes he is beyond salvation.
I’m too bad for Teshuvah. Too far
gone, there’s no hope, I’m a lost
case. Give up on me rabbi, I’m too
old, too tired, too lazy, too sinful - or
just too set in my ways.
The ethical teachers insist that
all the above arguments are rooted
in the yetzer hara, our inclination
for evil. The more we put ourselves
down, the less sense of hope and
optimism we will have and, thus,
the less energy we will find to try
and change.
But the fact is that there are
numerous true stories of some of
the worst sinners in history who
found G-d, Torah and themselves
in an instant and returned with a
full heart.
The renowned Talmudic sage,
September 26 / 26 Elul
Erev Shabbat
Starts Ends
17:48
18:38
18:10
19:21
17:37
18:28
17:56
18:46
18:00
18:52
17:50
18:42
Please note that these are the latest times for candle-lighting.
Don’t forget to also light a flame
which will burn over both days.
Erev Rosh Hashanah
Johannesburg
Cape Town
Durban
Bloemfontein
Port Elizabeth
East London
Light from a pre-existing flame.
These are earliest times for candle-lighting.
2nd night Rosh Hashanah
September 30 / 1 Tishrei
October 1 / 2 Tishrei
Starts
18:39
19:23
18:29
Ends
18:39
19:24
18:30
18:49
18:55
18:45
Bloemfontein
Port Elizabeth
East London
Fast of Gedaliah / Tzom Gedalia
Johannesburg
Cape Town
Durban
Bloemfontein
Port Elizabeth
East London
Parshat Nitzavim Vayelech
Starts
17:50
18:10
17:39
17:58
18:00
17:52
18:48
18:54
18:44
Johannesburg
Cape Town
Durban
Reish Lakish, was previously a
robber chieftain. Eliezer ben
Durdaya was infamous for his
immorality (he once boasted that
there wasn’t a harlot he hadn’t
patronised) and yet in a moment of
inspiration he returned and was
accepted, gaining eternal life then
and there. And who in our community does not know one or more
people today who have turned
around their lives in the most
beautiful way?
We are heading into the annual
time of opportunity to put our-
Starts
4:38
5:07
4:22
4:42
4:38
4:31
Ends
18:27
19:09
18:17
18:35
18:40
18:30
Johannesburg
Cape Town
Durban
Bloemfontein
Port Elizabeth
East London
Shabbat Times
Erev Shabbat
Starts
17:51
18:10
17:41
18:00
18:00
17:55
Ends
18:41
19:26
18:32
18:50
18:57
18:47
Johannesburg
Cape Town
Durban
Bloemfontein
Port Elizabeth
East London
Parshat Vayelech
Yom Kippur
Starts
17:54
18:38
17:44
18:03
18:08
17:59
Ends
18:43
19:30
18:35
18:54
19:01
18:51
Johannesburg
Cape Town
Durban
Bloemfontein
Port Elizabeth
East London
selves right. In these days G-d is
more easily found and we can
probably find ourselves, ie our
true, pure, untainted, innermost
selves as well.
Please G-d, we will all embrace
this mitzvah which applies to every
one of us, from the holiest to the
most far removed. Teshuvah is a
great equaliser. May our return be
sincere, genuine and well-received
up where it counts.
I wish you all a Shana Tova - a
Good and Sweet Year filled with all
the A-mighty’s abundant blessings.
Rosh Hashanah message from
Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein
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PARSHAT
NITZVAIMVAYELECH
SHABBAT TIMES AND YOMTOV TIMES
THE WORLD is always new. G-d
created it on Rosh Hashanah and,
as we say in our daily prayers, “in
His goodness He continually
renews the work of creation”.
Life is dynamic and everything
is in constant flux. The status quo
is always changing. We know,
therefore, not be arrogant in good
times, nor despondent in adversity
because anything can change in an
instant. As our Sages say:
“The salvation of G-d
comes at the blink of an
eye.”
We also know that we
can always change ourselves. Free choice is a
gift from G-d, and is one
of Judaism’s foundational pillars. That’s why
Rosh Hashanah is such a
hopeful and exciting time
of year. It is a time of new
beginnings, when G-d
decrees changes for the
world, and when we are
called upon to change
ourselves for the better.
We go before G-d with
faith in the power of
prayer and the opportunity of “teshuva” - repentance and return to Him.
The symbol of hope
and change is the sound
of the shofar. It announced the
new beginning of Jewish history
when G-d gave us the Torah at
Mount Sinai 3 320 years ago. And
it will one day herald the new era
of the final redemption of the
entire world as we say in our daily
“amidah” prayer: “Sound the
great shofar for our freedom.”
As we stand in shul on Rosh
Hashanah listening to the shofar,
we hear the sounds of Jewish
destiny and the call to change
and improvement and the acceptance of our mission to follow the
ways of Judaism. The shofar represents the call to enter a new
era of our own personal and communal lives, an era of improvement, of change for the good.
In July this year, our annual
South African rabbinical conference was held in Jerusalem. We
resolved that our communal
theme for this Rosh Hashanah
and new year would be,
“Changing Decrees in Heaven
and Hearts on Earth”.
The possibility of change is
hopeful and optimistic. Changing
decrees in heaven is about the
power of prayer. As a community
we turn to G-d and ask for special
blessings for South Africa as we
navigate our way into a new
political era, with all the challenges and opportunities it represents.
The new South Africa can be
justifiably proud of its vibrant
democracy, which, so early in its
young life, has led to the peaceful, constitutional and unprecedented removal of a president by
his own political party, thereby
opening the possibilities for
much needed changes in the
country.
We pray to G-d that the new
administration governs well and
effectively tackles the main problem areas, such as security,
health and education. We turn to
G-d for His protection and blessings for our beloved State of
Israel, as she goes forward under
new leadership to deal with the
Palestinian conflict, Iran’s pursuit of nuclear weapons and the
other regional threats. And in our
personal lives we ask G-d for
health, sustenance, security and
all sweet things.
As we ask G-d to change
decrees in Heaven for the good, so
too do we undertake to change
our hearts for the good, to return
to Him in true “teshuva”. We
must be dynamic, proactive and
passionate in our quest for
renewal, improvement and excellence in our Judaism. Each one of
us individually should give
thought to practical steps to take
us forward in the New Year.
May G-d inscribe us all here in
South Africa, together with our
fellow countrymen, and Jews
across the world, and especially
our brothers and sisters in our
beloved State of Israel with a year
of life, goodness and abundant
blessing.
SA JEWISH REPORT
3
Zuma stresses the
importance of
communication to
SAJBD delegation
DAVID SAKS
LAST WEEK Tuesday, with the country
still buzzing over the High Court ruling of
KwaZulu-Natal judge, Chris Nicholson,
throwing out a decision to prosecute him
on charges of corruption and racketeering,
a senior delegation from the SAJBD met
with ANC President Jacob Zuma at the
ANC’s Luthuli House head offices in
Johannesburg.
The delegation was headed by SAJBD
National Chairman Zev Krengel and
included National Director Wendy Kahn,
Vice-Chairmen Owen Futeran and Sydney
Lazarus and SAZF National Chairman
Avrom Krengel. Also attending was ANC
spokesperson Jessie Duarte.
It was Zuma’s first formal meeting with
the Jewish communal leadership since
early 2005, at which time his political future
had seemed very much in doubt.
Much of the discussion focused on the
ANC’s policy on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this regard, particular concern was
expressed over the fact that the party had
been a signatory to an advertisement published earlier this year that described Israel
as an apartheid state whose very coming
into existence had been illegitimate.
Krengel stressed that the great majority
of Jews in South Africa were firmly
Zionistic, but at the same time supported
the principle of a negotiated solution aimed
at achieving a viable Palestinian state coexisting side by side with Israel.
The SAJBD did not expect it never to condemn Israel, but it was nevertheless important that it continued to acknowledge
Israel’s right to exist within secure borders
and support a “two-state solution” to the
conflict.
One-sided statements from the ruling
party that put the full blame for the conflict
on Israel, were very distressing to the
Jewish community.
Avrom Krengel acknowledged the ANC’s
close identification with the Palestinian
struggle, but such support, he believed, did
not have to take the form of undermining
Israel.
It was appreciated that the Jewish community’s relationship with Israel, including fundraising for Israeli charitable causes, continued to be respected and protected
by the government.
Zuma observed that within the ANC,
there were individuals who favoured a
tougher line against Israel and who lobbied
actively in that regard. However, he confirmed that the ANC’s policy remained in
favour of a negotiated two-state solution
and that there had been no change in this
regard.
So far as the peace process went, Zuma
said he was one of those who believed that
South Africa could make a contribution to
resolving the conflict, and felt that the local
Jewish community likewise could play a
constructive role.
The meeting commenced with a discussion on the role of the Jewish community
within the greater South African society
and its leadership structure.
Also discussed was a proposed documentation project recording the history of
apartheid and the liberation struggle based
on the methodology utilised by Steven
Spielberg’s Holocaust Foundation. The idea
was first suggested by Krengel at the
SAJBD’s meeting with President Thabo
Mbeki in 2005 and has since been followed
up in various forums.
Zuma believed that South Africa’s harnessing of diversity among its population
was a strength, was something unique that
it had to offer the world and asked that the
Jewish community communicate this to its
international counterparts.
He thanked the delegation for meeting
with him, stressing the importance of communication; when people did not talk, there
was a tendency to make assumptions and
false conclusions about one another.
Back: Avrom Krengel, Sydney Lazarus, Owen Futeran and Wendy Kahn. Front: Jacob Zuma
and Zev Krengel.
4
SA JEWISH REPORT
All about Tashlich
RABBIS ELOZOR BARCLAY AND
YITZCHOK JAEGER
CAST YOUR baggage into the river.
The “Tashlich” prayer is said on the first
afternoon of Rosh Hashanah by a pool of
water.
1) What is the reason for this custom?
When Abraham went to take his son Isaac to
the Akeida, Satan appeared in the form of a
river in order to prevent the performance of
the mitzvah. Abraham entered the river
undeterred and when the waters reached his
neck, he cried out: “Save me, G-d, for the
waters have reached my soul” (Psalms 69:2),
whereupon the Satan disappeared. The
recital of Tashlich by the riverside is intended to evoke the merit of the Akeida.
In the olden days it was customary to
crown a new king by the river as a symbol
that his kingship should continue like the
river. On Rosh Hashanah we proclaim G-d to
be the King and Ruler of the world.
The verse says: “And they drew water and
poured it before G-d (1-Samuel 7:6) and the
commentators translate this as: “And they
poured out their hearts in repentance like
water before G-d.”
Rashi comments that this was a sign of
submission as if to say: “We are like this
poured out water before You.”
2) Why is it preferable to do Tashlich by
a river that has fish?
a. Since fish have no eyelids, their eyes are
constantly open. This symbolises G-d’s
constant protective watch over the Jewish
people.
b. Just as fish are suddenly caught in
nets, so too we are caught in the net of
judgement for life or death. Such
thoughts should arouse a person to
repentance.
c. This symbolises our hope to be fruitful
and multiply like fish.
d. In order that the evil eye shall not affect
us, just as it cannot affect the fish that are
hidden under the water.
Symbolic foods and lots of honey, too
1) Should the bread of hamotzi be dipped
in salt, honey, or both?
Although the custom is to dip the bread in
honey between Rosh Hashanah and Yom
Kippur, there are different customs regarding
the use of salt during these days.
One custom is to dip the bread only into
honey, while others suggest that part of the
bread should be dipped in honey and another
part dipped in salt. Some have the custom to
6) What if there is no river at all in the
vicinity?
One may go to any natural body of
water eg a spring, well, lake, or pond. Some
have the custom to say Tashlich by a mikveh.
7) What if one cannot find a natural body
of water?
He may say it by any collection of water, eg
aquarium or container of water.
8) What is the best time to say Tashlich?
After Mincha on the first day of Rosh
Hashanah.
3) What if the river has no fish?
Tashlich may still be said there.
9) Is Tashlich said when Rosh Hashanah
is on Shabbat?
Some have the custom to say Tashlich even
on Shabbat. Most communities postpone
saying it until the second day of Rosh
Hashanah in order to prevent people from
carrying their machzor in a place that has no
eiruv.
4) Is one permitted to throw breadcrumbs to the fish?
No, it is forbidden to feed the fish on Yomtov.
10) If Tashlich was not said on the first
day, may it be said on the second day?
Yes, in fact Tashlich can be said on
Laws of the festive meals
RABBIS ELOZOR BARCLAY AND
YITZCHOK JAEGER
5) What if the closest river is far from
one’s home?
If the river can be seen in the distance,
Tashlich may be said.
dip the bread in honey until Shemini Atzeret.
2) Why are special foods eaten on the
night of Rosh Hashana?
Following hamotzi, there is a custom to eat
certain foods that are reminiscent of blessings, with the hope that they should be signs
for a good year. Certainly one should be careful not to become angry but maintain a
relaxed and happy mood.
3) What are the different foods that are
customarily eaten?
Among the foods are dates, apples dipped in
honey, pomegranates, leeks, carrots, black-
any day until Yom Kippur. Some
opinions permit its recital until Shemini
Atzeret.
11) What is the text of Tashlich?
“Who is like You, G-d, who removes iniquity and overlooks transgression of the
remainder of His inheritance. He doesn’t
remain angry forever because He desires
kindness. He will return and He will be
merciful to us, and He will conquer our
iniquities, and He will cast them into the
depths of the seas.
“Give truth to Jacob, kindness to
Abraham like that you swore to our ancestors from long ago.
“From the straits I called upon G-d. G-d
answered me with expansiveness. G-d is
with me, I will not be afraid, what can man
do to me? G-d is with me to help me, and I
will see my foes (annihilated). It is better to
take refuge in G-d than to trust in man. It is
better to take refuge in G-d, than to rely on
nobles.”
Many people also read Psalms 33 and 130.
Excerpted from “Guidelines - Yomim
Noraim” - 300 commonly asked questions
about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
(Targum/Feldheim).
Reprinted with kind permission of Aish
Hatorah.
eyed peas, beets, gourd, fish, and the head of
an animal or fish.
The symbolic foods are based on a word
game which connects the name of a certain
food, to a particular hope we have for the new
year. Here is a list from the Talmud of symbolic foods customarily eaten on Rosh
Hashanah.
When eating LEEK or CABBAGE, say:
“May it be Your will, G-d, that our enemies be
CUT OFF.”
When eating BEETS, say: “May it be Your
will, G-d, that our adversaries be
REMOVED.”
When eating DATES, say: “May it be Your
will, G-d, that our enemies be FINISHED.”
When eating GOURD, say: “May it be Your
will, G-d, that the decree of our sentence
should be TORN apart, and may our merits
be PROCLAIMED before You.”
When eating POMEGRANATE, say: “May
it be Your will, G-d, that our merits increase
as the seeds of a POMEGRANATE.”
When eating the HEAD of a sheep or fish,
say: “May it be Your will, G-d, that we be as
the HEAD and not as the tail.
6) Are there any foods that should not be
eaten on Rosh Hashanah?
The custom is to avoid nuts and sour foods
such as pickles. Some have the custom not to
eat grapes.
4) Should they be eaten in a certain
order?
The fruits should be eaten before the vegetables. Of the fruits, the dates should be eaten
first. If dates are not eaten, the pomegranates
should be eaten before the apples.
9) Is the blessing of shehecheyanu said
during kiddush?
Yes, but the same procedure should be followed as for candle-lighting, ie it is preferable
to wear a new garment or put a new fruit on
the table if available. The man should have in
mind to include both Yomtov and the new
item when saying shehecheyanu.
5) Should a blessing be recited on the
fruits, even though they are eaten after
hamotzi?
Yes, borei p’ri ha’eitz should be recited once
for all the fruits. For the symbolic vegetables,
one should do one of the following:
- Recite the blessing over a vegetable that is
certainly not part of the meal, having in mind
to include the symbolic vegetables.
- Eat the symbolic vegetables with bread
and do not recite a blessing.
- Eat the symbolic vegetables with the main
course and do not recite a blessing.
7) On the second night of Rosh
Hashanah, should the blessing of shehecheyanu be recited when lighting the
candles?
Yes. If possible, a new garment should be
worn when lighting and have in mind that
the blessing of shehecheyanu is for mainly
Yomtov and also the new garment.
Alternatively, a new fruit should be placed
next to the candles and included with the
blessing (but not eaten until after kiddush).
8) When should the candles be lit?
If a new fruit is included in the shehecheyanu, the candles should be lit just
before kiddush in order that the fruit can be
eaten without a long delay. Otherwise the
candles may be lit any time after nightfall
(irrespective or whether a new garment is
worn or not).
10) Are the symbolic foods eaten on the
second night of Rosh Hashanah?
There are different customs about this. The
main custom is not to eat them.
(Excerpted from “Guidelines - Yomim
Noraim” - 300 commonly asked questions
about Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
(Targum/Feldheim).
Reprinted with kind permission of Aish
Hatorah.
NK
SA JEWISH REPORT
5
6
SA JEWISH REPORT
Rabbi, chazzan, choirmaster,
look at shul music in detail
ROBYN SASSEN
IT WASN’T certain whether the capacity audience at CAJE (College of Adult Jewish
Education) in the Sydenham Shul complex last
Monday was because of Rabbi Yossy Goldman’s
marketing genius; the community’s passion for
chazzanit; or the closeness of the Yomtovim.
Either way, the shul’s rabbi, chazzan and
choirmaster discoursing on one platform, was a
rare treat for the cantors, choristers, songwriters
and laypeople in the audience of this, the first of
a two part series on shul music.
Rabbi Goldman told us how liturgical music
touched his life. He spoke of being taken as a
small child to midnight slichot.
“These prayers are extremely evocative. They
bring out the ‘krechts’ - the soulful bursts of
intensity - in a chazzan; as a Jew you must
understand the words.
“Call it ‘connoisseurship’. A religious Jewish
musical composition has to reflect the pathos of
the words, but also the personality of the singer.
It is not just a voice.”
Choirmaster Jose Stern gave an overview of
the history of Jewish liturgy. “Music is a form of
religious self-expression. It is higher in value to
prayer than reason or intellect.”
Offering a roller-coaster ride through liturgical history, he cited Moses as the first choirmaster, and spoke of times when vocal and instrumental music were central to worship, and times
when instruments were banned in the wake of
the destruction of the Temples, taking us thence
to the rise of the virtuoso chazzan in Europe.
Correlating this with secular music, he began
with 16th century Gregorian chant and its
embellishments. The following century was distinguished by richer ornamentation - it was
Baroque, a time of contrapuntal, polyphonic
sound created by Bach, Vivaldi, Handel.
The Classical 18th century saw the birth of
structures like the sonata. It was the time of
Beethoven, Mozart and Haydn. A century later,
Romanticists like Mahler were plummeting the
emotion of their material.
“The score contains all the notes, except the
music,” he once said.
In Jewish society, dramatic changes were
afoot. Jews had emerged from their self-imposed
ghetto, to find themselves unwanted by society.
There were schisms between Reformists and
Traditionalists over the value of inner and outer
liturgical structures; the cantor-centred community developed under giants like Switzerland’s
Solomon Sulzer and Germany’s Louis
Levandovsky.
“Two Hasidic streams of music were important influences: the Modzitzer dynasty under the
Ba’al Shem Tov and Reb Nahman of Breslov’s
school of thought.”
Stern ended his foray at the modern era.
“Ours is a society of instant gratification, yet
much of our liturgy is undeveloped from the last
century.”
Rabbi Goldman spoke of resistance from within and without, which swayed the development
of community-based cantorial and choral music.
The chazzan was part of the service in the big
shuls of Europe, but not the shtieblach.
“Rabbonim disparaged cantors, declaiming
‘the bimah is not a stage’ and ‘davening is not a
performance’. Being a chazzan is not about ego.
It is a trick: The chazzan must balance high quality music with feeling, without losing himself in
it.
“Traditional material is important. People dislike new tunes as they are unfamiliar and break
established comfort zones.”
He introduced the notion of the jazz
singer/chazzan who feels compelled by his congregants to introduce a “ditty” into the liturgy.
Chazzan Yudi Cohen.
Choirmaster Jose
Stern.
“Does this cheapen the nusar? Are we purists
or traditionalists at heart? I want people to walk
out of shul smiling.”
Without missing a beat, chazzan Yudi Cohen
continued: “Am I a chazzan or a jazz singer? My
job is to interpret the music on behalf of the
congregation.”
This classically trained performer agreed
that it isn’t a burden for him to lighten up the
classics; it’s reflective of where we are as people
today.
“Three things have engendered these evolutions. Style: Hassidic music has a ‘freygish’
mode, a derivation of the harmonic minor scale;
shul-goers have changed - this generation
wants to know the prayers’ meanings; and persecution has infiltrated Jewish identity.
“We need to survive in this world with positive values. Self-belief should infuse the music
of the shul. I dream,” he continued “to have real
jazz in shul. Real gospel music” - the audience
jittered and the rabbi stood up - “it is about the
neshama of music!” he back-peddled slightly,
qualifying his rather refreshingly outrageous
dream.
AROUND
THE WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
MERIDOR: PEACE TALKS WITH
LEBANON UPCOMING
WASHINGTON - Israel could be
holding peace talks with
Lebanon within a year, Israel's
US envoy told JTA.
Pointing out that Israel's talks
with the Palestinians are continuing despite the political
upheaval in Jerusalem, Sallai
Meridor, Israel's ambassador to
the United States, said the
Lebanon track could be in place
within a year.
"I don't think it would be a sin
to hope for peace with Lebanon,"
he said.
"Hopefully we will be able in
the next year, rather than having
two focuses (the Palestinians and
the Syrians), we will be able to
have another one with Lebanon."
Meridor made his comments
in an interview with JTA to deliver a Rosh Hashanah message two
years
into
his
stint
in
Washington. The ambassador
noted the irony of recent
progress
on
the
IsraelPalestinian and Israel-Syria
tracks while Iran apparently
edges closer to obtaining a
nuclear bomb.
By this time next year, he said,
the Iranians could be even further along toward obtaining a
nuclear weapon.
"We must make every effort
from the individual to the state
level to prevent this nightmare
from happening," Meridor said.
(JTA)
SA JEWISH REPORT
7
Israeli wines come of age
DINA KRAFT
RAMAT RAZIEL, ISRAEL
IT’S HARVEST time at the
Domaine Du Castel winery and
crates full of small, plump grapes
the colour of blueberries, are being
loaded into a machine that removes
them from their stems and pumps
them through plastic piping into a
towering, silver-coloured vat.
This is how the two-year process
of wine making begins in a terra
cotta-coloured building that originally was a chicken coop and is
now considered the producer of
some of Israel’s finest wines.
This year the winery was awarded the much-coveted four-star rating in one of the world’s premier
wine guides, Hugh Johnson’s
“Pocket Wine Book 2008”.
In Israel, “there is a wine revolution going on when it comes to
quality”, says the founder of
Domaine Du Castel, Eli Ben Zaken,
a mild-mannered man with thick,
wavy hair and a beard.
A former restaurateur, he began
making wine as a hobby until the
top wine taster at Sotheby’s in
London came across one of his bottles and, much to his surprise,
declared it “an outstanding” find,
Ben Zaken said.
Wines have been produced in
these Judean hills, not far from
Jerusalem, since biblical times.
The remains of a wine press from
the Second Temple period was
unearthed near where Domaine Du
Castel’s grapes are grown.
But only in the last 25 years or so
have Israel’s wines begun to take
off around the world, transforming
the reputation of kosher wine from
the syrupy kosher kiddush variety
to world-class vintages.
“International expertise, modern
technology and dynamic wineries
have ensured continued advances
in quality,” Johnson wrote of
Israeli wines in his book.
A key turning point in the “coming out” of Israel’s wines came just
last year when Robert Parker, a
leading American wine critic, tasted more than 40 Israeli wines for
the first time.
He awarded 14 wines scores higher than 90 on a 100-point scale. A
major achievement for any winery,
the scores signified an exceptional
world-class product.
A list of some of Parker’s
favourite Israeli wines was published in Business Week. The highest score, 93, went to a pair of
Israeli red wines: the 2003 Yatir
Forest wine from the Yatir Winery
and the 2005 Gewurztraminer
Heights Wine Yarden, a desert wine
from the Golan Heights Winery.
Israel’s wines began their metamorphosis in the 1980s. Israelis
started travelling abroad in
increasing numbers and returned
with an appetite for better food and,
with it, better wine, according to
the restaurant and wine critic for
Israel’s daily Ha’aretz, Daniel
Rogov.
Some Israelis began studying
winemaking in places such as
France and California, returning
home with the expertise not just on
how to make wine, but where to
make wine. They began planting
fewer vineyards in Israel’s low-
Eli Ben Zaken savours the bouquet of a wine in one of the cellars of his
Castel du Domaine, near Jerusalem, on September 8.
lying coastal areas and more in
higher-altitude regions like the
Golan Heights, the Upper Galilee
and the Judean Hills, where the climate has proved better for growing
quality grapes.
The Golan Heights Winery, established in 1984, played an important
role in the quality revolution of
Israeli wines, bringing in expertise
from California and raising the bar
for other wine makers here, said
the director of wine development at
the
Carmel
Winery,
Adam
Montefiore, who also has worked at
the Golan Heights Winery.
“The planting had been going on
in the wrong places of the coastal
plane, where the soil was not right
and with grapes that were not the
right varieties,” Rogov said. “In the
Golan Heights, the primarily volcanic soil is excellent for grapes
and the chalky, volcanic red clay of
the Upper Galilee is also very
good.”
When he came to Israel 25 years
ago, the country was a “wine
desert”, said Rogov, who runs an
online forum on Israeli wines and
is the author of “Rogov’s Guide to
Israeli Wines”.
“If people told me then that
Israel would be producing the
wines they are producing today, I
would have laughed in their faces,”
Rogov said.
The return of modern winemaking to the region began in 1882 with
the investment in wineries in
Zichron Yaakov and Rishon LeZion by philanthropist Baron
Edmond de Rothschild. The baron,
who in France owned Chateaux
Lafite, arguably the world’s most
famous winery, hoped a wine
industry would help support
Jewish settlement in what was then
Ottoman-ruled Palestine.
Rothschild’s wineries eventually
morphed into the Carmel Winery,
still Israel’s largest. But for
decades it was Carmel that was
synonymous with the thick, sweet
kosher wine that Jews around the
world used for kiddush on Shabbat
and holidays.
“Liquid religion,” Montefiore,
who works for Carmel, calls it.
“Probably the most famous Jewish
brand name in the world.”
In the past eight years, Carmel
has worked hard at a transformation of its own, and it’s now recognised for a collection of top-quality
wines. It’s a shift that, according to
Montefiore, is part of a larger revolution in which up-and-coming
boutique wineries have pressured
Israel’s older, more established
wineries to react by creating topquality wines.
“It’s been fun to be part of building an image rather than holding
on to an image,” said Montefiore,
whose great-great-grandfather was
the heir and nephew of Sir Moses
Montefiore, the famous Jewish philanthropist from London who
invested heavily in the Jewish community in Palestine in the late 19th
century.
Israel today has about eight
major wineries, 10 medium-sized
ones and nearly 180 boutique
wineries. They range from the
high-end Margalit and Yatir wineries to the innovative and organic
Neot Semadar Winery, the southernmost winery in the country,
located deep in the Negev Desert.
At Ramat Raziel, a moshav in the
forested hills outside Jerusalem,
Ben Zaken has spent the last few
weeks walking through his vineyards testing the grapes until they
were ripe for harvest. An Egyptianborn immigrant from Italy, Ben
Zaken says the process of working
the land makes him feel especially
rooted here.
He says he also sees a role for
Israeli wine beyond the pleasure of
its taste. “Here you can show the
world that Israel is not only about
wars and violence,” he said. “And
their image of Israel changes.”
(JTA)
8
SA JEWISH REPORT
The haunting, yet piercing sound of the shofar
Ushering in the New
Year. During the month
of Elul, preceding Rosh
Hashanah, it is customary to fulfil the obligation of hearing the shofar every day. Ari Katz
(left) and Jared Blecher
perform this mitzvah in
shopping malls, supermarkets and throughout their school campus, Torah Academy.
PHOTOGRAPH:
SUZANNE BELLING
RITA LEWIS
Two weeks before Rosh Hashanah,
the Jewish New Year, and already
cards are being received, e-mails
appear daily in inboxes wishing a
Shana Tova Tikatevu Vetchatemu,
Chag Sameach or just a plain Shana
Tova, Happy New Year.
Looking around at the Jewish magazines and papers, all are filled with
articles covering different aspects of
the festival and opinions are written
and printed on the customs and obligations of the upcoming Chag.
A plethora of advertisements
"Wishing all our Jewish customers a
Happy New Year" have been placed
and new clothes and much food have
been stocked up for anticipated guests.
Such is the power of the Yomim
Noraim, the Days of Awe which start
on the evening of September 29 and
which run up to and including
October 1.
The biggest impression of these days
of judgement when our Maker decides
our fate on Rosh Hashanah and writes
down His decision on Yom Kippur hopefully, in the Sefer HaChaim, the
Book of Life - is surely the synagogue
service. With its beautiful music
accompanying the awesome words, the
solemnity of the occasion cannot be
denied or denigrated.
Added to this is the haunting, yet
piercing sound of the shofar which is
the only Jewish cultural instrument to
have survived until now.
It is blown mainly on Rosh Hashanah
and daily during the month of Elul to
alert the listener to the "coming judgement" where all inhabitants of the
world, as sheep, pass before the shepherd.
It is also blown to mark the end of
Yom Kippur.
The sequence of blowing the shofar
on Rosh Hashanah is tekiah, shevarimteruah, tekiah: tekiah, shevarim, tekiah: tekiah, teruah and tekiah
gedola.This makes up a total of 30
notes which is repeated twice more
during the service making up, totalling
90 notes A further formula of 10 notes
is blown at the end of the service, making 100 notes in all for the
Ashkenazim.
The Sephardim add another note
symbolising the 100 cries of the mother of Sisera, the Canaanite general
who was assassinated by Yael in the
story in Judges.
The shofar is not blown on Shabbat.
In Biblical times, the shofar was a
priestly instrument of martial origin.
Perhaps the most well-known occasion
when it was used was when Joshua
surrounded the walls and captured the
city of Jericho while the shofar was
being blown.
The shofar was often taken to war in
order to be able to inform the troops
when a battle was to begin.
It was also extensively used to
announce the New Moon, the holidays
and the Jubilee Year.
The Jewish month of Tishrei is called
"a memorial of blowing" and also "a day
of blowing" (in Vayikra/Leviticus and
Bamidbar/Numbers).
On New Year's Day in Jerusalem, the
main service/ceremony was conducted with the shofar and the instrument
placed with a trumpet on either side of
it, whereas on fast days the main ceremony was conducted with the trumpets in the centre and a shofar on
either side.
In post-Biblical times, the use of the
shofar was given greater prominence
during religious occasions due to the
ban of playing musical instruments - a
sign of mourning for the destruction of
the Temple.
In modern times, two types of shofar
are generally used. The Askenazim
use a domestic ram's horn and the
Sephardim a kudu horn and the two
vary in their mouthpieces with the
Sephardi shofars having a carved
mouthpiece - resembling that of a
European trumpet or French horn
but somewhat smaller, while the
Ashkenazi shofars do not.
From a musical point of view, the
harmonics obtained when playing the
instrument can vary due to the irregularities of the hollows. Rather than a
pure perfect fifth, intervals as narrow
as a fourth or as wide as a sixth may be
produced.
The making and shaping of a shofar
is basically done by the same method.
Heat is applied to the horn which is
then flattened and shaped with a hole
being made from the tip of the horn to
the hollow inside.
Interestingly that although the shofar is used today for ceremonial occasions it may not be painted and a hole
or crack will render it unfit for use.
SA JEWISH REPORT
Many wealthy South Africans
‘not committed to country’
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
MOIRA SCHNEIDER
CAPE TOWN
SOUTH AFRICA’S weakness lay
in the fact that “a great many”
wealthy individuals were “not
really committed” to the future of
the country, said former trade
unionist and now business leader,
Johnny Copelyn who was participating in a debate titled “South
Africa: Leaver or believer? Should
I stay or should I go?”
It was organised by the South
African Jewish Board of Deputies
(Cape Council).
“The real test is whether the
wealthy will push off with their
money,” he said, describing this
as “probably the most irresponsible thing that they can do”.
Copelyn, who is CEO of Hosken
Consolidated Investments (HCI),
illustrated his point by quoting
HCI’s recent buying into the
Seardel Group that had been “on
the verge of collapse” with 15 000
jobs at stake.
“Our share price dropped R7 to
R8 million in its market capitalisation since we made our announce-
ment.
“People who make and break
companies and their futures, have
no confidence and commitment to
the future of South Africa,” he
maintained. “Stop moaning, stop
groaning, let’s roll up our sleeves
and build South Africa,” he
appealed.
Arguing for staying in this
country, Rael Levitt, CEO of
Auction Alliance, noted that half
of his matric class of 1988 had
remained in South Africa, as
opposed to five per cent of the
class of 1978, “and the future
Rael Levitt, Johnny Copelyn, Tahlia Yesorsky, Trevor Shaff and David Jacobson participated in the SAJBD
debate “South Africa: Leaver or believer? Should I stay or should I go?”
looked far less certain then than it
does now”.
Jewish entrepreneurship was
flourishing post-1994, he said,
adding that there were “not too
many stories of Jewish people not
getting jobs.
“After 9/11, people realised that
the world is full of danger,” said
Levitt, who was holidaying on the
island of Phuket in Thailand
when the tsunami struck at the
end of 2004. “In South Africa, people can get ahead quite quickly I’m a big believer,” he said.
Nineteen-year-old
Tahlia
Yesorsky is a second-year law student and chairman of the Western
Province Zionist Youth Council.
She feels that South Africa’s
“many challenges and adversities
will give rise to many opportunities.
“If you measure success by
wealth... pack your bags, but for
me success should be based on the
impact I can make on others.
South Africa needs young, dedicated, passionate people and it’s
unfortunate that so many who can
contribute to the future of the
country are choosing to leave,”
she said.
“The Jewish community of
Cape Town has given me so much
to aspire to - I feel I’ve so much to
give back in the years to come.”
Trevor Shaff, director of the
Community Security Organisation (CSO) in Cape Town, mentioning a rash of anti-Semitic inci-
9
dents that had taken place in
Australia in July, asked the audience why they would leave South
Africa to go and live as a minority
in “someone else’s country”. He
plans to go on aliyah with his family in the near future.
Being the director of the CSO
has made him “more proudly
Jewish and a fervent Zionist”, he
stated. “As much as I love South
Africa, I do not believe there’s a
future for Jews anywhere in the
world besides Israel.”
David Jacobson, director of
SAJBD’s Cape Council, stressed
that he was putting forward the
argument for leaving the country
“because no-one else wanted the
job. I think I’m the only one seeing
clearly,” he began.
“We Jews have a long and proud
history of being leavers - we clearly suffer from land commitment
issues. We are a nation of movers,
not just movers and shakers.”
He maintained there was still
“great shame” attached to leaving
the country, but this was not reason enough to be “imprisoned by
one’s guilt. In the 21st century,
we’re living in a global world
where people come and go.”
Jacobson said one could not
take the right to life, “the most
basic human right”, for granted
here. In addition, we had lost our
sense of freedom, about which
“our kids have no clue”.
Listing the areas of education,
health and infrastructure as being
deficient, he said: “It ain’t over till
the fat lady’s sung and she’s
singing loud and clear.”
Board chairman Owen Futeran
commented that the country had
been “incredibly welcoming” to
Jews. “We live one of the fullest
Jewish lives possible - don’t we
owe something to this country
that’s allowed it?”
10
SA JEWISH REPORT
AROUND THE WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
HATE SPEECH ROILS UC BERKELEY CAMPUS
NEW YORK - Student groups and university administration have denounced two
hate-speech incidents at the University of
California, Berkeley.
Last week, a poster promoting Israel as
a place where Jews and Arabs can peacefully coexist, was defaced with swastikas,
the campus newspaper, the Daily
Californian, reported.
Two days later, a threatening message
addressed to a pro-Palestinian student
group was found scrawled in a campus
building. Members of both the Israel
Action Committee and the proPalestinian group, Students for Justice
in Palestine, condemned the incidents.
The university chancellor, Robert
Birgeneau, condemned the defacing of
the Israel poster. "As a university community that does not condone any acts of
intolerance or hate, we must speak out
against this anti-Semitic obscenity,"
Birgeneau said.
"Deplorable acts of hate are the
antithesis of a university community."
(JTA)
KHAMEINI: NO FRIENDSHIP WITH ISRAELI PEOPLE
JERUSALEM - Extending friendship to
Israel's people was "wrong," but the controversy over the matter should end,
Iran's supreme leader said.
In an address to worshippers last
Friday, Ayatollah Ali Khameini referred
to a controversy sparked by Esfandiar
Rahim Mashaie, the Iranian vice president, who recently said Iran extends
friendship to all people, including those
in Israel.
The remarks did not imply recognition of Israel but nonetheless led to calls
for Mashaie's censure in the Iranian
parliament.
An individual "makes comments
about those people who live in Israel; of
course, this is a wrong remark,"
Khameini said, according to a Reuters
report. "The issue should be finished."
In his remarks on Friday, Khameini
also appeared to back the government of
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who
is up for re-election in June.
Khameini is the ultimate centre of
power in Iran's theocracy.
Internal critics say Ahmadinejad's
policies, including accelerating Iran's
uranium enrichment, lambasting Israel
and denying the Holocaust, have
increased Iran's isolation and worsened
the economy.
In separate remarks, Ahmadinejad
defended his vice president, saying he
too did not reject friendship with
Israelis - but emphasised that he saw
Israel as illegitimate.
We have no problem with people and
nations," he said at a news conference
on Thursday, according to the New York
Times. "Of course, we do not recognise a
government or a nation for the Zionist
regime."
He elaborated: "We are opposed to the
idea that the people who live there
should be thrown into the sea or be
burnt."
In the same news conference, he once
again called the Holocaust a "fake".
(JTA)
SA JEWISH REPORT
11
Rosh Hashanah dreaming
RABBI SHAUL ROSENBLATT
G-D IS OFFERING another year of life. What are we
going to do with it?
"I have a dream..." - a phrase immortalised by Martin
Luther King. "...I have a dream that my four children
will one day live in a nation where they will not be
judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of
their character..."
It was a dream that he did not live to see realised; a
dream that is still not realised. But a man who dreams
is a man who cares. And a man who cares is a man who
makes a difference.
We Jews also have a dream - a dream that we have
dreamt for almost 3 500 years. And Rosh Hashanah is
the day that we remind ourselves of that dream.
You would think that on the awesome Day of
Judgement - "who will live and who will die, who by fire
and who by sword..." - you would think that we would
pray for forgiveness, for health, for a year of life. But if
you look at the essence of the prayer service, you will
see that we ask for none of this.
What do we ask? We ask that G-d perfect the world.
We ask for unity among people. We ask for harmony.
We ask for the destruction of evil and justice in
response to righteousness. In short, we ask that G-d
bring us the Messianic Age.
It's all lovely stuff, but at first glance, it seems a little
out of place on Rosh Hashanah. In fact, it's exactly
AROUND
THE
WORLD
NEWS IN
BRIEF
what Rosh Hashanah is all about.
We stand before a loving G-d, our Father. Every
father wants their child to live a long, healthy and prosperous life. And so, like any good father, He is offering
us another year.
The question is whether we are interested. The year
is on offer, but what are we going to do with it? Are we
living for something that matters? Or are we concerned
about our next lollipop? Are we striving to be great, or
meandering towards mediocrity?
Rosh Hashanah is there to lift our sights, to remind
us to dream. And to dream of great things - peace, love,
justice... Why bother dreaming of anything less?
By dreaming grandiose dreams, we remind ourselves
that life really does matter. This is not just another
year of drudgery. It is a year in which we can accomplish great things. We remind ourselves that we really
do want another year, another opportunity to strive
towards making a difference.
Rosh Hashanah is a day to ask the all-important
question: What am I living for?
If we know what we are living for and it is something
that matters, G-d will give us life. If we're wasting life,
G-d may give us a little more to waste, but then again,
He may not.
Let's not take the chance. On Rosh Hashanah, let's
make sure we have a dream.
Reprinted with kind permission of Aish Hatorah.
GRANDFATHER, MOTHER CHARGED IN GIRL'S MURDER
JERUSALEM - The grandfather and
mother of a four-year-old girl whose
remains were found in a Tel Aviv river
were charged with murder.
Ronny Ron and Marie Pizem, who also
have two young children together, were
charged on Monday with killing Rose
Pizem and dumping her body in a red suitcase into the Yarkon River
Rose was buried this week in the town of
Montesson, west of Paris. An autopsy performed last week at The Institute of
Forensic Medicine in Tel Aviv could not
determine the cause of death.
Ron confessed to police during his
arrest more than a month ago that he accidentally killed Rose by hitting her when
she bothered him while he was driving.
He told police to search the Yarkon
River for a red suitcase carrying her
remains. Ron later recanted his confession.
Jewish community leaders, and a representative from Israel's police force attended Rose's funeral, which was conducted in
"religious Christian" tradition, according
to the CRIF Jewish umbrella organisation
vice president, Meier Habib, who participated, reported the French Press Agency.
(JTA)
12
SA JEWISH REPORT
Why round challah?
ALIZA BULOW
SOME SURPRISING spiritual insights from the Rosh
Hashana challah.
All year long our challah is braided, but it is round for
Rosh Hashanah. What does the challah's shape teach us
about this special time of year?
Rosh Hashanah is a holiday filled with physical doorways into the spiritual world. The blasts of the shofar
are the prime example of this. But there are many others
as well
All year round, we dip our challah in salt before distributing it; during the High Holiday season, many use
honey so that we may have a sweet year. For the same
reason, many make a sweeter challah dough as well.
We also begin the evening Rosh Hashanah meals by
dipping apples into honey and reciting a prayer for a
good and sweet year. Some continue with a Rosh
Hashanah "seder", sampling many different foods and
reciting a prayer that contains an allusion to the food's
Hebrew name.
Every Jewish custom is significant on a very deep
level. Some have levels that we can access; others are
beyond our grasp. Even the shape of the loaf of challah
can teach us something deep about the holiday on which
it is consumed.
Creative energy
The Shabbat challah is braided. "Six days shall you work
(engage in creative activity), and on the seventh shall
you desist" (Exodus 34:21).
Part of the preparation for the Shabbat is engaging in
melacha, creative activity. Braiding is creative activity.
The braid is a shape that does not appear in nature.
It is a shape that is made by humans and it is representative of the human ability to manipulate the raw material of the world.
Braiding the challah strands helps us harness our creative capacities for the purpose of observing the
Shabbat.
But braiding is more than that. The Talmud tells us
that G-d Himself braided Eve's hair in preparation for
her wedding to Adam (Brachot 61a). Was He merely
beautifying her?
The braid represents directive, to focus and give order
to the energies of one's household.
70 faces of Torah
Round challahs are unique to the High Holiday season. Some say they represent a crown that reflects
our coronating G-d as the King of the world.
Others suggest that the circular shape points to the
cyclical nature of the year. The Hebrew word for year
is "shana", which comes from the Hebrew word
"repeat". Perhaps the circle illustrates how the years
just go round and round.
But Rosh Hashanah challahs are not really circles;
they are spirals... There are 70 faces to the Torah, or
in Hebrew, shiv'im panim la'Torah. This means that
there are 70 ways to understand every facet of Torah.
The word "panim" can be translated either as
"face", or as "innerness". Thus the Torah presents 70
different "faces", appearing differently depending on
the psychological, intellectual and spiritual angle
from which it is examined. It also means that there
are 70 different inner realities for every facet we can
see.
King David lived for 70 years, and, in our tradition,
that is considered to be the "average" lifespan. Each
subsequent year of life makes a person into a different creation than the year before.
So, if one lives the average lifetime, another understanding of "70 faces to the Torah" could mean
that we, through living 70 years, have our own
70 faces that we can turn to the Torah. That is why
we often have "aha!" moments even as we study the
same concepts we studied last year, or hear the same
weekly Torah portion we have heard for years in a
row.
Turning a different one of our faces to the Torah
means that our "receptor sites" are different, and we
are able to tune into a new aspect each year.
The word "shana" has a double meaning as well. In
addition to "repeat", it also means "change". As the
year goes round and round, repeating the same seasons and holidays as the year before, we are presented with a choice: Do we want this shana (year) to be a
repetition, or do we want to make a change (shinui)?
Hopefully, each year we make choices for change
that are positive, and each year we will climb higher
and higher, creating a spiritual spiral.
By kind permission of Aish Hatorah
SA JEWISH REPORT
13
Is birthright programme
worth all the money?
his doubts about an abbreviated programme. But
birthright is not for the Orthodox but for youngsters who
seldom if ever enter a synagogue.
A book just published by the Brandeis Press gives a
THE BIRTHRIGHT ISRAEL programme, which in less
than a decade has brought more than 150 000 young Jews detailed and lively description of the programme.
Entitled Ten Days of birthright israel, it was
on free, 10-day educational visits to Israel, is undoubtedwritten by sociologist Prof Leonard Saxe of
ly the most innovative scheme
Brandeis and Barry Chazan, a professor
to promote Judaism in the
emeritus at the Hebrew University and chief
21st century.
architect of the birthright programme. The
But has the multi-million
book gives a good picture of the people who
dollar investment in birthserve to guide the groups and the young
right been cost-effective in
men and women who make them up. Much
terms of its own goals, namely
emphasis is placed on emotional messages,
lessening assimilation and
both in regard to the personalities they
strengthening Jewish identifimeet and the vistas to which they are
cation?
exposed.
This is a question that one
When, for example, a birthright group is
hesitates to ask, since two leadstanding on Jerusalem's Talpiot Proing Jewish philanthropists menade and looking out on half of
Charles Bronfman and Michael
Jerusalem, the guide is likely to conclude
Steinhardt - provided most of
by saying: "The ancient heart of Jewish
the initial funds for birthright
existence has been preserved over the
and together with others, have
ages. You are part of that history."
helped ensure its continued operIt is far too early to evaluate the effect
ation.
that the birthright experience has on
But it is nevertheless a question
those who experience it. Will they play a
that has to be asked. In recent
more active role in Jewish life? Will
years, Jewish charity dollars have
their sense of Jewishness become more
gone down in volume and, togethintense? Will they be more likely to
er with the falling value of the dolAn illustration of the cover of
marry a Jew?
lar itself, the funds that remain "Ten Days of birthright israel".
There is no way of knowing. But I
must be doled out very carefully.
have grave doubts. My own learning
From the very start there were those who questioned
the whole project. Prominent Australian-Israeli busi- experience was in the framework of Habonim, a Labour
nessman Isi Leibler wrote: "The reality is that the Zionist youth movement, and it lasted not for 10 days, but
birthright israel concept is bizarre... Well-meaning for almost 10 years.
It brought me here and convinced many others to
American-Jewish philanthropists, desperate for solutions, have mistakenly adopted the quick fix - a 10 day devote their lives to promoting Judaism. It is not by
free trip to Israel for every youngster to overcome all the chance that meetings of Reconstructionist and Reform
problems of Jewish identity and miraculously generate a rabbis in North America feel like reunions of Habonim,
Hashomer Hatzair and Young Judea. I don't think that a
Jewish renaissance."
Orthodox himself, with many years of Jewish educa- quick dip in Judaism can possibly achieve the same
tion behind him, it was natural that Leibler should have result. But it can help.
NECHEMIA MEYERS
REHOVOT
14
SA JEWISH REPORT
Can you identify
any of these faces?
THIS HISTORICAL photograph, taken during the Second World War, may stir some memory in one of our readers. The photo was taken during a Rosh Hashanah dinner somewhere in North Africa. A regular Jewish Report reader, Joan Liptz, brought the photograph to us. She had received it from a doctor (ringed in front). At the back - ringed - is her
father Dr Sam Liptz, who was a medical officer in the Rhodesian contingent, with Rabbi
Maurice Konvisor next to Dr Liptz (in a white robe), who had come from (then) Salisbury
to conduct the service and preside over the dinner.
Some of the wives had come with Rabbi Konvisor to attend the celebration. Joan believes
this photograph is of the Rhodesian Medical Corps during the War. She says: “Some faces
are familiar to me, but some elude me.”
Do any of our readers recognise any other faces?
NK
SA JEWISH REPORT
Co-author Tina Donnelly, Phyllis Friedlander and her son, Dr Robin Friedlander, who has compiled a book
on intellectual disabilities and mental illness.
Mental disability:
Helping parents
deal with a
double whammy
MOIRA SCHNEIDER
CAPE TOWN
A former South African credits the time
he spent working at the Selwyn Segal
Centre for the Jewish Handicapped, for
the path his career has taken in Canada.
Dr Robin Friedlander has just helped
compile Success Stories from the Front
Lines: Intellectual Disabilities and
Mental Health , a book that includes
poems, paintings and first-person stories
by patients (and their families) with both
intellectual disabilities and mental illness.
Friedlander, who was born in Cape
Town, is a psychiatrist and a clinical
associate professor at the University of
British Columbia. He also works in the
Neuropsychiatry Clinic at the British
Columbia Children's Hospital and is the
clinical director of the West Coast &
Fraser Valley Mental Health Support
Team.
At the launch that took place at the V
and A Waterfront in this city,
Friedlander said the combination of
intellectual disability and mental illness
was "relatively unusual" and that that
patient population tended to be "invisible".
"It's a double whammy for the family
that has to come to terms with the child's
developmental delay which takes a while
to process, but parents mostly do come to
terms with this," he said.
In adolescence, the child "very often"
developed mental illness such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder in addition,
which he described as "overwhelming"
for families. He has compiled the book in
order to raise awareness of this dual
diagnosis both among patients and their
families as well as clinicians who may
erroneously attribute behavioural problems to the intellectual disability instead
of being indicative of a second pathology.
Friedlander was a psychiatrist in private practice in Johannesburg before he
immigrated to Canada. He quipped that
"at the bottom" of his curriculum vitae
presented to his prospective Canadian
employer was stated that he had received
"some training" in institutions for the
mentally retarded, in particular, the
Selwyn Segal Centre.
"They latched onto it and said: 'Here he
is, the expert!'" he recalled.
Canadian co-author and registered
psychiatric nurse Tina Donnelly, who
was also at the launch, thanked those
present "for releasing Robin from South
Africa. He's been a great asset to mental
health in British Columbia," she said.
• The book can be purchased at
Wordsworth Books in Cape Town or
online at http://bookstore.cw.bc.ca
15
16
SA JEWISH REPORT
Jonty Rhodes shares his recipe for success
JULIA COOK
WHAT DOES it mean to be successful? This question has intrigued
people since time immemorial.
Recently, the Sandton Institute
of Jewish Education (SAIJE) hosted a five-part course that provided
participants with various insights
into understanding and determining what it means to be successful.
The final speaker was former
South African cricketing icon
Jonty Rhodes who was interviewed by Rabbi Dovid Wineberg
of Sandton Shul, in order to provide participants with an interactive conclusion to the course.
Rhodes was born in 1969 and
first shot to fame in 1992 when he
played cricket for South Africa
while still studying for a B Com
degree. He had not even considered playing professionally as
sport was "not so important" in
South Africa at the time. He participated in the Olympics, came
home and continued his studies
undisturbed.
Rhodes continued to play for
South Africa for another 11 years.
He recently returned from Israel
after playing in an Israeli team, to
promote cricket in that country.
He has a quote from his father
that he does his best to live by, and
that is "to practise like you play".
Children are taught that "practise
makes perfect", but he differs
slightly in this view. His father
taught him that "perfect practice
makes perfect play".
If you want to be really successful at something, you cannot just
put in a half-hearted effort. It is
possible to have a two hour practice and accomplish nothing. In
order to achieve progress, you
need to train as though you are
playing in the middle of a game
and if you practise enough this
way then your instincts start to
take over.
When you are playing professionally, you don't have time to
analyse what is going on, on the
field and to think about what the
best reaction would be. The cricketers he was faced with when playing for South Africa, were the
world's best. They were good and
they were fast. Under those conditions, one has to act instinctively.
Rhodes did not participate much
in the action between 1996 and
1998. He believes, however, that it
is even through the smallest acts
that one can help one's team. For
instance when he was cold and he
was asked to bring his teammates
water, he brought them tea instead
because he thought that they
might need something to warm
them up while they were playing.
The key to team success lies in
how you define it, Rhodes said. "I
want to play for my life. You have
to be there to be successful. G-d
has a divine purpose for our lives,
so we should always do the best
that we can.
"When things go wrong, we
should not try to make excuses; we
should focus more on our internal
and possible aspects. You should
focus on what you can control,
rather than trying to do something that you are incapable of.
"When you play, it shouldn't be
about the goals, it should be about
making yourself into the best that
you can be. It is important to focus
on the process, not the outcome."
In his Bible, he says, it is stated
that "trust in the L-rd and you will
succeed". This does not mean that
you are guaranteed success, but to
even have a chance that G-d will
help you, you need to play your
part in the process. Faith is not a
me, and I never felt betrayed by
him. My faith in friendship and
my faith in him had never been
tested. We all make mistakes, but
in his case the one that he made
was big...”
He pointed out that "when
Cronjé was our captain, we won 75
per cent of our games. A captain
Rabbi Dovid Wineberg of Sandton Shul and Jonty Rhodes.
crutch; if you don't put in the
effort then you will not succeed.
He went through a hard time a
few years ago when his friend and
captain, Hansie Cronjé, was found
guilty of match-fixing. When
asked by the audience how he felt
about this, he said that when he
first found out about it, his first
thought was "Is he okay?", as he
knew that Cronjé was a very
proud man and that he was incredibly ashamed of what he had done.
Rhodes said he felt terrible that
he had not been there for him in
his time of need.
"(Cronjé) had always supported
on his own cannot swing a game.
He could only influence our
involvement, not our performance.
"He could never lose a game on
purpose because the rest of us
were not involved."
When Rhodes was a child he suffered from a minor case of epilepsy, therefore he couldn't play
rugby, but he could play hockey.
"When I was at university I actually believed that I was far better
at hockey than at cricket. It was
playing hockey that gave me the
skills that I needed to be a good
fielder.
"I felt a little like a fraud,
because my epilepsy didn't affect
me the way that it did others.
When I played, I received many
letters from children and mothers
and this inspired me to do better.
However, even though I felt
inspired, I believed that I could
accomplish more off field by being
a positive role model, just by being
who I am with both the positive
and negative aspects of my personality."
An important part of being
part of a good team is for each
individual to play according to
his strengths. When you play, you
must not try to play like someone
else; you must try to play like
you.
When he was on the team they
had two philosophies that they
adhered to. "First, we believed
strongly that 'one run can make a
difference'. In 2003, our team fell
out of the World Cup because of
one run. In South Africa, people
tend to look at issues such as
crime and Aids and they say to
themselves that they cannot
make a difference, and would
rather leave the responsibility in
the hands of someone who they
believe is more capable
"But if we each make our contribution, no matter how small, each
of us can make that difference. It
all depends on our attitude.
"Secondly, we (as a team)
believed that to be truly great, we
couldn't just embrace change,
because that meant that we were
merely keeping up with the opposition. Rather, we must initiate
our own changes and try new
things on our own."
SA JEWISH REPORT
17
History of KZN Jewry to be launched next week
DAVID SAKS
THE 175-YEAR-LONG story of KwaZuluNatal Jewry has finally been provided with
a worthy vehicle for its telling. On October 5,
between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, a
comprehensive new history of the Jews of
KwaZulu-Natal will be launched in Durban.
Fittingly, it will take place at the historic
Durban Jewish Club, headquarters of the
city’s Jewish community.
The history was commissioned by the
Council for KwaZulu-Natal Jewry and
researched and largely written by Natal
University academic Julia Prosser. Other
contributors were Robert Cross (on theatre)
and Cecille Levin (music).
Prosser stressed that the book was not a
narrow “who’s who” institutional history.
Rather, it took a broad, thematic approach,
interweaving the Jewish story into a history
of KwaZulu-Natal as a whole.
It had in many ways been a groundbreaking project, the only previous academic
exploration of the subject having been
Stephen Cohen’s doctoral thesis on Durban
Jewry (which she had relied upon extensively).
Jews had played a very prominent part in
all aspects of society, and this had never been
properly recorded. Researching and writing
the book had been a three-year process, one
of the difficulties being the dearth of communal records from the early years.
Unfortunately, the primary sources,
including minute books and newspaper cutting, had been allowed to deteriorate to an
alarming extent, making an accurate recon-
COMMENT
After the last shofar
has sounded...
NECHEMIA MEYERS
REHOVOT, ISRAEL
THE HIGH Holidays always bring with them
a re-examination of the last year and hopes
that the new one will be better. The year 5769
is not likely to be.
First and foremost, there is the return of
the Cold War. We remain a dispersed people,
even after the ingathering, and now, once
again, we are likely to find it more difficult
to maintain unfettered contact with our
brethren behind the Iron Curtain, or whatever it will now be called.
Secondly, our “team” in the conflict - the
free and relatively Free World - is likely to
suffer setbacks from the newly-energised
totalitarian powers.
Jewish optimists, always in short supply,
will think back to Israel’s early years when
things were far worse and all that concerned
us was getting enough to eat and a roof over
our heads (usually tin in those days). Still
mourning the death of six million Jews in
the Holocaust and another 6 000 in the War
of Independence, we somehow prayed that
G-d would stop harassing his Chosen People
and start smiling upon them once again.
Whether because of those prayers or for
other reasons, the A-mighty has generally
done so during the intervening period. The
miraculous mass aliyah from the former
Soviet Union is one example; our extraordinary success in the highly competitive world
of hi-tech is another.
Can we, when the shofarim have sounded
for the last time this October, hope for more
of the same?
That depends not so much on our High
Holiday prayers as on our unity and dedication. As the saying goes: “G-d helps him who
helps himself.” And with our political map
looking like a piece of shattered glass, we are
not doing so well in this sphere.
Perhaps, with Kol Nidre still ringing in our
ears, we will find a way to work together
more amicably. We owe it to our Spanish
ancestors who recited that haunting prayer
in secret cellars and kept the faith in the face
of difficulties more daunting than those we
face today, be they continuing anti-Semitism,
Iran’s nuclear ambitions or assimilation.
While we are striving to maintain our cultural identity and safeguard our very existence, we must remember that our heritage
imposes upon us obligations that we can’t
ignore. In the weekly Bible passage from
Deuteronomy that is perused before the High
Holidays, the Jews in Sinai are informed by
G-d that the land they are about to enter is
being given to them not because of their
virtues, but because of the wickedness of the
nations that the L-rd is dispossessing.
This implies that the Jews must toe the line
and cease building further golden calves if
they are to go on possessing the Land of
Israel, a factor that should be taken into consideration by our leaders.
Meyer Kahn - world player
but South African at heart
Yeshiva College’s annual
breakfast with SABMiller
Chairman Meyer Kahn.
EVELYN SAMSON
PHOTOGRAPH: ILAN OSSENDRYVER
GUEST SPEAKER at the annual Yeshiva
College breakfast, Meyer Kahn, chairman
of SABMiller plc, captivated the audience
with his vast knowledge of the beer business, both locally and abroad.
Beer is his life and runs a close second to
his family; as a matter of fact, he just loves
discussing beer!
His talk covered the economics and woes
of the world, to his travels to capture new
markets north, east and west, to make SAB
the veritable giant that it is in beer, to his
manner of leadership. He craves numbers
and on a daily basis has a need to know the
number of beers sold in every brewery in
every town on every continent.
It must be placed before him wherever he
is starting his workday. He has spent some
42 years as chairman or MD of SAB, striving at all times to ensure that SABMiller is
the leader in its field.
“In our business there is no tomorrow,”
he reminds his audience. He is a firm
believer in strategising and having a long-
Gerald Leissner
(chairman of
Yeshiva College)
and Meyer Kahn
(chairman of
SABMiller plc),
share a
moment.
term vision.
But he says one cannot achieve long-term
success without short term.
His philosophy in business is to make
money slowly. SABMiller has followed this
path for decades - just take a glance at the
balance sheet!
Of South Africa he said: “I really value my
roots and we at SABMiller fly our national
flag in every office around the world. Our
problems are manageable, our infrastructure
is the envy of many a developing country and
I see SAB as my political party upon whom
many millions of people depend for success.
“I myself remain a South African to my
core.”
• Gerald Leissner, chairman of Yeshiva
College, is a catalyst for organising the annual Yeshiva College breakfast at Summer
Place, raising money for the Yeshiva College
Bursary Fund which ensures an education
for Jewish children from financially disadvantaged homes.
struction of the past all the more difficult.
Lionel Wolfson, the project convener, had
been of great assistance and amassed a
great deal of information. However, people’s
memories could not always be relied upon
and it was often necessary to check and
recheck what they said.
Prosser lectured in education at the
University of Natal for 25 years and is also a
former editor of Hashalom, the monthly bulletin of the 3 000-strong Durban Jewish com-
munity. Despite having moved from
Johannesburg to Durban as far back as 1958,
she feels that she continues to feel something of an outsider in what has traditionally been the country’s most separatist
province.
This sense of apartness from the rest of
the population, she believes, has been characteristic of KZN Jewry as well. It was one of
the things that made the province’s Jewish
community in many ways unique.
18
SA JEWISH REPORT
SOCIAL SCENE
Rita Lewis jont@global.co.za
Mizrachi’s Rabbi Laurence Perez welcomes the guests.
Rabbi Laurence Perez presents Marc Belzberg with a plaque acknowledging his work.
Mizrachi: Committed to a
holistic Jewish approach
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY RITA LEWIS
Educational director of Mibereishit,
Carmen Emanuel talks to Chief Rabbi
Warren Goldstein.
Ethnie and Stan Davidson.
IN HIS message to those at the Mizrachi
function held at the Sandton Sun to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary, Rabbi
Laurence Perez, Mizrachi’s rabbi, said: “In a
generation when many are drawn to extremism both secular and religious and a simplistic one-dimensional life perspective,
Mizrachi South Africa remains passionately
committed to this integrated and holistic
approach to our Jewishness and to life itself.
“If we are to stay together as one cohesive
Jewish society in Israel and as a united community in South Africa, I believe that the
Mizrachi path is both a relevant and
absolutely crucial voice for the future of the
State of Israel and South African Jewry.”
He introduced the guest of honour,
Marc Belzberg and his wife Chantal
who had raised vast amounts of money to
help all those children orphaned as a
result of acts of terror in Israel.
Canadian-born Belzberg now living in
Israel, is currently the chairman of
OneFamily, Israel’s largest organisation providing assistance to victims of terrorism and
their families. He is also chairman of the
board of Mibereishit and chairman of the
board of governors of World Bnei Akiva.
His wife Chantal also chairs the fund and
is its executive vice-chairman. Together the
two started the fund after the attack at the
Sbarro restaurant in central Jerusalem.
Belzberg spoke about seeing G-d’s footsteps in our history. “We are living in the
times where it says in the Bible: ‘I will
bring you back to the House of Israel on
the wings of Eagles’.”
He spoke of the work of Mibereishit
saying the organisation was trying to
change the future of Jews in our world “just as someone did for me”.
He was referring to his life in Israel where
“we take children around the country and
explain why they should remain in Israel”.
He also described the effort put into trying
to motivate soldiers to see the beauty of the
country they were fighting for and the difficulties they sometimes have to experience.
Avrom Krengel, chairman of Mizrachi
South Africa, said that during this 60th
anniversary year there had been an upsurge
of Zionism and Zionistic activities in South
Africa. The community had recently sent its
first planeload of olim to Israel and 500 more
were expected to go this year.
He said Mizrachi was a unique partnership between young South African rabbis
and lay leadership who had greatly contributed to almost every communal
organisation here.
Mizrachi auditor Dennis Tannenbaum with Felicia Krengel
(behind) and his wife and Corinne.
Rochie Factor, Lionel Stein and Helen Heldenmuth.
Guest of honour, Marc Belzberg addressing the gathering.
Cheryl Unterslak, Divote’s co-ordinator in
South Africa and for Mibereishit in
Durban, with Carmen Emanuel.
Gary Herbert stands between Martin and Judy Moritz.
Felicia Krengel with Dubi Tal (Bnei Akiva shaliach in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s) and
Avrom Krengel, chairman of Mizrachi South Africa.
COMMUNITY BUZZ
LIONEL SLIER
082-444-9832, fax: 011-440-0448,
lionel.slier@absamail.co.za
SA JEWISH REPORT
congregation at its zenith. One can well
imagine how the shul, upstairs gallery and
downstairs, must have been packed on the
High Holidays, what with additional visitors from surrounding smaller towns!”
19
“He was knocked down one evening when
crossing Louis Botha Avenue. He passed
away the following day at the age of 74. He
was a truly remarkable gentleman.”
PORT ELIZABETH
To be concluded.
Marc Kopman continues with his
Namaqualand meander:
JOHANNESBURG
KLAWER
From Bernard Green:
“On the main tarred road there is a sign
which says ‘Klawer’ and there is a turn onto
a gravel road winding alongside a picturesque river and is quite a precarious and
bumpy ride. The village never had more
than 11 Jewish families, or even individuals.
“However, Sydney Press, who founded the
famous Edgars clothing store, came from this
area. That dynamite comes in small packages
certainly rings true in this instance.
“The Teperson family also owned the
Garies Hotel and although the congregation
was formally established in 1911, no site of a
building previously occupied as a synagogue could be located after enquiries. The
hotel has been altered when comparing it
with the (circa) 1941 photos which appear in
Jewish Life in the South African Country
Communities, Volume 2.
“I have known Dennis Port of Durban for
over 50 years. We played first team water
polo together, circa 1956-1959 for the
Yeoville Amateur Swimming Club.
“My late wife, Esther, attended many
Maccabi meetings, provincial and national
swimming and water polo championships
together with Issy Kramer (See Community
Buzz September 19).
“Esther was a Maccabi swimming selector. She attended the 1973 Maccabi Games in
Israel as chaperone to the entire South
African Maccabi team. She also accompanied the 1977 SA Maccabi team as the swimming coach.”
LAMBERT’S BAY
“My late father, Alec Antonis, had to leave
school at the age of 12 to assist in his parents’ hat and cap factory in Troyeville,
Johannesburg. Despite this, he educated
himself by reading voraciously and perfected his handwriting as well.
“Alec and his brother, Dan, would go to
Ellis Park tennis courts at 05:00 to practise
tennis, using the racquets left carelessly
lying on the stoep by players.
“My father became the best tennis player
of The Jewish Guild but after developing
tennis elbow, he took up bowls. He was chosen as ‘skip’ for matches over the years.
“Alec’s one sister, Celia, together with
her business partner, a Mr Groom, invented
the first knitting machine in South Africa.
“As a youngster, Alec would go and buy
milk and bread for the family. He went an
extra mile to a café where the owner would
give him some sweets and stale ‘koek’ as
well. This was a real treat for him.
“My grandfather manufactured caps and
forage hats during the Second World War.
Field Marshall Jan Smuts wore one too.
Antonis was the surname used when coming to South Africa from Latvia, possibly
because my grandfather thought that the
immigration official was asking him the
name of the small village that he came from
- not his surname ‘Epstein’ - so Antonis was
our name forever.
“The Antonis family was loved by many
over the years, especially the sports fraternity like the Beaconsfield Club and The
Jewish Guild Tennis Club to name but a few.
“My father, Alec, was a commercial traveller and was respected by all who came
into contact with him.
“The Marine Hotel had been owned by the
Ginsberg brothers and we could trace no
other sign of any formal Jewish congregation ever having existed here.
CLANWILLIAM
“Here there is no site which could have been
a synagogue, although various hotels were
owned by Jews including two by the
Ginbergs and one by the Cohens.
NIEUWOUDTVILLE
“This tiny hamlet also had no formal congregation. However, a visit to their
Publicity Association office reveals a printed brochure, Historical Walk and Item #2 is
a historical site ‘Old Jewish General Dealer’
run by the Fischer family from 1907
through to the 1960s and is now occupied by
the local ECO Club.
“The local koffie-shop boasts mugs of
‘moerkoffie’ and large muffins for the
princely sum of R18 each. Gauteng beware!
CALVINIA
“Negotiating a 150 kilometres gravel road
between Clanwilliam and Calvinia where
the former synagogue has become a museum. It was raining that day and our first
task was to clean the foundation stone with
paper towels in order that we could photograph it.
“As one enters the building, one notes
over 150 names which made up the Calvinia
Maurice Horwitz:
JOHANNESBURG
From Sheila Fishman:
“The Orthodox Hebrew Congregation has
its inception in the early services held by
the Jews who had emigrated from Eastern
Europe towards the end of the 19th century.
“Services were at first held in private
houses, particularly in the house of a Mr
Rossfeld. In 1901 nine people met and
formed a new congregation. They included
Messrs S L Bergman, Asher Kaplan, Jacob
Bergman, S Perl, Max Mitchell, C Jabkovitz,
A Taitz, and T Lappin. The little group each
contributed £5,50 towards the first funds of
the congregation and an account was
opened at the Robinson Bank. C Jabkovitz
was elected the first chairman.
“Services were held in a room in Queen
Street which also served as a Zionist Hall.
In 1902, for £450 the new congregation
acquired a wood-and-iron building in
Hartman Street for a synagogue.
“By 1904 the number of worshippers had
increased so that an overflow minyan was
held for the High Festivals in the German
Liedertafel Hall in Western Road (opposite
the Western Road Synagogue).”
YIDDISH
J Papiernikov (Auspices of the SA Yiddish
Cultural Federation) Zionist Record
January 4 1952.
“The Yiddish writer in Israel is a martyr
and his work is part of that martyrdom
because everything in the Jewish State militates against Yiddish. The people and even
the air they breathe, offer no tolerance to
Yiddish. The language is denied the support
and sympathy of the government and the
political parties.
“The CRH Community Centre showed a
documentary about the famed Yiddish
writer, Isaac Bashevis Singer, called ‘Isaac
in America’. He certainly had no doubt
about his love for the language and while
living in the United States (where he came
in 1935) he continued to write short stories
and articles for the newspaper The Yiddish
Daily Forward.
“He was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1978
and in his acceptance speech he said that he
was often asked why he continued to write
in a dying language. He would reply that he
wrote about the supernatural and ghosts a
lot and as ghosts had passed on they all
spoke Yiddish and so he wrote in Yiddish
for this reason.
“It is worth recording that he was once
asked at a meeting whether he believed in
free will. ‘Yes, of course I do,’ he replied.
“You must believe that we have no choice in
the matter.’”
ARRIVAL OF
LATEST EUROPEAN
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Closed on Shabbos
335 Jan Smuts Avenue
Craighall Park Tel: (011) 325-4986
Parking in Westminister Drive
20
SA JEWISH REPORT
Century of ‘best of civilisation, worst of barbarism’
Barbarism & Civilization. A
History of Europe in our Time, by
Bernard Wasserstein, (Oxford
University Press, Oxford, 2007).
REVIEWED BY PROF MILTON SHAIN
“THERE IS no document of civilisation that is not simultaneously a
document of barbarism.” With
this apposite quote from Walter
Benjamin, the renowned GermanJewish cultural critic, Bernard
Wasserstein embarks on his huge,
informative and readable account
of Europe in the 20th century.
Wasserstein fashions a powerful narrative that outlines “the
main contours of the political,
diplomatic, and military history
of Europe” over the past century,
including an account and analysis of “the most striking features
of demographic, economic, and
social change”.
In addition, Wasserstein provides glimpses of cultural change
through the century, focussing on
film, broadcasting, popular music
and the secularisation of European society.
Although referred to as “the
shortest century” by the renowned historian Eric Hobsbawm
- effectively starting in 1914 and
ending with the collapse of the
Iron Curtain in 1989 - Wasserstein
takes a longer view, continuing his
narrative of the European 20th
century deep into post-Cold War
Europe, which for his purposes
includes European Russia and
European Turkey.
This is a huge synthesis, marvellously researched, enriched with
interesting pictures and a massive
bibliography. Wasserstein travers-
es the continent with an awesome
deftness and a compelling confidence, which sustains his thesis
provided in the title.
He is as comfortable writing
about country life in Europe on
the eve of the Great War of 1914, as
he is discussing sex and sexuality
in our new millennium.
Barbarism & Civilization begins
with a description of Europe on
the eve of the Great War, its demographic and economic features,
the character of rural and urban
life and the disparities in wealth
and opportunity between rich and
poor.
Notwithstanding efforts early in
the century to lessen inequity
through class struggle and social
amelioration, beneath the surface
of a rapidly transforming Europe,
explains Wasserstein, lurked an
ugly “nationalist canker”.
“The root of European disorder
in 1914,” he maintains, “was not,
as some thought class, but ethnicity.” Ethnic ties, he continues,
“answer to some of the most
deeply rooted and instinctive
social feelings of our species.
European history in our time
shows how futile it is to ignore
them.”
The scourge of nationalism especially strident between the
two world wars - cannot be minimised; it was the blight on the
20th century. To be sure, ethnic
chauvinism continues to rear its
ugly head, most recently in the
Balkans, the centre of European
conflict at both ends of the century.
Wasserstein traces the horrors
of the Great War, the Bolshevik
Revolution and the turmoil of
post-war Europe. Substantial stability emerged in the late 1920s
only to disntegrate with the Great
Depression.
Wasserstein is particularly
insightful in tracing the parallel
worlds of Stalin and Hitler, the ideological challenges of left and right
in the Spanish Civil war, and the
spiral into the Second World War.
The carnage of this “most devastating war in history”, as
Wasserstein puts it, was massive.
It prepared the way for the Cold
War and the gradual recovery and
integration of Western Europe.
Wasserstein outlines and explains
these developments, providing a
window into Stalin’s Russia, his
heirs, and the uprisings and
vicious repression in Eastern
Europe.
The economic consequences of
the great “Oil Crisis” in 1973,
ended a sustained period of
growth - the fat years - in Western
Europe and laid the foundations
for the discrediting of the
Keynesian economic consensus
and the rise of neo-liberalism.
Henceforth the “Chicago school”
- associated with the name of
Milton Friedman and built on the
philosophy of the Austrian-born
economist Friedrich von Hayek would inform economics, and
monetarist policies would rule.
The pace for Europe was set by
Margaret Thatcher following her
election as prime minister of
Britain in 1979.
While providing substantial
political and economic detail,
Wasserstein never loses sight of
social change. The new consumer
society of Western Europe is
explored as well as the youth
revolts of the 1960s and the persistent erosion of religious faith.
These developments paralleled
growing political strife in Eastern
Europe, ultimately leading to the
collapse of Communism and the
disintegration of the USSR.
Out of the thaw of the Cold
War, a re-born “Mitteleuropa”
emerged, soon to be ravaged by
ethnic conflicts as nationalism
burst out from the deep freeze of
Communism. Once again Wasserstein demonstrates the power of
ethnicity and nationalism amidst
the savagery of hate.
By the late 1990s Fukuyama’s
“end of history” was itself consigned to the rubbish bin; a new
realpolitik once again informs
European affairs. With the USA
agreeing to provide Poland with
defensive missiles and Russia
aggressively asserting her newfound strength, the continent once
again looks divided and fragile.
But Europe in the new millennium is a very different continent
to that of a 100 years ago.
Standards of living, lifestyles and
health patterns have been transformed - the “old-fashioned
British breakfast of bacon and
eggs or kipper gave way to fruit
juice, cereal, and yoghurt” although class and geographical
divisions persist.
Urbanisation continues apace
and economic integration is seemingly unstoppable. Small languages are in decline, mass education is burgeoning, and women,
ethnic minorities and homosexuals are accorded greater respect;
although Wasserstein does note a
“deepening hostility between
natives and Muslim immigrants”
in the wake of 9/11, and the
London and Madrid bomb explosions.
Leisure patterns have also
changed dramatically, but sport,
“as in ancient Rome and Byzantium”, continues to have a propensity to turn violent.
The glue of religion has come
unstuck. Europe is entering what
Wasserstein refers to as “the first
post-Christian generation in history”.
The past 100 years has seen the
best of civilisation and the worst of
barbarism.
From Guernica to Auschwitz,
from the Gulag to Srebrenica, evil
has stalked the continent. And,
arguably, it is evil that has left a far
greater impact on us than the creativity and generosity of spirit we
are asked to celebrate.
Milton Shain is Director: Isaac and
Jessie Kaplan Centre for Jewish
Studies and Research, University
of Cape Town.
SA JEWISH REPORT
21
22
SA JEWISH REPORT
OPINION AND ANALYSIS
FORUM FOR DIVERSE VIEWS
Reflections during a
time of uncertainty
AS THIS year draws to a close and we move into
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, uncertainty and
instability locally and internationally have cast a
pall of anxiety over many people.
In today’s global village, we are quickly affected
by events elsewhere, such as the economic crisis
in the United States that has caused fears of a
meltdown of the global financial system. Massive
emergency intervention by the US government bailing out banks and insurance companies and
propping up mortgage debts to the tune of many
billions of dollars - has calmed things somewhat,
but uncertainty still hangs in the air.
In South Africa we are more protected because
of strict fiscal regulations, but the saying is still
true that if America sneezes, the world catches a
cold.
In this country, recent weeks have sent shock
waves through our body politic with Mr Justice
Chris Nicholson’s judgment leading to the resignation of President Thabo Mbeki under pressure
from the Zuma faction, ANC Youth League leader
Julius Malema’s violence-tinged ranting about
“killing for Zuma” scaring us - and moreover
prospective overseas investors - and so on.
These events have left a bitter taste. Given that
there were only a few months to go before Mbeki’s
term as president expired, why was it necessary
to axe him thus? And now the haemorrhaging of
the Cabinet has left financial markets in jitters.
It smells pungently of political revenge, rather
than intelligent politics - notwithstanding dry
comments made by political analysts that “in
democracies, leaders come and go”. It has also
planted a bad precedent into our political culture,
which may come back to haunt us.
The Zuma faction’s revenge attack shows the
populists are winning the day - and that can only
bode ill for the future of the country and investor
confidence.
Not that Mbeki didn’t deserve to be called to
account. There are reasons to want him out,
notwithstanding the fact of the nearly 10-year
period of economic growth under his presidency,
and before that as Nelson Mandela’s deputy: the
likelihood, as found by Mr Justice Nicholson, of
his “meddling” in the judicial process; his cronyism with pariah states in the world; his almost
criminally inept handling of the colossal
HIV/Aids crisis; his disastrous Zimbabwe policy,
notwithstanding “nearly” brokering a deal
between Robert Mugabe and Morgan Tsvangirai;
his arrogance and intolerance of anyone who disagrees with him, as well as his stubborn insistence on retaining disgraced ministers like Manto
Shabalala-Msimang, and his playing of the “race
card” if opponents happen to be white.
In Israel, uncertainty and a sense of crisis also
prevail: Ehud Olmert has handed in his resignation, dogged by corruption scandals and the
shame of being reputedly the most unpopular
prime minister in Israel’s history. Will Tzipi Livni
- the new head of Kadima - be able to form a stable government to tackle Israel’s urgent issues the peace process, settlements, Hamas, Iran, etc?
Is she up to this daunting task? All agree that
she is “Mrs Clean” - and that, at least, is a welcome change from the corruption-ridden politicians who have dominated Israel for the past
decade or more.
It is significant that this period of profound
uncertainty has reached an apex right now as we
go into Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur - a time
of deep reflection.
These macro-political and financial events are
largely beyond the influence of the ordinary person, who can only feel a sense of impotence. We
must concentrate on our own lives and deeds:
insignificant as they may seem in the bigger picture, ultimately this too will have an effect in ways
we cannot imagine.
During the coming Days of Awe, we can reflect
on the fact that - notwithstanding global anxieties
- we are actually doing relatively well in our generation compared with many periods in Jewish
history. And South African Jewry is a strong and
vibrant community, playing a meaningful role in
our country’s development and in world Jewry.
We have the spiritual and material wherewithal
to ride out some rough times, if necessary, and in
doing this, to also play a part in turning them into
better times.
Israeli prime minister-designate Tzipi Livni holds a news conference with President Shimon Peres at the president's
residence in Jerusalem on Sept. 22, 2008. (CREDIT: BRIAN HENDLER)
Livni now must assemble a coalition
LESLIE SUSSER
JERUSALEM
WITH HER victory in the Kadima
Party primary and Ehud Olmert’s resignation official, Tzipi Livni’s next
major task will be assembling a coalition government so she can become
prime minister.
Then all she’ll have on her plate is
figuring out how to arrest the threat to
Israel from Iran, resolve the IsraeliPalestinian conflict with a historic
peace deal, neutralise the threat on
Israel’s
northern
border
from
Hezbollah and run the country.
If she ever gets to it.
The immediate challenge facing
Livni is translating her 431-vote margin of victory in the September 17 primary into a stable coalition government.
She finished with 43,1 per cent of the
vote to 42 per cent for Transportation
Minister Shaul Mofaz. Early exit
polling had given Livni a double-digit
victory, but the foreign minister’s
margin dwindled as the votes were
counted late into the night.
Political rivals and potential coalition partners are pointing to Livni’s
relatively small mandate - only about
33 000 people voted in the Kadima election - to argue that Livni alone should
not lead the country.
Livni has made it clear that she
wants to base her new government on
the existing coalition - the Kadima,
Labour, Shas and Pensioners parties with the possible addition of other
parties such as Avigdor Lieberman’s
Yisrael Beiteinu on the right, Meretz
on the left and the fervently Orthodox
Torah Judaism Party.
But Labour argues that a prime minister effectively elected by only 17 000
or so Israelis, has no legitimacy and
that the Israeli people as a whole
should be allowed to have their say in
new elections.
Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu
agrees. Polls show Likud would win
many more than its current share of
12 Knesset seats if new general elections were held, possibly even winning the plurality and catapulting
Netanyahu back into the office of
prime minister.
Shas is also threatening new elections unless Livni meets its demands
for more generous child allowances
and a pledge to keep Jerusalem off
the negotiating agenda with the
Palestinians.
Livni will have 42 days to form a
government. If she fails, Israel will be
headed for new general elections, possibly as early as next spring. If she
succeeds, she could govern for a year
or two before going into a new election with the incumbency advantage.
During the campaign, Livni gave a
slew of interviews in which she
spelled out her priorities:
* Moving ahead on the Palestinian
track: Over the past few months, she
and the former Palestinian prime
minister, Ahmed Qureia, have been
drafting a full-fledged IsraeliPalestinian peace agreement. Both
sides say that although they have
made progress, closing the wide gaps
that still exist will take time.
Once Livni is installed as prime
minister, one key issue will become
more difficult to resolve: refugees.
Livni repeatedly has said that she will
not agree to any resettlement in Israel
proper of Palestinian refugees
because allowing in just one
Palestinian refugee would chip away
at Israel’s legitimacy as a Jewish
state.
Livni might ease conditions on the
ground for Palestinians by dismantling illegal settler outposts in the
West Bank, something that successive
Israeli prime ministers have failed to
do. She argues that any government
she heads will assert the rule of law.
As for Gaza, Livni warns that she
will consider a large-scale ground
offensive if Hamas uses the current
truce to smuggle in huge quantities of
arms.
* Ascertaining the seriousness of
the Syrian track: Ever since Israel
and Syria started conducting new
peace feelers under Turkish auspices
in January 2007, Livni has not been
in the loop. She has argued that by
going public with the talks, Israel has
provided Syria a degree of international legitimacy without getting
very much in return.
Livni will want to see for herself
whether Syrian President Bashar
Assad is ready for a peace with Israel
that entails a significant downgrading of his relations with Iran.
* Dealing quietly with the Iranian
nuclear threat: Livni says as far as
Israel is concerned, “all options are
on the table” and that to say more
would be irresponsible. But she has
intimated in the past that Israel could
live with a nuclear Iran by establishing a very clear deterrent balance.
* Introducing a new style of cleaner government: Livni, who won the
leadership race at least partly
because of her squeaky clean image,
will want to signal early on that she
intends to introduce a new style of
governing. She will want to clean up
party politics by breaking the power
of the Kadima vote contractors, who
drafted people en masse to vote for a
particular candidate. One idea is to
set a minimum membership period perhaps 18 months - before party
members get voting rights.
By electing Livni, Kadima voters
seemed to be saying enough of the
generals at the top and enough of
wheeler-dealer
politics.
Livni,
dubbed Mrs Clean, is seen as a
straight-thinking, scandal-free civilian clearly out to promote Israel’s
best interests.
She has a full agenda, a chance to
change the tenor of Israel politics
and to make historic moves vis-á-vis
the Palestinians and Syria.
But first she will have to put
together a viable coalition. (JTA)
(JTA managing editor Uriel
Heilman contributed to this report.)
SA JEWISH REPORT
23
Mandela - the epitome of a mensch
WHEN NELSON Mandela arrived at
Jerusalem’s King David Hotel during his
visit to Israel in 1999, he was quickly
mobbed by an enthusiastic crowd of wellwishers.
Russell Gaddin, who was accompanying
Mandela in his capacity as SAJBD chairman, recalled: “A large number of rabbis
who happened to be in the hotel, bedecked
in their black coats, hats and streimels,
lost all decorum. Everyone wanted to
touch, be near and shake hands with the
great man.”
It was gratifying to learn that even
strictly Orthodox Jews, generally
extremely insular and hardly open to
embracing non-Jews (let alone black
ones), should have recognised that Nelson
Mandela represented something very special.
One regrettably does not see very much
of this spirit within the Orthodox community over here. Eradicating such entrenched prejudices will be more and more
difficult as the post-1994 Mandela honeymoon recedes into history. But that is
really a national problem, rather than a
specifically Jewish one.
A few years prior to this, in 1996, a
South African court formally ended the
33-year-old marriage of Nelson and
Winnie Mandela. More than anything else
he did, it was President Mandela’s behaviour during this time that left the most
lasting impression on me.
At no stage did he display anger, bitterness or vindictiveness, so common in
marital break-ups. Dignified, sad and
BARBARIC
YAWP
David Saks
accepting, he was completely without
rancour - the epitome of a mensch.
The contrast between Mandela and
another world leader whose private life
was made even more glaringly public
could hardly have been more striking. A
couple of years later, it was the turn of
Bill Clinton to show what he was made of.
That grubby little liaison with a White
House intern had now hit the headlines,
and Clinton was being called on to answer
for it. We all remember what happened how the head of the world’s premier
nation squirmed and lied, and as a result
made himself an even greater object of
contempt than he already was.
How much of his reputation he might
have salvaged had he acted like a man and
frankly admitted his indiscretion (if that
is the word)! As it was, he became an
international laughing stock, an embarrassment to his office and to his country.
Mandela’s 90th birthday attracted the
anticipated flood of tributes from all over
the world. I was involved in the production of a commemorative publication
brought out for the occasion by the
SAJBD. It comprised both goodwill messages from most of the country’s Jewish
organisations and the personal reminiscences of Jewish individuals who had
been involved with Mandela over the
years.
In addition to the expected “big names”
- Helen Suzman, Isie Maisels, Arthur
Chaskalson, Albie Sachs, and Tony Leon,
among others - these included past chairmen of the Board of Deputies, businessmen and various professionals who had
been involved in Mandela’s affairs in
some capacity or other.
In the course of editing the publication,
I could not help but be moved - indeed,
even awestruck - by the towering personality that emerged so consistently in the
various memoirs.
As one contributor observed, Nelson
Mandela’s outstanding human traits
emerged most clearly “in small stories
about the man rather than in grand gestures, for it is in these moments that his
true humanity shines through”.
The following is one such episode, one
of many that could have been chosen. In
the early 1960s, Mandela liaised closely
with Benjamin Pogrund, then Africa
Affairs editor for the Rand Daily Mail,
over a planned national strike by black
workers.
The strike failed in the end, in no small
part because the Rand Daily Mail, a highly respected paper in the black community, poured cold water on its prospects.
Pogrund felt wretched about this, and
when his phone rang and he heard
Mandela’s voice, he immediately began
stammering out an apology for what his
newspaper had done. Mandela interrupted and said cheerily: “It’s alright Benjiboy, I know it wasn’t your fault.”
It was, for Pogrund, “an act of total and
unforgettable generosity”.
Anger, resentment, a sense of betrayal a lesser man would probably have shown
all these things. Mandela, in the midst of
his own disappointed hopes, was able to be
sensitive to another’s feelings and put him
at ease.
Of course, this was just a minor episode,
one that would never find its way into an
official history. But in its way, it is as
enlightening as any of the “big picture”
events that people usually remember.
There remains a strong idolatrous
streak in the human race, a tendency to
place certain individuals on pedestals and
hero-worship them. One should always be
wary of falling into that trap when assessing the relevance of historical figures
(especially politicians!) since there is
always a danger of remembering them as
we would like them to have been, not as
they really were.
I believe that Nelson Mandela is one of
those very rare personalities whose greatness becomes more, not less apparent, the
more one examines him. Rarely, indeed,
has history witnessed a leader who has
combined in equal measure such towering
personal and statesmanlike qualities.
It will always be possible to nitpick, and
no doubt this will happen, but Mandela
will remain that rarity: someone about
whom it is all but impossible to be cynical
about.
24
SA JEWISH REPORT
Thousands turn out for Iran rally
BEN HARRIS
NEW YORK
THOUSANDS OF protesters filled Dag
Hammarskjold Plaza opposite the United
Nations on Monday for a rally against Iran’s
president, who came to town to address the
General Assembly.
“The message to him is please go home,”
Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel said at the
demonstration. “Mahmoud Ahmadinejad,
go home and stay home. We don’t want you
here.”
Wiesel called for UN members to declare
Ahmadinejad persona non grata and to exit
the General Assembly hall in protest when
he speaks on Tuesday afternoon.
“In truth, the proper place of Iran’s
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, is not in
the UN,” Wiesel said. “His place is before an
international tribunal which will charge
him with inciting crimes against humanity.”
The rally - sponsored by an array of
Jewish groups - was meant to highlight the
Iranian regime’s threats to Israel and the
rest of the world with its pursuit of nuclear
weapons, as well as its Holocaust denial, and
to send a message to Ahmadinejad, organisers said.
The day after the rally, Iran’s president
delivered a scathing attack on Zionism in his
address at the United Nations.
In a speech replete with classical antiSemitic motifs, Ahmadinejad said Zionists
were criminals and murderers, are “acquisitive” and “deceitful,” and dominate global
finance despite their “minuscule” number.
“It is deeply disastrous to witness that
some presidential nominees have to visit
these people, take part in their gatherings,
and swear their allegiance and commitment
to their interests in order to win financial or
media support,” Ahmadinejad said.
“These nations are spending their dignity
and resources on the crimes and threats of
the Zionist network against their will,” he
added.
Ahmadinejad predicted that the “Zionist
regime” was on the path to collapse.
The Iranian president also sounded a defiant note with respect to his country’s
nuclear programme, which he described as
peaceful. Ahmadinejad described nuclear
power as his country’s “inalienable” right
Protesters
gathered in
New York
City on
September
22, to draw
attention to
the threat of
Iran’s pursuit
of nuclear
weapons.
(CREDIT: BEN
HARRIS)
Israel year in review: 5768
LESLIE SUSSER
JERUSALEM
IN ISRAEL, 5768 was the year of multiple
peace overtures, a growing sense of urgency
regarding Iran’s nuclear programme and an
embattled prime minister’s losing fight to
stay in office.
Israel and Syria announced in May they
were holding indirect peace negotiations
under Turkish mediation. And in June,
Israel and the Hamas leadership in the Gaza
Strip agreed to a truce brokered by Egypt.
But with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
under investigation on a number of corruption allegations and struggling to hold onto
power, there were lingering suspicions that
his peace efforts were aimed more at helping
him survive politically than at achieving
genuine diplomatic breakthroughs.
In the end he failed on both counts, ending
his term with an early resignation. Olmert’s
lead negotiator on the Israeli-Palestinian
peace track, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni,
would win the election to succeed him.
Olmert’s political weaknesses cast a shadow over his strategic and diplomatic efforts
throughout the year.
Even before Olmert and PA President
Mahmoud Abbas met at Annapolis, peace
advocates worried that the two leaders were
too weak to reach a peace deal. At the summit, which drew an impressive array of
Arab leaders from across the Middle East,
the two sides pledged to conclude a final
Israeli-Palestinian peace deal by the end of
2008.
The United States devoted a great deal of
energy to the process. President George W
Bush visited Israel twice, in January and in
May. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice
made several trips to monitor progress.
Former British Prime Minister Tony
Blair, the special envoy of the international
Quartet comprising the United States, the
European Union, the United Nations and
Russia, helped raise more than $7 billion to
jump-start the depressed Palestinian economy. US Gen Keith Dayton trained
Palestinian forces to take over security in
parts of the West Bank.
But as long as Hamas controlled Gaza, full
peace between Israel and the Palestinians
seemed a distant prospect. Rocket attacks on
Israel from Gaza continued ceaselessly,
while Israel’s two-pronged retaliatory strategy - targeting the militiamen and imposing
a land and sea blockade on Gaza - failed to
bring quiet to the beleaguered residents of
southern Israel.
Instead, Israel endured international criticism for declaring Gaza “a hostile territory” and severely cutting electricity and fuel
supplies to the strip.
In late January, Hamas scuttled Israel’s
blockade by blowing up the border fence
between Gaza and Egypt, allowing hundreds of thousands of Palestinians to
stream into Egypt. After Egypt resealed the
border, fighting between Israel and the militants escalated, with Hamas firing longerrange Grad rockets at the city of Ashkelon
and Israel conducting an incursion into
Gaza in early March.
Meanwhile, Israel launched indirect
peace talks with another sponsor of terrorism and long-time enemy, the regime in
Damascus.
Though the year had begun in the aftermath of an Israeli airstrike on a suspected
Syrian nuclear installation, and though
February saw Hezbollah operations chief
Imad Mughniyeh assassinated on Syrian
soil, Israel and Syria held secret contacts
under Turkish auspices. On May 21, in a
joint statement issued simultaneously in
Jerusalem, Damascus and Ankara, the parties announced the renewal of peace talks.
Israel’s intense lobbying effort to have the
international community take tougher
measures against Iran suffered a major setback last December when a US National
Intelligence Estimate found that Iran had
suspended a covert nuclear weapons pro-
and accused “a few bullying powers” of
opposing Iran’s progress.
“It is very natural that the great Iranian
people, with their trust in G-d and with
determination and steadfastness and with
the support of its friends, will resist the bullying and will continue to defend its rights,”
he said, “will not accept illegal demands”.
In an interview with the Los Angeles
Times, Ahmadinejad said Israel “resembles
an airplane that has lost its engine and is
kind of going down. And no one can help it”.
Israel’s demise, he said, “will benefit
everyone”.
There was little sign of the political controversy that enveloped the event last week,
when an invitation to the Republican vicepresidential nominee, Sarah Palin, was
withdrawn two days after Senator Hillary
Clinton cancelled her longstanding plans to
address the rally.
With thousands of participants chanting
“Stop Iran now!” and waving Israeli flags,
speakers from Israel’s Knesset to Canada’s
Parliament
issued
admonitions
to
Ahmadinejad and urged the international
community to oppose the regime in Tehran.
Irwin Cotler, a noted human rights lawyer
and former Canadian justice minister who
has been part of an effort to charge
Ahmadinejad with incitement to genocide,
said the Iranian leader’s visit to New York
“made a mockery of history, law and the
United Nations itself”.
Natan Sharansky, a former Israeli
Cabinet minister and Soviet dissident,
recalled his own struggle against the Soviet
“evil empire” and urged the crowd to keep
faith even when challenging a great power.
He also called for “moral clarity” that distinguishes between proponents of peace and
extremists who “believe you must kill people
to go to the next world”.
“Never lose heart,” Sharansky said. “This
is the fight we can win. This is the fight we
must win. This is the fight we will win.”
Knesset Speaker Dalia Itzik also spoke.
“Our experience tells us to take this man
gramme in 2003.
Israeli intelligence officials argued that
the programme had since resumed and
intensified, but as the year went on it
became increasingly apparent to Israeli officials that the United States - and the West was moving further away from confrontation with Iran.
With sanctions having failed to halt Iran’s
suspected nuclear weapons programme,
Israeli officials’ pronouncements about Iran
grew harsher.
In June, the Israel Air Force carried out
large-scale manoeuvres simulating an aerial attack on Iranian nuclear installations,
stoking fears that if the international community failed to act, Israel might launch a
pre-emptive strike.
All the while, many members of the
Knesset and the Israeli intelligentsia worried that Olmert was too distracted by the
corruption investigations to focus sufficiently on the Iranian threat.
Olmert was questioned for allegedly
receiving a substantial discount on a house
in Jerusalem in return for helping contractors get building permits for other projects.
He was investigated as well for allegedly trying to tilt the terms of a tender for the privatisation of Bank Leumi to help his friend
Frank Lowy, the Australia-based tycoon.
The prime minister also was probed for
making political appointments to the small
business administration he controlled as
minister of trade, industry and labour
between 2003 and 2005.
The scandal that eventually would force
Olmert to resign his position as party leader,
and as prime minister, came in late May.
Morris Talansky, an American Jewish
fundraiser and businessman, testified that
Olmert had accepted about $150 000 in cash
payments under dubious circumstances
over a 15-year period before he became
prime minister.
Olmert’s public standing also suffered
from the aftermath of the 2006 war between
Hezbollah and Israel. The publication in late
January of the Winograd Commision’s final
report on the war was scathingly critical of
seriously,” Itzik said of Ahmadinejad’s
threats against Israel and Iran’s pursuit of
nuclear capability. “Iran is not just Israel’s
problem, but he is a threat to the entire
world.”
Attendance at the rally was made up primarily of students bussed in from Jewish
day schools in the greater New York area,
though some travelled from as far as Canada
to attend.
While the participation of American political personalities was scrapped for the New
York rally, elected officials did show up for a
like-minded rally in downtown Washington.
US Senator Ben Cardin (Democrat
Maryland) and Representative Steve King
(Republican Iowa) were among the speakers
at the rally there, which was sponsored by
the Jewish Community Relations Council of
Greater Washington.
King suggested that the United States set a
date after which Iran “will not be able to
expand its nuclear endeavour” and thus
make the regime “scramble” to “save” itself.
Holocaust survivor Nesse Godin and
Iranian dissident Amir Abbas Fakhravar
also spoke at the event.
Fakhravar thanked Israel and the United
States for not recognising and doing business with the Iranian regime. He also made
his preference in the US presidential election clear, criticising “those who want to go
to the White House to have unconditional
talks with the Islamic Republic” - an apparent reference to a remark Democratic presidential nominee Senator Barack Obama
made in a debate last year about being willing to meet with Ahmadinejad.
Aside from addressing the General
Assembly, Ahmadinejad’s visit included a
dialogue with religious and political leaders
on Thursday evening at a Ramadan breakfast event sponsored by the American
Friends Service Committee, a Quaker group.
Jewish groups have criticised the event
and the planned participation by the president of the UN General Assembly and a former Norwegian prime minister. (JTA)
(JTA Washington correspondent Eric
Fingerhut contributed to this report from
Washington.)
his performance, but it stopped short of recommending that he resign.
The prime minister claimed the report
had lifted a “moral stigma” by vindicating
his decision to launch a major ground operation in the last 60 hours of the war, even
though the operation cost dozens of lives
and its utility proved to be inconclusive. But
the two soldiers kidnapped in the attack that
sparked the war remained missing.
That changed only in July, and the change
came through diplomacy, not war.
In late June, nearly two years after the
outbreak of the war, Israel and Hezbollah
agreed to a prisoner exchange. In July, the
remains of Israeli reservists Eldad Regev
and Ehud Goldwasser were returned to
Israel in exchange for the remains of some
200 Lebanese and Palestinian fighters and
the release of five Lebanese terrorists,
including Samir Kuntar, from Israeli jails.
With the prime minister reeling from low
popularity ratings and allegations of
bribery, breach of trust and violations of
election campaign laws, Olmert finally
announced in July that he would not run for
re-election.
Livni beat out her primary rival, Mofaz,
by a mere 431 votes in the September 17 primary and immediately set out to form a new
coalition government as Olmert tendered
his resignation.
Despite the political turmoil of 5768,
Israel’s economy remained relatively
strong. In the first quarter of 2008, unemployment hit a 13-year low of 6,3 per cent,
and in 2007 Israel’s per capita gross domestic product rose to $31 767 - on par with
European countries such as France and
Italy.
However, the strong shekel, which rose by
about 20 per cent against the dollar during
5768, hurt Israeli exports and for the first
time in years sparked some signs in Israel of
incipient inflation.
In addition, the financial turmoil that
struck global markets in September also
sent the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange reeling,
stoking some fears about the long-term
health of the Israeli economy. (JTA)
SA JEWISH REPORT
25
COMMENT
Limmud: just one of many
Jewish learning programmes
LESLIE HARRIS
DEBATING THE merits of Limmud at this
time of year is, ironically, quite appropriate. Because as we approach Rosh
Hashanah we’re supposed to take stock of
our lives, take note of past mistakes, and
resolve to avoid them in the year ahead.
What is interesting in the Limmud
debate is how the programme’s proponents
seem to wilfully misinterpret the stance of
the Orthodox rabbinate, as is evident in the
vilification Rabbi Pinchas Zekry was subjected to in the September 19 issue of the
SAJR.
Listening to the different voices, a clear
pattern emerges. Those who unreservedly
support Limmud seem desperate for approbation from the Orthodox community.
They are at pains to point out how much
poorer Orthodoxy would be without
Limmud.
This implies that they recognise, on
some level, that Limmud is not an authentic Jewish learning experience. After all, if
they were really secure in their own convictions, they would have no need of external validation.
There is undoubtedly a place for
Limmud, and plenty of people find the
experience worthwhile. But it cannot be
more than an intellectual exercise. That
need not preclude Orthodox people from
participating and even lecturing at
Limmud, but it does preclude the Orthodox
rabbinate from embracing it.
Much has been made of the fact that
about 1 500 people attended Limmud events
around the country. But on any given
weekend, and often on many weeknights,
far more people are engaged in Jewish
learning in shuls and batei medrash
around the country.
No doubt someone will comment: “Yes,
but those are the frummies.”
True, but it is also true that many of
them did not start out frum; they were curious about Jewish learning and took advantage of the many programmes available, all
year round, to those who want to learn.
The wealth of diversity found at Limmud
has also been cited as a point in the programme’s favour. The same diversity of
views and opinions can be found in Jewish
learning.
There is, however, a crucial difference.
The diverse views encountered in authentic Jewish learning are expressed within a
framework of belief and the acceptance
that we are subject to G-d’s will.
That doesn’t happen at Limmud.
Everything is fair game. And to make matters worse, some of those encouraging
debate are ministers in a religion masquerading as authentic Judaism.
And let there be no doubt, anything
other than Orthodox Judaism is not
authentic Judaism, no matter how loudly
its adherents may shout to the contrary.
There is a clear analogy in the cricketing
world. Purists will tell you that the only
authentic form of the game is test cricket.
And they tell you that although the other
forms of the game may look the same and
share the name, they are not real cricket.
It’s the same with Judaism. The authentic form of Judaism is known today as
Orthodox, with an unbroken tradition of
observance dating back to Sinai and
beyond.
The other, diluted, forms may look the
same and call themselves by the same
name, but they are not Torah Judaism.
And it is absurd of the proponents of
Limmud to expect the Orthodox world to
approbate a learning programme that
gives a platform to purveyors of a different
faith.
To make such demands as Rosh
Hashanah approaches, is even worse. Rosh
Hashanah is a time of year when we have
an opportunity to, and are expected to,
move closer to Torah Judaism, not further
away from it. And there is a terrible danger
in exposing oneself to ideas and opinions
that might lead one away from Torah.
Everyone knows that during the High
Holy Days one has an opportunity to wipe
one’s slate clean of past misdeeds and mistakes and start anew, with an unblemished
record. Call it a Royal Pardon. Your record
is expunged and past errors of judgement
cannot be held against you.
We also learn that our forefathers, and
the kings and prophets all repented before
Rosh Hashanah. But these were all righteous people, who were meticulous in their
observance of the commandments, and
who would therefore appear to have no
need of repentance or pardon.
The commentators teach that they asked
forgiveness for any sins they might have
committed inadvertently, resulting from a
flawed thought process.
They may have been faced with a difficult decision and, using their knowledge of
Torah, tried to determine the correct
course of action. On occasion they may
have made the wrong decision and been
liable for punishment. They did not set out
to transgress.
But somewhere along the way they may
have misinterpreted something and as a
result they made a decision that was
wrong. And they could be punished for it.
So, they asked for forgiveness for having
fallen into the trap of reaching a decision
based on a flawed thought process.
For anyone to expect the Orthodox world
to participate in a programme that gives a
platform to those propagating flawed interpretations of Torah, is disingenuous. Such
demands are particularly dangerous close
to Rosh Hashanah when everyone should
strive to do the right thing, as defined by
the guardians of Torah Judaism.
Wishing our clients
and friends
a happy New Year
Shana Tova
SHOP U 51, ENTRANCE 12/18
SANDTON CITY
EMAIL: cameral@mweb.co.za
TEL: (011) 884-8036
www.cameralandsandton.co.za
18
SA JEWISH REPORT
19 - 26 September 2008
Finalists at the ready
for Israel Quiz 2008
RITA LEWIS
FOR THE 15 finalists who competed successfully from a starting first round of 280
contestants from all the Jewish day
schools and have reached the final stage in
the Israel Quiz 2008, the next couple of
weeks are going to be trying times of tension and tenacity, for they will all be studying hard to vie for the top positions in the
upcoming finals.
There are wonderful prizes in store,
such as a trip to Israel, laptops, cameras...
a host of very valuable gifts that every
learner would love to have.
There will also be prizes available for
members of the audience as there will be
questions asked of them too.
The 15 finalists are: Shira Amar from
Yeshiva College; Boaz Valkin, King David
Victory Park; Daniel Katzew, KDVP; Romy
Wulfsohn, KDVP; Joshua Victor, KDL; Ari
Chipkin, YC; Sage Epstein, KDL; Darren
Epstein, KDL;. Keren Futeran, Herzlia,
CT; David Isakow, KDVP; Jessica
Schneider, KDL; Yehuda Rabinowitz,
KDVP; Jonathan Hurwitz, KDVP; Daniel
Ross, KDL and Adam Retter from KDVP.
Although these were the winning finalists, the other contestants did very well
with the standard of their knowledge
being, as usual, extremely high, said
Arnie Altshuler, the question setter.
Those who competed in the semi-finals
were: From Yeshiva College: Moshe
Jordan, Ilanit Chernick, Yona Grawitzky,
Ari Lewis, Jonathan Sidney and Daniel
Hirschowitz.
From KDVP: Yanir Grindler.
From KDL: Ryan Dembo, Cole Magid,
Jarred Berman, Daniel Miller and Josh
Cesman, Talia Wapnick, David Herz,
Ronnie
Mink, the
tutor of the
competitors from
KDL, with
the winner
of last
year’s
Israel Quiz
2007, Marc
Frank.
Adam Wolder and Tamlyn Menning.
This year’s format will differ from that of
previous years as the syllabus will include
questions on Israel’s 60th anniversary celebrations, as well as major events in its history and the part it has played in world affairs.
Sender Lees who is once again the coordinator and syllabus planner, said great
care had been taken to structure the syllabus accordingly and to make it interesting
for both participants and audience.
He said the organisers together with the
SA Zionist Federation, under whose auspices the quiz was being held, felt it important to cover questions on Israel’s 60
anniversary, Israeli life and the growing
scourge of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel
sentiments so prevalent in today’s times.
This should empower and equip Jewish
children, not only with sufficient information, but also with sufficient ammunition, to
be able to confront and have the answers to
different issues when they are confronted
by people who are bad-mouthing Israel.
Also included in the syllabus are questions on subjects such as “Who needs
Israel?”, “The enormous achievements
made by such a small population”, “What
Israel has done (in specific and general
terms) and its influence in the world”.
Issues have been included which should
make learners proud to belong to such a
nation, for instance how Israel is at the forefront of assisting other countries during
disasters such as the recent tsunami, and
the fact that Israel is there at the ready to
help Jews anywhere in the world,- as was
experienced in the Entebbe raid.
It was also felt to be important for learners to be aware of the disproportionate
numbers of Nobel Prizes awarded to Jews
who are such a small percentage of the
world’s population.
This final session of the quiz will be held
on the public holiday on Wednesday,
September 24 at the Nedbank Auditorium
on Rivonia Road, Sandton and will start at
18:30.
Entrance is free and the quiz will last for
around two hours. Audience participation
is encouraged.
Happy 102nd
birthday, to
dear Betty!
STORY AND
PHOTOGRAPH BY
SHELLEY ELK
BETTY GORDON
(Sweke) celebrated
her 102nd birthday
on Monday September 8, surrounded
by
friends and family
at Pembury Lodge
in Melrose, where
she has lived for
the last six years.
Born in Israel,
Betty
married
Ze’ev Gordon at
the age of 20. The
young couple who Betty Sweke
were
founding
members of Bet Ha Tikva, came to South Africa
soon after they married and had two sons Sam,
and Basil (both deceased).
Ze’ev passed away in 1969 and Betty got married
for the second time in 1980 - to Ike Sweke, who
passed away 10 years ago.
Betty has five grandchildren, Denise, Marissa,
Sharon, Tessa, and Loren, seven great-grandchildren and three great-great-grandchildren.
Betty attributes her long and happy life to
“being natural”. She has enjoyed travelling widely, entertaining and cooking. Her hobbies included
bowls, gardening, sewing and charity work.
Betty can regularly be seen at Killarney
Shopping Centre where she still goes to have her
hair done and her nails manicured, after which
she enjoys a meal out which normally includes
one of her favourite foods, chicken.
26
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
The Editor, Suite 175, Postnet X10039, Randburg, 2125 email: carro@global.co.za
Guidelines for letters
Letters up to 400 words will get preference. Please provide your full first name and surname,
place of residence, and a daytime contact number. We do not publish letters under noms de
plume. Letters should preferably be e-mailed. Letters may be edited or shortened.
IN SUPPORT OF ZAPIRO’S ZUMA CARTOON
RESPONSE TO AMBASSADOR BARUCH REGARDING ‘RIGHTS DELEGATION’
I WOULD like to express my support for
“Zapiro’s” latest cartoon, describing what
some political figures and their supporters
try to do to the justice system in South Africa
(as mentioned on page 10 of the September
12 edition of the SA Jewish Report).
And I would also like to express my sup-
AMBASSADOR ILAN Baruch has misrepresented the human rights delegation and
his interactions with it.
He falsely states that we were prepared to
meet with him only three days before
departing. In fact we asked for a meeting
two weeks before departing and were prepared to travel to Pretoria. We also offered
the ambassador, more than once, the
opportunity to arrange meetings for us
with people of his choosing, but he did not
take up this offer, for reasons known only
to him.
It is curious that the ambassador feels he
was automatically entitled to see our itinerary and participant list. We were travelling
to his country, not his private home. Giving
him the itinerary and the participant list,
which we did, served very little purpose, as
demonstrated by our being blocked from
entering Hebron and in Fatima Hassan
being detained for a few hours upon entry
at Ben-Gurion International Airport.
In the latter case the ambassador did
intervene to have her released, which as we
expressed to him, was appreciated. The
blockading of Hebron for purely political
purposes, is well known. A public letter
objecting to this was signed by Israelis such
as Major-General (res) Shlomo Gazit,
General (res) Paul Kedar, A B Yehoshua
and Amos Oz among others.
In fact, the case will be before the Israeli
Supreme Court on October 28. Incidentally,
the ambassador should know from our itinerary that we did not need to see Tel Aviv
from our plane window, because we spent
time there.
The ambassador is incredulous that we
would doubt his full co-operation. Two incidents cast doubt on his good faith.
First, months before the delegation was
even conceived, the ambassador told a gov-
port for French cartoonist Sinet (mentioned
on page 8). I don’t think there is a reason to
fire him or take him to court.
Avner Eliyahu Romm
Sea Point
Cape Town
JEWISH RUGBY PLAYERS IN PORT ELIZABETH IN THE ‘50S
AFTER READING David Abel’s report a
short while ago, I would like to add a little
more about the Jewish rugby players in
Port Elizabeth during the ’50s.
I left Dale College, King William’s Town
at the end of 1945 to settle in Port
Elizabeth. I joined the Crusader Rugby
Club and met Solly Gordon and we both
played for Crusaders under-19 - Solly as flyhalf and I as centre.
Solly had just left Muir College in
Uitenhage. Norman Breger had just left
Queens College at the end of 1945 and he
joined Olympics Club in Port Elizabeth.
While still at school in 1945 we played
against each other and then again in 1946.
Makes me say it’s a small world!
The point I am coming to is that in 1951 I
was captain of the Port Elizabeth Jewish
rugby side that played against the East
London Jewish side. The game was played
on the Border rugby grounds in East
London. The referee was a well-known
Jewish sportsman by the name of Dr Louis
Alexander.
The following were in the Port Elizabeth
team (but not in the positions as I list
them): Harold Bernstein, Naty Barris,
Herby Kraitzick, Ivan Silver, Donald
Solomon, Charlie Trey, Max Goldberg,
Alec Greenspan, Sidney Glick, Lennie
Barris, Phil Abrahams, Phil Meyer, Sammy
Bortz, David Borman and Jack Rosenberg. I
have a photo of the team in my collection.
A few of the East London names that I
recall were Sammy Strelitz, Sid Weintraub,
John Solomon, Mossie and Lionel Hurwitz,
Bunny Angorn and Ruvie Buchalter.
There were a few good rugby players from
Muir College, namely Solly and Morris
Gordon, Manny Katz, Morris and Norman
Glazer, Morry Roup, the Schauder boys and
Aubrey Burski.
The 1949 Dale College had the only Jewish
head boy (the first and last!). His name is
Lionel (Nummy) Zasman and he was captain of the first rugby and cricket teams and
also captain of Border Schools.
Nummy’s two brothers also played for
Dale - Ken in 1942 and Issy in 1941, ’42 and
’43. He went on to play for Border and
Eastern Province.
In 1938 Dale had two outstanding flank
forwards - Bernie Black and Abe
Abramowitz - who both got honours. Sadly
they both lost their lives during the Second
World War.
Jack Rosenberg
King William’s Town
THESE CHALLAS STICK IN MY CRAW
I KNOW there are numerous complaints
about kosher food prices ~ in fact the suppliers and retailers take no notice at all as
they have a captive market.
I believe we pay between 80 per cent and
100 per cent more than non-kosher product customers - I accept this as the price to
be kosher.
But when the independent suppliers and I refer particularly to the bakeries reduce the quality and the size of challahs,
and increase their prices, I take great
exception to this.
Challas, last week cost R12,50 per loaf
(Pick n Pay Killarney’s price was less than
R10) but the independent supplier’s quality was disgusting.
The challahs are now smaller, tasteless
and underbaked.
My family had Mister Crusty bakeries
and we know what ingredients should be in
a challah and we also know the costing factor!
The challahs we bought last week consisted only of flour, water and yeast - they
tasted like straw and to crown it they were
underbaked - lumps of dough in the middle!
I believe it is time that the kosher purchasing customers stood up against these
suppliers. If they continue to supply inferior challahs at grossly inflated prices, then
people will be forced to schlep to Pick n Pay
or G-d forbid, stop buying kosher challahs.
Steven Meltzer
Johannesburg
ZAPIRO - HAVE WE GOT SUCH SHORT MEMORIES?
SO MR SHAPIRO (Zapiro) got another cartoon published and everyone is very excited because it upset someone.
It appears that none of your readers
remembers that Zapiro drew some cartoons which were anti-Jewish and antiIsraeli, and he also thought that he was
very clever at being able to show his
Jewish self-hatred.
It would give me great satisfaction if Mr
Zuma was to sue him for some of his drawings, and for Mr Zuma to win the case.
Colin Plen
Milnerton
Cape Town
IGNORANT CONDEMN THE WONDERFUL LIMMUD GATHERING OF MINDS
IT SADDENED me to go through the letters and a few of the pages in last week’s
Jewish Report.
My family and I had attended the most
inspiring and thought provoking day on
Sunday August 31.
What made this day so special, besides
the vast range of (mostly) insightful and
brilliant talks and music workshops put
on by Limmud, the amazing “carers”
taking care of the children in all the programmes from the babies, junior and
youth, and the lovely eats, was the fact
that Jews from all walks of life were
connecting with a common goal - to
learn, be enlightened and unite for the
good.
What saddened me was the “lack”
brought in by certain sectors of our
Jewish communities.
And worse still - having not been there
- some people felt the need to condemn
this wonderful gathering of minds.
No wonder we are looked upon poorly by
others, if WE “in our OWN backyard”
cannot even form a united front.
What is your “fear”? What are you people so scared about? Why can’t you just be
tolerant and accepting of your own? (Have
you not heard - we are “all” Jews).
For the growth of our nation and for the
good of our children, don’t you all think it
is time to start forging alliances with each
other, instead of tearing apart, so we can
stand up tall - so we can teach our children
about “loving your neighbour...” so we can
live; do unto others as you would have
them do unto you.
I think it’s about time we learnt to... love
- especially in this month of Elul.
Monica Miriam Pollak
Sydenham
Johannesburg
ernment official - someone later to join the
delegation - that I was “dangerous”.
Second, once the ambassador knew of the
delegation, he made a failed attempt to convince one of its members to withdraw.
Incidents like these damage trust.
The funding for the trip came from several
sources, including (Nathan) Geffen and
myself. The major donor is a member of the
Jewish community who also recently funded
the Encounter Point group that held joint
functions with the SAZF and SAJBD.
The ambassador makes no attempt to
rebut arguments consistently put forward by
members of the delegation, that the occupation is damaging Israel; that ongoing settlement expansion will make reversing its
effects more difficult; and that a significant
proportion of the suffering it inflicts on
Palestinians is done in fact to enable settlement activity and thus cannot be justified on
the grounds of security. Instead he makes
personal attacks which have little substance.
Going forward - because our involvement
in this type of work is by no means over - we
agree that open consultation, with all parties,
is desirable and we would commit ourselves,
on a reciprocal basis, to a co-operative relationship.
The delegation has understandably caused
upset in the Jewish community. But it has
also generated a valuable discussion, and the
vast majority of the hundreds of people who
have engaged with us in Cape Town,
Johannesburg or Durban, will attest to that.
Doron Isaacs
Cape Town
Although we have officially closed this
debate, for the sake of fairness we decided to
allow Doron Isaacs to respond to Ambassador
Baruch. - Editor
BRIDES, GROOMS - TOO MANY OF A GOOD THING
WE WISH to congratulate you together
with WIZO on the most interesting and
“down memory lane” feature that you have
been publishing over the last few months.
However, it is with constructive criticism
that we wish to comment firstly that this
week’s issue was overdone with more than
seven pages containing photographs of 212
couples, whereby readers lose “concentration” in let’s say trying to find couples that
they know or knew.
We must admit that the bulk of the photographs are excellently reproduced and
printed, but the bottom half of the last
page (page viii) is very poor in copy, and
unfortunately includes our own picture;
also to make things worse you have misspelt our surname, which should read
SUTTON and not SUTTEN.
Wishing you and all your readers a Shana
Tova and well over the fast.
Lionel and Sonia (nee Kopel) Sutton
Johannesburg
If the complaint about too many bridal couples (in one issue) is justified, then WIZO
must be the victim of arguably the most popular competition they ever ran. We simply
had to run all of the photographs before the
day of judging. As a pullout, it would have a
long shelf life and people could “revisit” the
pictures at their leisure. About the misspelling of your surname: We’re sorry about
that, but we were merely the vehicle carrying
the information - which was supplied to us.
We had no way - or reason - to query the
spelling of names - Editor.
THE DIFFICULT TASK OF CHANGING ATTITUDES
I respond to Gwynne Schrirer’s letter in
the Jewish Report of Septebmer 12.
Thank you for your response Gwynne. I
fully understand how you feel.
After being in the business of changing
Attitudes (Attimo... Attitude Image
Motivation) for 20 years, I know and fully
acknowledge that it is much easier to move
the goalposts than it is to change attitudes.
Wishing you a happy, healthy and successful spiritual journey. With Shana Tova greetings.
Linda Dirmeik
Kenilworth
Cape Town
WONDERFUL SALUTE TO INSTITUTION OF MARRIAGE
In reply to the letter in last week’s paper:
The Sadowskys would have had an unfair
advantage. When the idea of “Bride and
Groom of Yesteryear” was conceived,
the Glenlinks branch of WIZO Johannesburg decided what better way could
they celebrate Israel’s 60th year of independence than to honour our golden
couples?
The response and support was overwhelming and the WIZO offices worked
tirelessly to cope with the avalanche of
photographs that came in. The feeling of
joy and nostalgia was infectious and the
community came out en masse in support.
We would also like to thank the Jewish
Report for everything that they have
done to help publicise our event.
There have been no farribels because the
happiness and love that this event has motivated, has been nothing short of inspirational.
In an era where marriages are ended all
too quickly, how rewarding and inspiring it
is to see couples so happy together. What a
wonderful salute to the institution of marriage!
The couples may not look as they did all
those years ago, but recognise the internal
as well as the external beauty that can only
be enhanced through the years.
We wish all our couples mazel, bracha
and briyut.
Molly Jayes
Chairman: WIZO
Johannesburg
Rolene Marks
PR WIZO
Johannesburg:
SA JEWISH REPORT
LETTERS
BEWARE AN ISRAELI ART SCAM IN JOHANNESBURG
PLEASE BE aware that young
people claiming to be Israeli art
students selling original works by
their peers, are operating in the
northern suburbs of Johannesburg.
The young couple who called
on us were presentable, friendly
and apparently sincere, and were
unmistakably Israeli. To my cha-
grin, however, I’ve just found my
rainy scene in Jerusalem on the
internet, except that the internet
version includes the Eiffel Tower!
They gave their names as Lior
and Noa, and that of their supervisor as Dror and provided cellphone numbers (presumably prepaid), 076-500-6144 and 076-7760150.
Where there is freedom of association, such as in America
presently, Jews who are not affiliated to a shul tend to have intermarried by the third generation
of dissociations from Orthodoxy.
However, with a few exceptions
(eg Rabbi Abraham’s Tzedaka
V’chesed; Yad Aharon etc) the
frum Jews, are generally so preoccupied with studying Judaism
and praying that they don’t have
time to be involved in the wider
world.
Judging by the search engine
results page, the phenomenon of
young Israeli art students selling
artworks of questionable quality,
is well known in places such as
Australia, Canada and the US.
Russell Cohen
Wendywood
Johannesburg
Those not Orthodox, have sufficient time to be involved in things
like human rights associations,
charities for Jews and non-Jews etc.
To summarise, Orthodoxy provides continuity and Jews who
have diffused away from Orthodoxy, provide the interface with
the wider world and never the
two shall meet.
John Brenner
Cyrildene
Johannesburg
WE WANT MORE LIMMUD EVENTS IN DURBAN
I WAS lucky enough to be a delegate at Limmud Durban. What a
buzz and what a gift that we all
received from this amazing event!
I hope Limmud will encourage
regional events during the year,
preparing us for next year.
Hopefully the Orthodox will
contribute to next year’s event by
participating and not hiding from
the perceived bogeyman that
they have created for themselves;
their contribution will just grow
and enhance the movement as it
has done all over the world.
Terry Bengis
Durban
SPIRITUAL HEALING AT ITS BEST!
JONTY SHLOMOWITZ (fictional
name) was a 49-year-old male
with a known Barlow’s syndrome. That is a billowing mitral
leaflet syndrome. One day he presented with a TIA (transient
ischaemis attack); a type of a
mini stroke.
Scanning and electron microscopy revealed activation of the
platelets on hitting the billowing
mitral leaflet. His platelets
became activated and went from
spheres to activated discs with
pseudopod formation.
The platelets formed microaggregates. These resulted in
microemboli which lodged in his
brain, resulting in micro-infarcts
or mini strokes.
The answer was to put Jonty
onto non-steroidal anti-inflammatories such as ibuprofen that
inhibit cyclo-oxygenase and prevent the platelets from becoming
sticky and aggregating together.
Platelet aggregation studies
are done and the substances used
as aggregating agents are collagen, ristocetin and arachadonic
acid.
Barlow’s syndrome has a high
morbidity but a low mortality
and sufferers are often put onto
beta-blockers that prevent chest
pain.
The usual clinical scenario in
Barlow’s syndrome is a mid-systolic click that is heard on auscultation with a stethoscope.
Holter echocardiography is the
means of diagnosing and seeing
the billowing mitral leaflet.
Jonty lived to daven another
day and is looking forward to
Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur
and will be repenting for his sins.
Fast well Jonty, and may you be
inscribed in the new year book of
health and happiness.
Dr H D Solomons.
Highlands North
Johannesburg
LOOKING FOR VARDAH KONWISER
ETHAN MATLAW who lives in
Kfar Vradim, Israel, is looking
for a woman who’s name was
Vardah Konwiser, who graduated with them in 1973 from the
English-language high school in
Sde Boker (David Ben-Gurion’s
kibbutz).
Matlaw represents a class of
35 who have recently found
each other, all except for three
classmates. Vardah appears in
WHO CAN HELP MICHELLE ESSERS?
SURVIVAL OF JEWRY THANKS TO ORTHODOX JEWS
(MR JUSTICE) Dennis Davis
often expresses regret about the
lack of interaction (euphemism
for aversion) between Orthodox
Jews and those unaffiliated to a
shul (or those belonging and seldom attending).
I refer to the headline
“Orthodox rabbis’ Limmud contribution sorely missed” (SAJR
September 5).
The continuity of the Jewish
species down the generations is
thanks to the Orthodox Jews.
27
the class yearbook and notes her
origins in Johannesburg.
Would Vardah or someone who
knows the family, please contact
Matlaw at ematlaw@gmail.com.
or Kfar Veradim, tel 077-337-0459.
MICHELLE ESSERS is doing family history research and is looking
for the family of Miriam, daughter
of Nathan and Beckie Evans, who
married Max Davisan (sp?). He
was an accountant with Glazer
Booth. They had two daughters.
This is all she knows about this
family.
Essers, who has made aliyah
is providing a UK e-mail
address and her son in South
Africa’s cellphone number.
She can be contacted on
michelleessers@yahoo.co.uk or
084-4005-744.
28
SA JEWISH REPORT
LETTERS
JEWISH STUDENTS DISGUSTED WITH PSC CAMPUS ANTICS
THE SOUTH African Union of
Jewish Students (SAUJS) is
appalled by the grotesque displays of violence simulated on
Wits campus last week, as was
featured in your September 19
issue.
With the full knowledge and
compliance of the University
administration, students were
confronted with emotionally
manipulative scenes of torture
purporting to be representative of
the reality of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict.
The displays, organised by the
Palestinian Solidarity Committee, were not designed to stimulate debate worthy of a university.
Rather, they amounted to a
shamelessly over-dramatised distorted importation of the Middle
East conflict onto our campus.
This follows a previous academic experiment sanctioned by
the administration which began
with anti-Zionist graffiti and led
to comments such as “Jews must
die”, which is blatant antiSemitism.
Jewish students could very
easily respond in kind to this
crude incitement with performances simulating Palestinian
atrocities.
SAUJS, however, eschews such
counter-productive “tit-for-tat”
tactics. There is nothing to be
gained by further enflaming the
ill feeling already engendered
and in any case SAUJS has no
wish to stoop to so degrading a
level of discourse.
Rather, we call on our fellow
students to disregard this kind of
childish incitement and to
engage with the real issues
involved in a constructive and
civilised manner.
Chaya Singer
National
Chairperson
SAUJS
Sarah Pearson
Wits
Chairperson
SAUJS
LOOKING FOR INFO ON THE WRONSKY FAMILY
DENISE BARNARD has been
researching her family history
for a number of years now, and
writes that she has made some
great progress. She said: “The
family name is Wronsky. Julie, a
Wronsky and her four sons,
Ludwig, Wilhelm, Frits and Eric
Wronsky,
emigrated
from
Prussia in the mid-1800s.
“Julie’s husband, Julius had
died some time before in Prussia.
Extensive research on the first
three brothers has paid off but
the third, Eric, still eludes me.
“Eric had two sons, Peter and
Marvin.”
Denise says she was told by
family members that Peter
Wronsky and perhaps his father
(who lived in La Rochelle,
Johannesburg in the 1960s)
played bowls at the Kadima
Bowling Club in Krugersdorp.
She discovered the grave of
her great-grandfather, Ludwig
Wronsky, in the Maitland cemetery in Cape Town.
Has any of our readers
information on any of the people Denise has mentioned?
Her
address
is:
E-mail:
denise@saol.com and cell: 083344-5661.
SA JEWISH REPORT
29
COMMUNITY COLUMNS
ABOVE
BOARD
Zev Krengel,
National Chairman
A column of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies
LAST WEEK, the senior leadership of the Board had the welcome opportunity of meeting
with ANC President Jacob
Zuma.
The most pressing issue from
a specifically Jewish point of
view that we wished to discuss,
was the ruling party’s policy on
the
Middle
East
conflict.
Connected with this was the
need for us to reiterate the very
strong emotional bond that the
Jewish community has with the
State of Israel, a connection that
should be seen as complement-
Meeting with Jacob Zuma clears the air
ing rather than undermining its
correspondingly strong commitment to South Africa.
Our delegation expressed
unhappiness over some of
the extremely one-sided statements that have been coming
out of the ANC of late. This
included the ANC being a signatory to a full-page advertisement that appeared in the local
press earlier this year and
which not only denounced
Israel’s current policies in an
extremely emotive and biased
way, but which implied that
Israel itself was a rogue state
whose very existence was questionable.
In this regard, it is vital to
understand the ANC’s histori-
cal ties with the Palestinian
leadership and the strong emotional identification that it feels
with the Palestinian cause.
So long as the conflict
remains unresolved, it will
always
lean
towards
the
Palestinian point of view, and
indeed this is very much in evidence in its public statements
and policy documents on the
matter.
What is important from the
Jewish community’s perspective, is that despite its traditional pro-Palestinian sympathies,
the ANC continues to adhere to
its policy of supporting a negotiated, two-state solution to the
conflict, based on the establishment of a viable Palestinian
state, co-existing in peace beside
Israel.
Included in this is recognition
of the legitimacy of the Israeli
state and its right to exist within secure borders.
On these crucial issues, Mr
Zuma confirmed that there had
been no change in ANC policy.
This did not mean that we concurred with each other’s respective understandings of the
Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and
indeed we sometimes disagreed
strongly with one another,
albeit always respectfully.
In this regard, Mr Zuma
stressed the all-important principle of dialogue; when people
failed to communicate with one
another, it was all too easy to
fall under the trap of jumping
to false conclusions and assuming the worst.
Productive communication
means that our meeting with
political leaders must necessarily be more than photo opportunities. This was certainly not
the case with our meeting with
Mr Zuma, which was a good
working meeting involving
focused discussion on certain
difficult issues as well as of
finding common ground on a
wide range of others.
I believe it went a long way
towards cementing ties between
the Board and the new ANC
leadership and that these relationships can be productively
built on in the years to come.
Shalom chaverot
WIZO
South Africa
Lorraine Rosmarin
A column of WIZO South Africa
LORRAINE ROSMARIN
PRESIDENT WIZO SA
ROSH HASHANAH is that special time
when we reflect and take stock of ourselves and the past year.
We have much to be grateful for and
as we conclude the 60th birthday celebrations for our beloved State of Israel,
we can say thank you for the strength of
our young people and our soldiers, our
vibrant youth, so dedicated, who know
the secret of sacrifice and service to
their country without even being
taught.
We are thankful for our country, built
on our ancestral and historical land,
AROUND
THE
WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
bequeathed to us 2 600 years ago,
with a people who know how to
laugh, to endure and to band
together as one.
We thank Hashem for giving
us another chance to be a Jewish
nation in our own land.
Our WIZO family are privileged to have shared another
year dedicated to the upliftment
and improvement of the lives of
the citizens in Israel. From the
cradle to those in their golden
years, WIZO continues to provide love, security, shelter, education and empowerment to so
many who embrace and find
respite through our projects.
WIZO is proud to be the recipient of the Israel Prize for community dedication, especially in
a year as auspicious as this Israel’s diamond anniversary.
Awards are treasured but none
compare to the reward that is the
smile on the face of the happy
child in our day-care centres, the
achievements of our learners in
our schools, the women in our
empowerment programmes and
the tears of relief that stream
down the faces of women and
children rescued from abusive
situations.
All this is made possible by
you, our members and supporters. WIZO South Africa would
like to take this opportunity to
wish you and your precious ones,
L’Shanah Tovah Umetukah. May
you be blessed with a year of
health, safety, prosperity and joy.
We also wish you G’Mar
Chatimah Tovah - May Hashem
bless and inscribe you for a good
year. We pray that the coming
year brings peace to our beloved
State of Israel.
HOLLYWOOD HONOURS ISRAELI ON NATION'S 60TH
LOS ANGELES - Hollywood celebrities
marked Israel's 60th anniversary by honouring an Israeli-born movie producer.
Actors Warren Beatty, Annette Bening
and Jason Alexander, singer Seal and tennis player Serena Williams were among
those who attended the September 18 event
at Paramount Studios honouring Arnon
Milchan, who produced such movies as
"Pretty Woman" and "LA Confidential",
according to the Associated Press.
Milchan received a lifetime achievement
award from the Citizens' Empowerment
Centre in Israel, a non-profit group that
promotes democracy and civic involvement. (JTA)
Management and staff
wishes all their Jewish
customers and friends
“Shana Tova and a
Happy New Year”
30 Activa Road, Activa Park, Germiston
Tel: (011) 822-3906 Fax: (011) 822-3112
e-mail: esorjhb@icon.co.za
Branch: Kwazulu-natal, South Africa
Tel: (031) 507-1051 Fax: (031) 507-5709
e-mail: esor@icon.co.za
30
SA JEWISH REPORT
TAPESTRY
ART, BOOKS, DANCE, FILM, THEATRE
ARTS MATTERS
COMPILED BY
ROBYN SASSEN
Call 084-319-7844 or
info@frodo.co.za at
least one week prior to
publication
Art on Paper, Milpark: “A
show for Sheldon Cohen” by
Joachim Schönfeldt, until
October 4. 083-724-7560
Artspace, Parkwood: “Traces
of Memory” by Lee-At Meyerov, until September 27. From
October 1, contemporary jewellery by Marchand van
Tonder. (011) 880-8802.
Civic, Braamfontein: In
the Nelson Mandela, David
Bownes’s “Full Monty”, until
October 12. In the Tesson,
Dorothy Ann Gould and
Michael Maxwell perform
Fugard’s “Hello and Goodbye”,
until September 28. In the
People’s Theatre, “Little Red
Riding Hood and Other Stories”
until October 18 (011) 877-6800.
Linder Auditorium, Parktown: Seventeen-year-old award
winning pianist, Chun Wang,
performs works by Mozart,
Chopin, Albeniz and Prokofiev,
the recital with which he
recently
won
the
Marc
Raubenheimer Memorial Prize
for Best Recital. (011) 728-5492.
Market Theatre, Newtown:
In the Barney Simon Theatre,
Sylvaine Strike’s “Coupé”, until
October 26. (011) 832-1641.
MuseumAfrika, Newtown:
“An Alternative Modernist”, a
major exhibition of the work of
architect Pancho Guedes, until
December. (011) 833-5624.
National Children’s Theatre,
Parktown: “Aladdin and the
magic lamp”, directed by Joyce
Levinsohn, until October 18.
(011) 484-1584.
Old Mutual Theatre on the
Square, Sandton: Sylvaine
Strike’s “Pregnant Pause”, with
Michael Richard and Charmaine Weir-Smith, until September 27. From September 30,
Nicole Franco stars in “Shez
Sharon”. At lunchtime on September 26, Carel Henn (cello)
and Elize Kruger (piano) perform. (011) 883-8606.
Standard Bank Gallery, Central Johannesburg: A retrospective of the work of Judith
Mason “A prospect of icons”,
will be opened by Mr Justice
Arthur Chaskalson on October
2. The exhibition runs until
December 6. (011) 631-1889.
The Thompson Gallery, Melville: Natalie Liknaitzky and
Sally Thompson present “Defining Moments”, until October
13. (011) 482-9719.
Wits Complex, Braamfontein: In the Amphitheatre,
“Road” by Jim Cartwright,
directed by Leila Henriques,
until September 27. Downstairs, “Rhinoceros” by Eugene
Ionesco, directed by Robert
Hobbs, until October 4. In the
Main Theatre, “Rush” by
Bailey Snyman, September 26October 4. (011) 717-1380.
Very funny and sometimes
bittersweet, never shallow
Show: “Coupé” (Barney Simon Theatre, Market,
Newtown. (011) 832-1641)
Cast: Gerard Bester, Toni Morkel, Sylvaine Strike,
Brian Webber
Original concept: Sylvaine Strike
Director: Sue Pam-Grant
Designer: Chen Nakar (set), Declan Randall
(lighting), Sasha Ehlers (props and décor), Phillip
Miller (music), Des Lindberg (sound)
Until: October 26
tations of rail travel.
Strike’s multi-award winning “Coupé” does
something similar, without the cloying sweetness. After premiering in 2006, it is finally enjoying a full-length season - it was the result of
Strike winning the Standard Bank Young Artist
Award for Drama and was first performed at the
Grahamstown National Arts Festival.
During the same year, it ran briefly at the 969
Festival in Johannesburg. Enough Naledi
judges saw it; it garnered an unprecedented six
REVIEWED BY ROBYN SASSEN
awards. Focused on the revolting intimacy with
strangers endemic to rail travel, it also extrapoRAILWAY COFFEE comprises instant coffee and lates on the fabric of theatre.
condensed milk. Its name is self-explanatory; its
“Coupé” doesn’t tell a story. Its 90 minutes
evocative powers embrace the oft nostalgic conno- without any interval seems long. Paradoxically,
these qualities enhance its
merit. It will leave you as physically woebegone and as glad to
arrive as the passengers. This is
not a bad thing: “Coupé’s”
entertainment value is peerless,
very funny, sometimes bittersweet but never shallow.
In a coupe, beds are shelf-like;
everything is functional in the
smallest possible space. Enter
three strangers - Francois le
Grange (Webber), a big Afrikaans-speaking
man,
his
Sparletta and his values tucked
into his social presence;
Dwayne Buckman (Bester), an
English-speaking sub-economFelicité Strasbourg (Sylvaine Strike) and Dwayne Buckman
ic nerd with brylcremed hair,
(Gerard Bester) get acquainted in compartment 3B, in which
who pays conversational attenthey will be travelling together.
tion to how long eggs take to
boil; Felicité Strasbourg (Strike), a chirpy fastidious French-speaking dancer.
Another character which lends the work a
surreal thrust is the springbok trophy head, a
South African emblem within the compartment.
Each passenger has startling quiet moments
with it, with its soulful glass eyes and pointed
features, which sometimes double up as clothing hangers. The shared space is grotesquely
intimate; conversation linguistically handicapped.
Conjoined with the relentless heartbeat-like
rhythm of the train, articulated by all three passengers and the shunter (Morkel), the sound for
the production, designed by Lindberg in collaboration with Miller, is sinister yet nostalgic, as it
crescendos and tapers, as a train travelling
through the landscape will do.
The characters are honed empathetically;
they’re people for whom it matters if the
stranger they talk to responds, people who take
care in making themselves presentable for dinner; people who overindulge and break wind
and keep their sense of propriety sacred.
Ultimately, they are characters, as is Strike’s
wont, innocent in their sense of self who reveal
their values and their flaws with an endearing
naiveté.
Haifa University-trained engineer Nakar
built the set. Independent of the theatre’s architecture, this rotating construction is minimalist,
like the script.
Similar to the sets for Strike’s “Travellers”
(2005) and “Black and Blue” (2004), it is a stage
within a stage, comprising a world within tightly circumscribed parameters.
“Coupé” enables you to immediately suspend
belief; the Thirties style of the Market’s building corroborates these values, feeling train-station like, from the minute you enter the foyer.
Averting all the clichés about life and trains, it
will still leave you with a grin on your face;
something deeper in your heart.
Lots of bounce, humour and some catchy tunes
Show: The Full Monty The Broadway Musical
Music and Lyrics: David Yazbek
Book: Terence McNally
Cast: Steven Hicks, Tiaan Rautenbach, Mike Huff,
Thokozani Nzima, Clinton Hawks, Shaun Brian
Murphy, Judy Page, Ilse Klink, Tessa Denton,
Natalie Chapman, Matthew Counihan and large
cast
Musical Director: Clinto Zerf
Choreographer: Henri Noppe
Director: David Bownes
Venue: Nelson Mandela Theatre at the Civic
Until: October 12
REVIEWED BY PETER FELDMAN
IT WAS a massive screen success and now it’s a
massive stage success.
This is “The Full Monty” and it will certainly
put a smile on your face - if you can sit it out long
enough. It’s a long production and fascinating to
observe how they have taken a quirky English
story set in Sheffield and transformed it into this
bold and boisterous musical in praise of America.
There are arguments that this production could
have been successfully trimmed without losing its
essence, but the South African cast have gone the
FELDMAN ON
FILM
Peter Feldman
Hansie
Cast: Frank Rautenbach, Sarah Thompson,
David Sherwood, Eric Nobbs, Sybel Coetzee
Director: Regardt van den Bergh
HANSIE IS a glorious tribute by one brother to
another. That is patently clear.
It is made with much love by producer Frans
Cronjé who also penned the screenplay, while
South African film stalwart, Reghardt van den
Bergh, orchestrates the shots.
This production has a lot to do with cricket. It
will be interesting to observe how overseas
viewers, especially the Americans, unfamiliar
with the game, will understand its intricacies.
It is never explained.
“Hansie” is a missed opportunity. It never
full monty here and revealed it all - or almost all.
David Bownes’s production has plenty of
bounce, a good lick of humour and a few musical numbers that certainly stand out. The audition scene, where we get to see some of the male
characters doing their thing, shines.
A pocket of inspired casting is that of Judy
Page, as Jeanette Burmeister, the mature,
throaty-voiced piano accompanist who has witnessed a few odd things in her time.
The stage production, of course, is different
from its British screen counterpart and the
reworking has added some glowing new facets.
The central theme of American angst and the
misery of menfolk losing pride and self-confidence because they are unemployed, remain
intact. Songs have been grafted onto the initial
narrative thrust, and some of the numbers are
delivered with body and soul.
There are some very fine voices among the
group and an established figure like Judy Page
is provided with an opportunity to exercise her
vocal dexterity.
The musical, which is now set in Buffalo, New
York, focuses on six average guys of odd shapes,
various ages and very different backgrounds
who are keen to garner some shred of respect
gets to grips with its subject and at the end of the
ordeal this reviewer felt he knew little about the
real Hansie. It does serve, however, to paint a picture of a man in conflict with himself.
The production has very little to do with
Hansie the man and the demons that were eating
away at him, and more to do with his sporting
prowess. It tackles the controversial Indian
match-fixing issue but without much clarity, and
when the narrative touches on the more religious
aspects of the cricketer’s life, especially when
Hansie falls from grace and is fighting his inner
demons, this facet is unconvincing.
Frank Rautenbach is a good looking actor and
he tries bravely to capture the spirit that was
Hansie. But he fails. It’s only when we see a few
random shots of the real Hansie towards the end
of the film do we realise how captivating he really was.
A relatively unknown American actress, Sarah
Thompson, is burdened with the task of portraying Hansie’s wife, Bertha. She never nails it with
her physical presence or her accent which veers
alarmingly from American to Australian and to
who knows what?
and a few dollars by stripping as a last way out.
This lively bunch, comprising steelworkers, a
security guard and a has-been disco dancer, all
have stories to tell. And so do their wives, exwives, and lovers.
Steve Hicks cuts a fine figure and is deft at giving his Jerry Lukowski character some substance as he strives bravely to hold on to his son
(Matthew Counihan). Something is off in the
casting because Counihan comes across as a tad
too old to be Jerry’s son.
Still, there were a number of stand-out performers and those that caught the eye were veteran hoofer Mike Huff, the stout Tiaan
Rautenbach, Ilse Klink and Thokozani Nzima,
as “Horse”, the sole black member of the team
and the owner of some nifty footwork.
The music, with a live band performing
under the baton of Clinton Zerf, hits you,
though on opening night one detected slight
sound glitches. The tunes ran from the Big
Band Broadway blast to hip-swinging Latin and
from rock ’n roll to ballsy ballads and are well
delivered by the cast. Colourful costumes, some
striking choreography and an imaginative
Denis Hutchinson set, all contribute towards a
fun night out.
Another flaw in the production is the
depiction of characters that drift in and out
of the story. There is no explanation of who
they were and what they meant in Hansie’s
life.
Selector Peter Pollock (David Sherwood)
was an important and influential figure, but
the film fails to capitalise on this aspect. It
is yet another example of having too many
underdeveloped characters populating the
narrative.
“Hansie” is a self-indulgent portrait, with
arty touches introduced to enhance a sloppy screenplay and some stilted dialogue.
Even the recreation of the test matches,
especially the semi-final farce between
South Africa and Australia in the 1999
World Cup, lacks excitement or tension.
Cinemagoers may watch the film out of
curiosity, because it is far from a riveting
work.
•••
Other releases are “Choke,” “House
Bunny” and an animated feature, “Star
Wars: The Clone Wars”.
SA JEWISH REPORT
31
TAPESTRY
A factual, hard-hitting narrative
- disturbing and compelling
Thin Blue by Jonny Steinberg
(Jonathan Ball, R123)
REVIEWED BY GWEN PODBREY
WHAT DOES it take to police a
nation effectively - particularly
when that nation has only recently
emerged from decades of interwoven tensions within and among
its communities, and when the
association of authority with brutality has been indelibly etched
into its people’s consciousness?
For Jonny Steinberg, whose
research into this book included
accompanying numerous police
patrols on shifts into South
Africa’s most notorious crime
spots, the first principle is that
communities must consent to
being policed.
People’s willingness to tolerate
intrusions into their lives - either
by specific invitation, or through
routine visitations - is key to keeping order. Without it, policing can
be little more than an arbitrary
show of force.
Yet within this broad principle,
the mutations of the police-community relationship are complex,
unpredictable and volatile. Steinberg recounts numerous incidents
he has witnessed in which police
and offenders in townships like
Alexandra suddenly perform a
strange, uneasy series of moves in
which each carefully accommodates the other, in order to avoid
the need for confrontation.
Police officers deliberately slowing down, for example, in order to
give suspects time to escape - or
offenders anxious not to make
potentially provocative eye contact. In this way, all parties emerge
with their dignity intact, preventing a situation which could result
in a violent, public free-for-all.
Maintaining the delicate balance
between police or offenders in this
elaborate charade - and how far
either side can go without calling
each other’s bluff - depends on a
predatory imperative which has
only existed since 1994.
Prior to that, the role of police in
townships was unequivocally that
of brutal law enforcers, or of
dreaded, all-powerful authority
figures who were entirely unapproachable.
Other factors, too, complicate
the status and power of police officers in black areas. Firstly, there is
the existence of civilian peacekeeping groups (or, depending on
circumstances, vigilante groups) long endorsed by communities and
usually comprising men from old,
established families - who often act
as go-betweens between police and
the people in the townships.
When these men are unable to
keep the peace, protocol dictates
that they hand over troublemakers
to uniformed, official police
agents.
Then there is the ubiquitous element of corruption, which can
render any of these procedures
unreliable. A policeman or civilian
peacekeeper willing to be bribed
can tilt the entire chain of command into chaos, making the two
stories - that of state official and
that of community group - treacherously difficult to distinguish:
“Neither story eclipses the truth of
the other,” writes Steinberg.
“They jostle side by side, each
one real and alive. The scary thing
is that (police officers) do not know
in which story they are appearing
until they have already said their
lines and performed their deeds...
That is something they will discover in the weeks to come.”
These dichotomies and unspoken power struggles apply uniquely to public policing. In private
homes, policemen assume a very
different role: that of invited
agents intervening in domestic
violence, like adults breaking up
an unruly children’s game.
Here, too, their status allows
them to express contempt - even
disgust - for the scenes they witness, and makes them and the victims they rescue (usually women)
uneasy allies.
It is a fascinating dynamic to
explore - and a deeply frightening
one, given the grim reality of our
spiralling crime statistics.
The book ends with a look at
alternative
policing
methods
employed by desperate communities who realise they can no longer
entrust their safety to an inefficient police force. Specifically, he
explores the experience of white,
middle-class suburbs like Glenhazel, Johannesburg, where the
predominantly Jewish population
has deployed its own security initiative - a crime watch focusing on
public, not private, spaces.
In an interview with one of the
initiative’s founders, Steinberg
learns the simple, but dramatically
effective reasoning which has lowered the suburb’s armed robbery
rate by as much as 66 to 77 per
cent: “Everyone is retreating into
private space because of crime.
They are building high walls
around their homes. They are getting armed response.
“The walls are useless because
the crimes are initiated outside
them... And armed response doesn’t help. It just makes residents
emotionally insecure. We realised
that... we needed to forget the walls
and concentrate on the point at
which a crime is initiated, and that
is public space. We needed to disrupt crime in the public spaces
where it starts.”
At which point Steinberg feels
the need to offer his interlocutor
“my private, silent congratulations... he has quickly and deftly
lifted the lid on the most spectacular hoax of suburban security in
South Africa.”
It seems, then, that other communities will eventually be forced
to adopt the same measure, wresting the responsibility of policing
from a dysfunctional state agency
and instigating their own, privatised models in order to sleep well
at night and walk safely by day.
Going beyond the terrain covered by Antony Altbeker in his 2005
work, The Dirty Work of
Democracy: A Year on the Streets
With the SAPS, this book dissects
the country’s security crisis,
revealing layer upon layer of contradictory, self-defeating - and,
apparently, irresolvable - forces:
graft, greed, demographic changes,
historical enmity and contemporary tensions. And above it all, the
bizarre choreography of citizens
and policemen, shuffling uneasily
around each other.
Steinberg’s writing is at its best,
infusing factual, hard-hitting narrative with asides which nudge the
scenario into a darker, deeper
realm, finding and opening hairline cracks in the tableaux before
him. What they reveal is as disturbing as it is compelling.
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32
SA JEWISH REPORT
TAPESTRY
Sylvia Glasser and Lebo Mashile in collaboration and rehearsal with MIDM dancers, Muzi Shili and Sonja
Radebe. (PHOTOGRAPH: THABO SEBATLELO)
At 30, MIDM looks
back with pride
rather that it enriches it, dramatically, offering it a texture which
makes it more broadly legible, yet
TWISTING, TURNING, pulling, pushmore artistically abstract and
ing, dancing, playing a giant version of
gritty.
“Cat’s Cradle”, a game with string cited
They started working on this
as one of humanity’s oldest, dancers on
project last June. “It was a clean
stage for Moving Into Dance Mophaslate when we started,” Glasser
tong (MIDM), celebrate the company’s
said. “I have never worked thus. It
30th anniversary by pushing the envenourished me. We are both strong
lope even further.
women with strong values about
In collaboration with poet Lebo
justice and gender politics and
Mashile (29), artistic director of the
living with respect for others.”
company, and its founder, Sylvia
Mashile concurred: “It has
“Magogo” Glasser, has created a brand
been deeply inspirational to learn
new body of works, collectively entitled
of the bigness of Sylvia’s heart.
“Threads”, which debuts next month.
This collaboration with dancers,
“Collaborating with this young poet
translating my words into dance,
in choreographing these new works is
has been a lot more than what I
like a breath of creative rejuvenating
expected. Travellers, artists, outfresh air... it’s been a blessing”, Glasser
siders have a reputation for going
said, glowing with delight as she stood
against the grain. As things move
on stage alongside Mashile.
ahead, it doesn’t get easier, you
The work has several “movements”
get better at doing it!”
each telling a different story: the
Sadly, the struggle for life-givthreads binding dancers is central to
ing funding is as difficult for
the entire piece, which is sometimes
MIDM now as it was in 1978, when
violent, sometimes peaceable, but
Glasser’s dream came to life in
magnificent in its cohesion, and
Sylvia “Magogo” Glasser.
the garage of her home.
socially valuable in its implications
(PHOTOGRAPH: JOHN HOGG)
“We have 50 per cent of our
and the ideals it
funding guaranteed, for this
espouses.
work, at the moment.”
The words of
But MIDM’s 30th has not gone unnoticed by the
the poet as she stands and
powers that be: earlier this month, MIDM bagged the
becomes intertwined in the
Cultural Development prize at the Arts and Culture
ropes are massive yet humble
Trust’s annual awards, and the Johannesburg
and articulated with the charDevelopment Agency is currently erecting a brand
acteristic cleanness and intenew building in the Dance Factory complex to host a
grity that has given this young
rapidly growing MIDM, recognised as South Africa’s
woman such critical stature.
most important contemporary dance company.
Moving into poetry offers a
new string to MIDM’s bow. It is
• “Threads” and Greg Maqoma’s “Ek sê... Hola!”,
not that the introduction of
are at Wits Theatre on October 23-25. (011) 717-1380.
words literalises the dance, but
ROBYN SASSEN
SA JEWISH REPORT
33
TAPESTRY
Lebogang boogies down
with Sibikwa’s 20th
ROBYN SASSEN
“THAT’S MY little girl!” Elizabeth Koloane could’ve
burst with pride as she pointed out one of the uhadi
players in a Ruphin Coudyzer photograph, displayed
at a beautiful party in honour of Sibikwa’s 20th
anniversary.
“And come see! She’s playing the marimba. There,
at the back!” she elbowed her way through the
crowds, her husband, Peter in tow, to the band playing the guests into the brilliantly improvised party
space in the Apartheid Museum in Ormonde in
Johannesburg, last month.
Lebogang Koloane is a bright kid of humble roots.
Urged by her proud parents, she greets with modesty
and dignity; put her before the marimba and she’s flying. But she’s flying in many other directions too.
Not only is the marimba band in which she plays
the recent recipient of an award in the genre; she’s
just received a full scholarship to study law at Rhodes
University.
“She’s in grade 12 at school in Kagiso,” Elizabeth
exclaimed, her smile stretching across her face, animating her whole body. “Every afternoon she travels
by taxi to Benoni.”
Lebo’s clearly learnt much more than marimba
from Benoni-based Sibikwa. That’s where it all
began.
Sibikwa’s founders, Smal Ndaba and Phyllis Klotz,
celebrated the NGO’s 20th, boogying down to tunes
like ‘Meadowlands’, together with their families and
an extended family of arts supporters. The anniversary was also marked by a comprehensive exhibition
of photographs by Coudyzer taken over the organisation’s life span. And the celebrations continue with
abandon.
“It has been 20 years of survival through hardships, adrenalin pumping and achievement”, said
Ndaba.
“Twenty years and counting is unusual in this
industry. Several other similar initiatives were started alongside us in 1988. We’re among the few left
standing.
“On September 14, 1984, Sharpeville was on fire.
Literally. The townships were ungovernable. The
phenomenon of necklacing was happening. We needed G-d to help us all.
“And as G-d is not in the habit of coming down to
solve people’s problems, we had to address the issue
ourselves.”
Ndaba’s own teenaged daughter Lindiwe, found
herself pregnant, bringing the reality of even kids
being ungovernable, home. In response to all this
sadness and anarchy, Ndaba wrote what was to be
Sibikwa’s first play: “So Where To”.
He met Klotz in Perth, Australia, at an arts festival,
where “So Where To” debuted; the play clinched the
partnership.
Originally from Cape Town, Klotz brought Sibikwa
her skills in performing arts, teaching and arts
administration. Her maternal grandfather, a stalwart of the garment workers union, instilled in her a
sacred respect for the understanding that all people
are equal and that everyone be entitled to a chance in
life.
Klotz and Ndaba have affected huge turnabout in
youth outlook, confidence and potential. Lebogang
Koloane is not alone.
• On October 5, at the Dance Factory, Newtown,
Sibikwa presents “Grafting”, choreographed by
Portia Mashigo, Melusi Mkhwanjane, Lucky Ntlhane
Ratlhagane and Bafekile Sedibe. (011) 422-4359.
Co-founders
of Sibikwa:
Phyllis Klotz
and Smal
Ndaba.
Phyllis Klotz
enjoys the
loyal support
of her mother
Lily and son,
Gregor.
Lebogang
Koloane at the
marimba.
Proud mum
Elizabeth
looks on.
(PHOTOGRAPHS BY
RUPHIN COUDYZER)
34
SA JEWISH REPORT
SA must guard against ‘second division’ status
LIONEL SLIER
WHEN SOUTH Africa entered the
“Premier League of Nations”
after 1994, it was placed 38th out of
55 leading countries by the Swissbased
“World
Competitive
Survey”, but this year South
Africa had dropped to 53rd place,
futurologist Clem Sunter, chairman
of
Anglo-American’s
Chairman’s Fund, told a meeting
of the United Zionist Luncheon
Club in Johannesburg recently.
He pointed out that Nigeria was
standing in the wings to become
Africa’s investor country of
choice.
His talk was titled “The World
and South Africa in 2010 - The
Latest Scenario”.
Embellishing on his soccer
analogy,
Sunter
said
that
although South Africa had not
been a Manchester United, it had
certainly
been
“Tottenham
Hotspur or Newcastle United,
respectable enough”.
The reasons given for South
Africa dropping from 38th to 55th
place, were the usual suspects skills leaving the country, uncontrolled crime, HIV/Aids shortening the lifespan of young people,
the electricity problems and the
uncompetitiveness
compared
with the Far East countries. The
two countries below South Africa
were the Ukraine and Venezuela
under President Hugo Chavez
with his old-fashioned socialism.
“We are in the relegation zone
and when that happens a country
loses its international investors.
Nigeria is standing by to become
the main investment target in
Africa with its 140 million people,
its petrol wealth and now beginning to rid itself of the image of
corruption.
“What happens when a team is
relegated to the second division?”
Sunter asked rhetorically. “Talent
will leave in still greater numbers
and then South Africa will no
longer be seen as ‘The Voice of
Africa’. It will no longer have a
seat on the UN Security Council.
“Second division nations are
considered poor, such as Tunisia
and Morocco. For us it will cause
bitterness. The ANC’s promise of a
better life for everyone will disappear as there will not be enough
money available. Political and public violence will increase as we
become a failed state, the same as
Zimbabwe, Myanmar and Somalia.
“This year we have seen the
xenophobic violence and also the
threats by members of the ANC
‘to kill for (Jacob) Zuma.’ This
trashes our national brand. Our
dream will become a nightmare
and then to get back to the
Premier Division we will need certain conditions.”
The first condition would entail
brave leadership, charismatic and
not populist.
“We will need people who get
things done. Gary Bailey, the second
best
goalkeeper
that
Manchester United ever had, was
asked in an interview: ‘What
made Alex Ferguson such a successful
manager?’
Bailey
answered that firstly, his knowledge of football was unsurpassed.”
To Sunter this meant that we
needed leaders who understood
the “World International Game”
with an intuitive grasp and who
also surrounded themselves with
the right advisers.
Sunter said Bailey then added:
“Ferguson motivated his players
and their wives and girlfriends.”
The players and their partners
were happy where they were; they
were not interested in leaving the
club.
“This,”
Sunter
explained,
“shows that we need leaders who
appeal to all South Africans as
part of a winning team, so that
those who have left South Africa
would be envious of those who
remained behind.
“Thirdly,” said Bailey, “Ferguson
was not afraid to confront those
who did not perform. He once
threw a boot at star player David
Beckham, which hit Beckham
above the eye, because the player
wasn’t performing.
“Likewise, we need people at the
top who are prepared to be judged
on results and who are not afraid
to fire those who do not perform.
Ferguson had said that ‘if ever my
record declines then get rid of
me!’ But in this country if there is
a problem, our leaders have a
workshop about it and then call a
summit and nothing gets done.
“What we should do is identify
the problem, then fix it. It is not
magic; we should fix the judicial
system, the police, hospitals and
schools.”
On a different tack, Sunter said
that despite the decline in gold
and diamond production in South
Africa, the country was still rich
in resources such as iron ore,
chrome, coal and manganese,
As part of its re-entry into the global family of countries, South Africa
hosted the World Conference on Sustainable Development in
Johannesburg in 2002.
among others. Then tourism was
unbelievably cheap and with the
Football Federation Cup here next
year and the World Cup in 2010,
the country had the opportunity
to re-brand South Africa.
“As Dubai is the gateway to the
Middle East, South Africa can be
the gateway into Africa. Africa is
opening up; the idea that it is a
hopeless chattel is out of date.
Angola, for instance, is the most
advancing country in Africa.
We have the infrastructure
and the financial institutions.
Investments could flow through
this country.”
Sunter said the West’s economy
was moving into tougher times,
but locally our construction
industry was going at full tilt with
the 2010 World Cup coming up.
“South Africa is not a bad place
to ride out hard times, but the
ANC leadership must resolve its
arguments as soon as possible,
especially with Zuma and his
(upcoming) trial.
Sunter was upbeat: “I have hope
for South Africa if only the leadership can understand the game. We
need tough leadership and I
believe that Zuma has the kind of
forcefulness needed.
“He is his own man and will do
what he thinks is right. As long as
things are fixed up and service
delivery is improved, we can get
back into the Premier League of
Nations.”
SA JEWISH REPORT
AROUND THE WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
JEWISH-RELATED GROUPS TO FETE SARKOZY
NEW YORK - French President Nicolas
Sarkozy will be honoured by two
Jewish-related organisations in New
York.
The Elie Wiesel Foundation for
Humanity on Monday will recognise
Sarkozy with its annual Humanitarian
Award. On Tuesday, Sarkozy will
receive the 2008 World Statesman
Award from the interfaith Appeal of
Conscience Foundation.
A news release from the Wiesel
Foundation cited Sarkozy's global
efforts to support war-torn countries,
determination to improve US-French
relations and consistent support of
Israel.
"President Sarkozy is a humanitarian
with deep concern for those in need and
has contributed greatly to impover-
ished countries," Wiesel said. "The
president's compassion and sincerity in
these efforts is admirable."
Previous recipients include First
Lady Laura Bush, then-First Lady
Hillary
Clinton, King Juan Carlos of Spain,
President George H W Bush, thenFrench First Lady Danielle Mitterand
and, most recently, Oprah Winfrey in
2007.
At the Appeal of Conscience
Foundation event, the organisation's
president and founder, Rabbi Arthur
Schneier, will present the award
to Sarkozy. Henry Kissinger, the former
US secretary of state, will introduce
the French leader, who will be joined
by his wife, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy.
(JTA)
LONDON RALLY HELD FOR SHALIT
LONDON - Hundreds in London last
Sunday rallied for the release of kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
British Prime Minister Gordon
Brown joined the marchers and was
among 1 000 Britons who signed a New
Year's card for Shalit. The cards were
sent through the Israeli Embassy in
London and the British Zionist
Federation.
The International Red Cross promised to pass on the cards to its branch in
the Gaza Strip.
Rally participants marched from
Green Park to the Lyric Theatre calling
for Shalit's release.
The soldier was abducted on the border between Israel and Gaza more than
two years ago.
The marchers - from Jewish schools,
youth movements, Jewish organisations and other community groups, as
well as individuals - held signs reading
"819 days and we're still waiting" and
"We miss you" as well as pictures of
Shalit. They wore T-shirts printed with
Shalit's picture.
At the theatre, about a thousand people heard from the Israeli ambassador,
Ron Prosor, and Shalit's father, Noam,
as well as a performance by Israeli
singer Ehud Banai. (JTA)
35
36
SA JEWISH REPORT
Reducing others 'to something not quite
human' through 'othering', says Friedman
ALISON GOLDBERG
POLITICAL ANALYST Steven
Friedman will not call the recent
attack on foreigners in the
country "xenophobia" - he
says it was violence
against a group of people
from Africa.
Prof Friedman, director
of the Centre for the Study
of Democracy at the
University of Johannesburg, spoke to the men's
group of Second Innings
on the recent spate of violence in the country.
"The impression given
is that not a very civilised
group of people took out
their anger on foreigners,
which gave us something
to feel human and moral
about as we were able to
blame it on other people.
"Some of us felt very
uncomfortable about it,
however. But as the
process went, neighbourhoods collected clothing
and blankets to distribute
to the destitute.
"If you are familiar with
some of the writings, a fair
amount of 'othering' took place;
that is the process which reduces
other human beings to something
quite not human. Very often it's
about transferring our own prob-
lems to another person or people,"
he said.
Some people in shacks felt
threatened about jobs being taken
outgrowth of the political situation in Zimbabwe where elections
had recently taken place on March
29.
"It's not surprising no
evidence was offered,
Prof Steven Friedman.
because
the
first
instance of violence of
this nature took place in
1995 in Soweto. This theory was also silent on a
flood of people coming
into South Africa from
across the border."
A second explanation
was given, namely that
it was all a rebellion
against the government's economic policies. But once again the
story didn't hold water,
said Friedman.
A third theory was
that people were unhappy about the current
political leadership - but
there was also no evidence to prove that.
What were common to
all the explanations
given by commentators,
were the projections of
Photograph: Shelley Elk
their own hang-ups onto
away, but there were other forms others. And blatant, too, while
of "othering", he said.
people were being reduced to
"People got up and commented political footballs was the massive
on the situation but did not have a knowledge gap between the comshred of evidence. For example, mentators and society at grassthe violence was blamed on an roots level.
Another example of this ignorance is evident in debate about
social grants which is one of the
more successful endeavours of the
past five years and where basic
grants are now in the hands of 10
million South Africans.
et the ignorance evident in the
commentary
such
as
that
teenagers deliberately get pregnant so as to claim (these grants)
and that people fake their identities, is as groundless as the
brouhaha around the violence.
No-one, not the media nor the
politicians, seem prepared to take
up the most likely and simple
explanation, which is that foreigners have been portrayed as a disease-ridden people.
Estimates of as much as four to
five million of them (in the country), are simply guesses. "I happen
to know two ways in which these
figures are calculated. The first
trots out a factor which is multiplied by the number of people
whose short-term visas have
expired.
"More weird is an academic
research organisation's surveys
(on) how many people their neighbours thought were living illegally
in their midst; again a guess and
invariably producing millions."
Another claim made by many, is
that foreigners are the ones committing the crimes, is as spurious
as the other claim that they are
The prophets were moral compass of their time
LIONEL SLIER
THE 8TH CENTURY PROPHETS,
Amos, Hosea, Micah and Isaiah,
are in the modern era presented
as revolutionaries, innovators
and reformers who prioritised
morality over ritual, Rabbi
Robert Ash of Temple Emanuel
in Parktown, Johannesburg, told
Limmud Johannesburg.
In his talk entitled The 8th
Century Prophets; a Revolution in
Religion?, he called it "fascinating" to see how the presentation
of these prophets had shifted
over the last 25 years or so.
"The Progressive Movement
adopted them as the kind of
Judaism they wanted to present.
It was very refreshing."
Rabbi Ash said: "With Isaiah I
will only deal with the first 39
books as some believe that the
Book of Isaiah was in fact written
by two or three other writers as
well.
"It was the time of the unified
Israelite Kingdom of Saul, David
and Solomon before the split into
the Northern Kingdom of Israel
with its capital at Samaria and
the southern kingdom of Judah
with its capital at Jerusalem. The
Assyrian Royal Archives refer to
these two kingdoms which, incidentally, is the first mention of
them outside of the Bible.
"There was much religious,
political and social instability at
the time and the prophets drew
attention to the growing divide
between the wealthy and the
poor. They were critics of the corruption of the leadership, but
were they bringing anything new
as prophets? Were they seers,
visionaries or clairvoyants? Or
were they from G-d proclaiming a
message?
"In the 8th century there was
already a long tradition of
prophecy as a profession. In
courts, kings employed prophets
who reminded them of their ethi-
cal and religious responsibilities. of his wife Gomer's adultery. The
In older texts some believed that torment is the same as people
prophets were possessed by the being unfaithful to G-d. He comDivine. In the reign of David pares it to a court case: 'G-d has a
there were the prophets Nathan charge against the people of
and Gad. Prophetic figures Israel'. (Hosea 4:1).
played a major role in the royal
"Now the giant of prophets is
courts."
Isaiah," said Rabbi Ash. "He lived
Then, said Rabbi Ash, "there in Jerusalem, had access to the
came Amos, Isaiah, Hosea and royal court and challenged the
Micah and what is different about nation and its leaders. He came
them is that they have
books written about
Rabbi Robert Ash
them and recorded
and we know what
they are alleged to
have said. Therefore
they are the first of
the literary prophets.
Amos came from
Tekoa and is the only
one from the southern kingdom. He was
a 'herder of sheep and
a dresser of sycamore
trees' and was called
by G-d to go to the
north. (Amos 7:10 7:14)
"His thrust was
about the terrible
ignoring of the needs
of the oppressed, the
abuse of the poor and
the
hypocritically
worshipping of G-d by
the nouveau riche. It
is very clear whom he
is attacking. It is
those 'who lie on beds
of ivory, eating the
fattest sheep and
anointing themselves with oil.'
from a prominent family, was
"Hosea was later than Amos well-educated and well-informed.
criticising the northern nation He attacked the deceit, the diswhere 'there is cursing, lying, sembling and the moral blindmurder, stealing and committing ness.
adultery: they break boundaries
"Isaiah's words have become a
and bloodshed causes bloodshed. model linking the Covenant and
Therefore the land will mourn its religious norms expected by
and everyone who dwells therein G-d. 'The Eternal stands up to
will waste away.' (Hosea 4:2 and contend and stands to judge the
4:3).
peoples'. (Isaiah 3:13). Isaiah
"With Hosea love and suffering shows who are his targets; he
go together. He uses the analogy attacks the rich and their showy
women with their jewellery.
(Isaiah 3:18). He wanted peace for
all people. 'Nation shall not lift up
sword against nation, nor shall
they learn war any more.' All
people were G-d's people.
"Micah lived in the latter part
of the century when Israel is conquered by the Assyrians. He
prophesised Divine judgement
for all the people of Israel. Micah
hoped for universal
peace. 'Each man shall
sit by his vine and not
be afraid.'
"What can we conclude? These prophets
expressed justice and
morality, not ritual
alone. They called on
the people to change
their ways. He called
them back to Moses,
the Torah, Sinai and
the
Covenant,
yet
Hosea is the only one
who actually uses the
word 'Covenant'. The
others wanted the people to avoid thinking
that the Covenant gave
them protection.
"Their ethical concerns were not new,
but they had a fresh
way of accusing the
nation and pointing to
the morality found in
the Torah. They were
special people because
of their given morality.
"These prophets were
the founders of 'Ethical Monotheism' who transformed the
notion of G-d that He was the
guardian and champion of all
humanity; a G-d that demands
rightness and justice.
"They rescued the Torah from
legalisation. The study of Torah
leads to everything. It was the
inspiration of the prophets who
taught that the Torah was a
seamless garment not to be divided in any way whatsoever."
taking away jobs; in a market
economy to boot.
More likely is the portrayal of
the immigrant as a self-employed
person who is paying taxes and not
using public services. Typically he
will use informal doctors and not
state hospitals.
All this stigmatising has been
done by political commentators
and is the dominant view in society. This is more likely to turn people to violence.
Actually, it is better to portray
them as an asset rather than as a
threat and for us to realise our
own attitudes to others who are
different to us.
In an answer to questions from
the floor, Friedman said the tension between locals and foreigners
we had witnessed for the past 10
years, was on a par with the rest of
the world.
"The hostility towards foreigners is deep-rooted in this society.
People say ‘we don't support violence, but...’ It is these buts that
are the cause of the problem.”
South Africans got killed, too,
because they didn't belong to the
same group, he added.
Most of the politicians knew
that there was prejudice against
foreigners but for the most part
chickened out. Whether they are
likely now to send out different
messages, depended on the pressure on them, he added.
AROUND
THE
WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
BLIND RABBI TRAILS
INCUMBENT IN NJ RACE
NEW YORK - A blind rabbi
running for Congress in
New Jersey trails the Republican incumbent by 15
points.
Dennis Shulman, a Democrat, trails US Representative Scott Garrett, 49
per cent to 34 per cent, in
the first public poll taken in
the race.
The survey of 400 likely
voters was taken on September 17 and 18 and has a
margin of error of plus or
minus 5 per cent.
Shulman campaign manager Jeff Hauser said he
was "satisfied" with the poll,
considering his campaign's
ground game was just
ramping up and its television ads were scheduled to
hit the airwaves for the first
time this week.
Hauser added that an
incumbent below the 50 per
cent mark at this stage in
the campaign was a "huge
sign of vulnerability". A
call to the Garrett campaign
was not returned.
The poll showed the congressional race is closely
tracking with presidential
preference in the district,
where McCain is leading
Obama 52 per cent - 37 per
cent according to the poll.
(JTA)
SA JEWISH REPORT
37
38
SA JEWISH REPORT
YOUTH TALK
Shelley Elk jewishreport@yahoo.com
Our barmitzvah boys The PSC’s unbridled
really do us proud!
‘torture scenes’ shock
Jewish students
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH
BY RABBI SHAULI MINKOWITZ
THE BARMITZVAH boys at
Chabad of Sandton have been
preparing for Yomtov in their
own special way. This past
week a group of boys ages 1214, presented an envelope full
of Cash to the Yad Aharon
Tzedakah Fund to help
underprivileged Jews buy the
necessary things for Yomtov.
The boys raised R3 700 by
selling tickets to friends and
family for this worthy cause. Ari Hecht, Adam Urdang, Jordan Seligman, Josh
Not satisfied to stop there, the Hatchuel and Mendel Chaiton loading the packed
boys then rolled up their parcels into the storeroom.
sleeves and together with a
This particular fundraiser emphasised
large group of volunteers, helped pack food
the idea of chessed, (kindess) and Jews
parcels at Yad Aharon which will be distribhelping out other Jews in any way possible.
uted before Yomtov.
Other programmes have included a
This programme is part of the Boyz II
hands-on tefillin workshop and the soon to
Men Barmitzvah Club currently running at
come "Sights & Sounds of Shul" learning
Chabad of Sandton, which goes beyond the
experience. In addition each ticket they sold
usual Torah reading training a barmitzvah
earned them a lap around a professional
boy does by providing a year long learning
race track where they will be taken after
experience which hopes to instil a sense of
Yomtov as reward for all their hard work.
the key responsibilities a Jewish adult has.
Sandton Shul batmitzvah girls at their ceremony. Back from left: Danit Davidowitz
(teacher), Erin Hazan, Natanya Brouze, Melissa Gobetz, Jemma Weil, Adena Prissman,
Leigh Sayag, Mika Solomon and Roseen Ress (teacher). Middle: Kerri-Lee Kramer,
Kayleigh Bersiks, Jenna Adler, Jessica Kier, Genevieve Levin, Jade Hotz and Natalie
Gants. Front: Tarryn Penchartz, Amy Strous, Tali Isenberg, Keryn Joffe, Lee-Ann Lavine,
Maya Angel and Jessica Kallenbach.
JOSHUA SCHEWITZ
PHOTOGRAPHS: CHAYA LAYA SINGER
LAST WEEK Wits University was subjected to crude attempts at anti-Israel
propaganda. At three different locations Palestinian Solidarity Committee (PSC) members played out
scenes of so-called “Israeli torture”.
SAUJS Chairman Chaya Singer,
said that “with the full knowledge and
compliance of the university administration, students were confronted with
emotionally manipulative scenes of
torture purporting to be representative of the reality of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict”.
The displays, organised by the
Palestinian Solidarity Committee,
were not designed to stimulate debate; “Electrocution” on Wits campus. No prize for
rather, they amounted to an over- guessing who the “victim” and who the “perpedramatised distorted importation of trator” is.
the Middle East conflict onto the campus.
to PSC propaganda, trying to give them
This follows a previous academic experisome truth to de-cloud their view a little. A
ment sanctioned by the administration,
few other Jewish students were doing the
which began with anti-Zionist graffiti and
same.
led to comments such as “Jews must die”,
Many Jewish students lay the blame fullwhich is blatant anti-Semitism.”
square at the door of the university adminMost students asked, admitted they did
istration - for letting this attack on academnot “know what’s going on”. Some nonic integrity run rampant on campus.
Jewish students were heard saying that if
Furthermore, the unequal treatment of
they were Jewish they would be angry.
SAUJS is unacceptable. Two weeks ago
They understood the viciousness of the
SAUJS brought Itamar Marcus to speak on
PSC’s latest attempt to delegitimise Israel.
campus. The initial poster which said “The
Again PSC attempts at anti-Israel propamedia as a weapon”, was deemed to be too
ganda have led to a personal experience of
emotive.
anti-Semitism. Five religious Muslim
SAUJS was forced to print a new poster
women said they felt “anger, frustration
with less “emotive words”. Yet the adminisand lots of emotions”. When asked why
tration allowed the PSC to enact torture
Israel has not been successfully convicted
scenes with actors who were “screaming in
in The Hague, they said it was because “the
agony”.
world is ruled by the Jews”. They would not
According to Sarit Swisa, Wits was
back down from that statement, even after
becoming “increasingly hostile to Jews”
having been told that it is classic antiSarit said that when Wits “display things
Semitism.
like this, there is no care”. Furthermore, “if
Dina Hendel was running around speakthis has been approved by the university I
ing to everyone who had just been subjected
feel like wanting to leave.”
A beautiful bevy of young KDL prom - it was a night to
remember forever and ever
batmitzvah girls
ROSEEN RESS
PHOTOGRAPH: MANDEL BERNSTEIN
A BEAUTIFUL ceremony was held earlier
this month with the central theme of candle-lighting wrapping up the official participation of the batmitzvah programme at
Sandton Shul for its 22 participants.
The girls looked beautiful in white and
silver and each word of their script was
imbued with the beauty of the mitzvah of
lighting Shabbat candles.
Through learning their script and participating in the ceremony, many practical
and spiritual aspects of candle-lighting
were learnt by the girls and their audience
- such as the reason why candle-lighting
has become one of the three major mitzvot
given to women, as well as the peace that
Shabbat candle lights bring into the home
and into relationships within the home.
As we approach Rosh Hashanah, a powerful and concluding message of the batmitzvah ceremony was given, With one
mitzvah for example, lighting Shabbos candles, we each have the power to tip the
scale between good and evil and bring
about the ultimate redemption.
The girls were prepared for this ceremony by teachers Roseen Ress and Danit
Davidowitz, who taught them the Roots
batmitzvah syllabus compiled by the UHS,
which was examined in a written and practical exam.
This formal knowledge was expanded
upon through participation by new informal additions to the year’s programme by
this year’s co-ordinator of the Roots programme, Ronit Janet.
Activities included group activities completed in class and compiled into a memory
book for the girls as a keep-sack. An
“Amazing Race” activity taught the girls in
a fun way about the importance and beauty of the mitzvah of lighting Shabbos candles and making challah.
The chessed project runs in conjunction
with “Helping Hands”, an extension of the
Chevrah Kadisha, which gave the girls an
opportunity to take part in chessed/act of
kindness “hands on”.
A highlight for the Sandton girls and
their families, was the batmitzvah
Shabbaton held at Sandton Shul in August,
organised by Roseen and Danit. A Shabbos
dinner was enjoyed by over 100 people on
the Friday evening, followed by a sleepover for the girls in the newly renovated
bayit.
A fulfilled Shabbos day, including a communal brocha and lunch, as well as informal learning and games, kept the girls
entertained throughout the day, calumniating in the participation of Havdallah at
the end of Shabbat.
The Sandton Shul will be launching the
start of the next batmizvah course shortly.
Anyone interested in participating in this
incredible opportunity, please contact the
Sandton Shul office on (011) 883-4210.
FARRAH EINSTEIN AND MAXINE OHAYON
PHOTOGRAPH: GARY BLOCK
THE KING David Linksfield prom this year
was again an occasion for glitz and glamour but the day - August 30 - was also filled with
stress, anxiety yet absolute excitement in
anticipation of the evening’s events that lay
ahead.
The excitement came to a climax as the couples dressed in true KDHL style, arrived at the
Simon Kuper Hall. (Teachers greeting us looking pretty good themselves!)
We were drawn to the hall by the sound of
music echoing through the parking lot. The
hall was beautifully decorated with elegantly
dressed candlelit tables to set a magical mood.
In true Jewish style our stomachs had to
be filled with the most scrumptious food in
town. Thanks to Stan and Pete and their
delectable delights that just kept coming.
The dance floor erupted with learners and
teachers alike taking to the floor in the spirit of prom. The music was enjoyed by all as
we danced the night away.
Congratulations to the grade 11 group for
raising a large sum of money for the school.
The combination of great food, good
music and our beautifully dressed dates,
resulted in a night to remember.
Thank you so much in particular to Bev
Bower and her team for putting this spectacular evening together. It will forever be a
night to remember!
Ashleigh
Smith,
Daniel
Jacobson,
Craig
Eliasov,
Garron
Greenberg
and Dana
Taylor.
SA JEWISH REPORT
YOUTH TALK
39
Shelley Elk jewishreport@yahoo.com
The shofar sounds
during month of Elul
OWN CORRESPONDENT
PHOTOGRAPH: SUE BELLING
THE SHOFAR is blown for everyone on the Torah Academy campus, every day during the month
of Elul.
Grade 7 learners Jared Blecher
and Ari Katz visit the staff and
KDVP Pre-Primary
welcomes month of Elul
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH:
LYNDA ROMAIN (PRINCIPAL)
KING DAVID Victory Park PrePrimary recently celebrated Rosh
Chodesh Elul with a special visit
from Rabbi Mendel Rabinowitz.
We were “woken up” to the
sound of the shofar. The last
month of the Jewish year is Elul.
From the start of this month we
begin to prepare ourselves for the
month of Tishrei.
During the month of Elul, we
reflect and think about all we
have done during the past year.
We step back and look at ourselves critically and honestly
with the intention of improving.
The three most important
aspects of this time of introspection are “tzedakah” (charity),
“teshuvah” (repentance) and
“tefillah” (prayer), with the
sound of the shofar. During the
month of Elul it is customary to
hear the shofar every day.
offices on the campus each day,
taking it in turns to carry out this
mitzvah, while Rabbi Mordechai
Rodal blows the shofar at the TA
Primary School at early morning
line-up.
Here Jared Blecher (with shofar) and Ari Katz pay a visit to
Lubavitch House on the campus.
40
SA JEWISH REPORT
26 September - 10 October 2008 26 September - 10 October 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
41
AROUND
THE
WORLD
AROUND
THE
WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
NEWS IN BRIEF
PRASQUIER:
ATTACK ON TEENS
WAS ANTI-SEMITIC
PARIS - Three Jewish
teens in Paris were
attacked recently because of their faith, a
French Jewish leader
reiterated.
A Jewish suspect
charged with participating in the group
assault of the kipotwearing teens on
September 6 "intervened at a later
time", said Richard
Prasquier, the president of the French
Jewish umbrella
organisation CRIF in
an interview with the
daily Le Figaro published on Saturday.
Paris prosecutors
ruled out anti-Jewish
motives to the crime
last week mainly
because one of the
five suspects charged
was Jewish, though
Jewish leaders and
French officials initially believed otherwise.
Though his participation did not
absolve the suspect of
having racist
motives, Prasquier
said an act could be
defined as antiSemitic when a
Jewish target was
singled out.
"There were a lot of
people out that Saturday afternoon, and it
was at them (the
three Jewish teens)
that the projectiles
were thrown. It's
from that point on
that one can legitimately evoke the motive of anti-Semitism," said Prasquier.
"The fact that one
of the attackers,
whom moreover
intervened at a later
time,
is Jewish doesn't
change the problem:
The anti-Semitic act
comes from the
choice of target and
not from the person
who commits it."
Paris prosecutors
could not confirm
when the Jewish suspect began to participate in the crime.
In the same interview, Prasquier also
lamented that French
Jews are so accustomed to various and
widespread forms of
anti-Semitism that
they do not even
report incidents.
Though the number of such crimes
had not risen in
France, he said it
remained at a steady
"high" level of 82 incidents for the first
four months of 2008.
"The most worrisome is to see the
most classic theses of
anti-Semitism recycled today... a kind of
normalisation of
anti-Semitism," he
said. (JTA)
PALESTINE NOT
AT ARABAMERICAN
FOREFRONT
WASHINGTON Israel-Palestinian
tensions hardly
registered as a concern among ArabAmerican voters in
a pre-election poll.
Asked an openended question
about the two top
issues facing the
country ahead of
the presidential
elections, respondents named "Jobs
/Economy" first
and "War in Iraq/
Peace" second.
Just one per cent
mentioned
Palestine.
Asked separately
what role "Middle
East policy" would
play in their decision, less than a
third of respondents said that disagreement on the
issue with the candidate they otherwise prefer would
change their vote.
The nationwide
phone poll, published on September 18 and carried out in the second week of September by Zogby
International for
the Arab-American
Institute, showed
the continuing
shift in ArabAmerican allegiances toward
Democrats.
The party breakdown among the
501 respondents
this month was 46
per cent to 20 per
cent in favour of
Democrats, as
opposed to 40 per
cent to 38 per cent
in 2000.
Democratic presidential candidate
US Sen Barack
Obama was strongly favoured when
pitted solely
against US Sen
John McCain, at 54
per cent to 33 per
cent.
However, Obama
lost traction when
independents Bob
Barr and Ralph
Nader were factored in, besting
McCain 46 per cent
to 32 per cent.
Nader is an Arab
American and
advocates
increased pressure
on Israel to come
to a peace agreement.
Arab-American
voters figure
prominently in five
swing states:
Michigan, Ohio,
Pennsylvania,
Florida and Virginia. The poll has a
margin of error
of 4,5 percentage
points. (JTA)
40
SA JEWISH REPORT
26 September - 10 October 2008 26 September - 10 October 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
41
AROUND
THE
WORLD
AROUND
THE
WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
NEWS IN BRIEF
PRASQUIER:
ATTACK ON TEENS
WAS ANTI-SEMITIC
PARIS - Three Jewish
teens in Paris were
attacked recently because of their faith, a
French Jewish leader
reiterated.
A Jewish suspect
charged with participating in the group
assault of the kipotwearing teens on
September 6 "intervened at a later
time", said Richard
Prasquier, the president of the French
Jewish umbrella
organisation CRIF in
an interview with the
daily Le Figaro published on Saturday.
Paris prosecutors
ruled out anti-Jewish
motives to the crime
last week mainly
because one of the
five suspects charged
was Jewish, though
Jewish leaders and
French officials initially believed otherwise.
Though his participation did not
absolve the suspect of
having racist
motives, Prasquier
said an act could be
defined as antiSemitic when a
Jewish target was
singled out.
"There were a lot of
people out that Saturday afternoon, and it
was at them (the
three Jewish teens)
that the projectiles
were thrown. It's
from that point on
that one can legitimately evoke the motive of anti-Semitism," said Prasquier.
"The fact that one
of the attackers,
whom moreover
intervened at a later
time,
is Jewish doesn't
change the problem:
The anti-Semitic act
comes from the
choice of target and
not from the person
who commits it."
Paris prosecutors
could not confirm
when the Jewish suspect began to participate in the crime.
In the same interview, Prasquier also
lamented that French
Jews are so accustomed to various and
widespread forms of
anti-Semitism that
they do not even
report incidents.
Though the number of such crimes
had not risen in
France, he said it
remained at a steady
"high" level of 82 incidents for the first
four months of 2008.
"The most worrisome is to see the
most classic theses of
anti-Semitism recycled today... a kind of
normalisation of
anti-Semitism," he
said. (JTA)
PALESTINE NOT
AT ARABAMERICAN
FOREFRONT
WASHINGTON Israel-Palestinian
tensions hardly
registered as a concern among ArabAmerican voters in
a pre-election poll.
Asked an openended question
about the two top
issues facing the
country ahead of
the presidential
elections, respondents named "Jobs
/Economy" first
and "War in Iraq/
Peace" second.
Just one per cent
mentioned
Palestine.
Asked separately
what role "Middle
East policy" would
play in their decision, less than a
third of respondents said that disagreement on the
issue with the candidate they otherwise prefer would
change their vote.
The nationwide
phone poll, published on September 18 and carried out in the second week of September by Zogby
International for
the Arab-American
Institute, showed
the continuing
shift in ArabAmerican allegiances toward
Democrats.
The party breakdown among the
501 respondents
this month was 46
per cent to 20 per
cent in favour of
Democrats, as
opposed to 40 per
cent to 38 per cent
in 2000.
Democratic presidential candidate
US Sen Barack
Obama was strongly favoured when
pitted solely
against US Sen
John McCain, at 54
per cent to 33 per
cent.
However, Obama
lost traction when
independents Bob
Barr and Ralph
Nader were factored in, besting
McCain 46 per cent
to 32 per cent.
Nader is an Arab
American and
advocates
increased pressure
on Israel to come
to a peace agreement.
Arab-American
voters figure
prominently in five
swing states:
Michigan, Ohio,
Pennsylvania,
Florida and Virginia. The poll has a
margin of error
of 4,5 percentage
points. (JTA)

- SA Jewish Report

Transcription

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