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ABSA JEWISH
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AWARDS - JUNE 17 / 13
www.sajewishreport.co.za
Friday, 25 April 2008 / 20 Nisan, 5768
Volume 12 Number 15
New Jersey man accused
of spying for Israel
THIS WEEK’S arrest of Ben-Ami Kadish - who lives in a retirement
community - begs the question of why US federal authorities are still
pursuing Pollard-related leads more than 20 years after the fact. PAGE 10
Carter’s Mideast
visit brings few
rewards, say
major regional
players / 11
Remembering the
Jews of
Krugersdorp / 7
Special guest to
speak at Yom
Hashoah / 3
Freedom Seder
includes people
of diverse faiths
/2
Scully Levin - a
high flyer of note
/8
Swimmer Shireen
Sapiro overcomes
huge obstacles to
reach Beijing
Paralympics / 24
A SEDER PLATE
TO SYMBOLISE
GOODWILL
YOUTH TALK / 18-19
Pope Benedict XVI has made a historic visit to Park East Synagogue in New York, the first time a
pope has visited a synagogue in the US and only the third time any pope has ever visited a Jewish
house of worship. His Holiness visited the Cologne Synagogue in 2005 and Pope John Paul II visited
the Rome Synagogue in 1986. Rabbi Arthur Schneier (pictured here with the pope), the spiritual
leader of Park East Synagogue, invited the pope for the private visit. Here, Rabbi Schneier presents
him with a silver seder plate. (PHOTO CREDIT: DIANE BONDAREFF)
SPORTS / 24
LETTERS / 14
CROSSWORD & BRIDGE / 20
INSIDE:
Mothers Day
Feature / 16-17
COMMUNITY BUZZ / 7
WHAT’S ON / 20
2
SA JEWISH REPORT
25 April - 02 May 2008
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Honourable Abe Abrahamson (Chairman), Issie Kirsh, Dennis Maister, Bertie
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Lowenthal.
Mr Justice Meyer Joffe
(Chair, editorial comm)
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The lesson of Pesach
WE CELEBRATE Pesach for eight
days and in Eretz Yisrael for seven.
Seven days represents a complete
cycle within the natural created
world.
Many units of time are measured
by seven. We have seven days of
rejoicing for a bride and the groom,
seven days for mourning, seven
years for shmita, etc.
Clearly the lesson which we must
absorb from Pesach requires not
just one day of mitzvot and learning
but seven days of immersing ourselves in the concepts of freedom,
redemption and Jewish nationhood.
(The 8th day in the Diaspora is
because of doubt as to when the festival should begin).
What are some of the major
themes of
Pesach? Maharal
explains in his introduction to
Gevurot Hashem that there appears
to be a contradiction: on the one
hand the Hagadah tells us that the
more we talk about the miracles of
Pesach at the seder the more praiseworthy it is.
On the other hand we have a story
in the Talmud of a certain student
who prayed in the presence of
Rabbi Chanina and he described
Hashem’s attributes. When he had
finished, Rabbi Chanina said: “Have
you finished praising Hashem?”
What he meant was that since it is
not possible to capture the infinite
greatness of Hashem, it is better to
be silent. Even in the Amidah we
PARSHAT
SHIR
HASHIRIM
Rabbi Ron Hendler
Northfield Shul - Beit
Chana
refer to Hashem with only three
expressions, as Godol Gibor
veNorah - great, powerful and
awesome.
This is based on the words of the
Torah when Moshe Rabbeinu
refers to Hashem in this way. If we
would try to embellish more than
this, we would detract from our
attempt to adequately praise
Hashem.
If we try to describe the qualities
of Hashem, we would be entirely
inadequate, however, the main
theme of the Hagadah is expressing gratitude and when it comes to
gratitude no matter how inadequate our words may be, we dare
not be silent. To be silent in the
face of the daily miracles and gifts,
is to appear ungrateful.
We are not merely teaching our
children the story of Pesach, but
we are modelling for them on how
a Jew has to fill his mouth with
praise and thanks to Hashem for
the miracles that have happened
and continue to happen.
There is a beautiful tradition
that we should say 100 berachot
every day. Many people feel that
this is a burden, but in fact it is what
makes us great. Not to take the
daily miracles for granted, not to
take people for granted, not to take
the smallest pleasures or the greatest events as mere coincidence and
mere random events. This is the lesson that the Jew learns on Pesach.
This concept should be translated
into our relationships in a very tangible way; we should practice
expressing gratitude and appreciation to our spouses and family
members for all that they do for us
every day.
On the last day of Pesach we celebrate the splitting of the sea and the
miraculous redemption of the
Jewish people from the Egyptian
task masters. The Midrash teachers
us that each Egyptian drowned in a
different way according to his level
of cruelty as a slave master. Some
died quickly, some died more slowly.
We see that the Divine providence
is not concerned only with the
macro picture, but even the smallest event, such as a blade of grass
growing which happens only
because Hashem wills it (Talmud).
The word Pesach has been
explained beautifully to mean “the
mouth that speaks” (Pe - Sach). It
means that Pesach should be a time
when we speak a lot.
If we are filled with gratitude and
appreciation of the great and the
small miracles, we will indeed have
learned the lesson of Pesach.
Please remember to light a
candle that will burn over both
days.
April 25 / 20 Nissan
April 26 / 21 Nissan
Erev Shabbat/Erev Yomtov
Starts
17:25
17:52
17:08
17:29
17:25
17:17
Johannesburg
Cape Town
Durban
Bloemfontein
Port Elizabeth
East London
Shir Hashirim
April 26 /21 Nissan
April 27 /22 Nissan
Seventh Day Passover
Earliest time to light candles
from an existing flame
Yomtov Ends
18:14
18:13
18:43
18:42
17:58
17:57
18:18
18:17
18:16
18:15
18:07
18:06
Johannesburg
Cape Town
Durban
Bloemfontein
Port Elizabeth
East London
Jewish tradition and the South African situation
DAVID SAKS
PESACH IS the Jewish Festival of
Freedom, but the dramatic events it
commemorates provide profound
lessons for all humanity. Some of
these uplifting messages were highlighted at last week’s “Freedom
Seder”, which took place at Villa
Arcadia (Hollard Insurance) under
the auspices of the SAJBD.
About 90 people attended the celebration, including national and local
political leaders, religious leaders
and members of the media.
SAJBD National Director Wendy
Kahn, was MC at the proceedings.
She said that the purpose of the
function was for South Africans of
different backgrounds to celebrate
their own history of liberation from
oppression with one another in the
context of the age-old Jewish tradition of liberation and national awakening.
A special “Freedom Seder
Haggadah” was prepared by the
SAJBD for the occasion. Individual
speakers each dealt with a particular section, explaining its central
message and how this applied to the
South African situation.
The opening section, “Whoever is
hungry - let him/her come and eat!”
was expanded on by Chief Rabbi
Warren Goldstein, who explained
how freedom and doing acts of kindness were fundamentally linked.
The very word “Pesach”, while
usually rendered as “Passover”,
could in fact be translated as “compassion”. It was this particular
value, he said, that South Africans
perhaps needed more than any
other in order to address the problems of poverty, ignorance and
crime in their society.
Following the singing of Ma
Nishtana by Jonathan Marcus, veteran educationalist Ernie Saks
spoke about the importance of education, saying that the festival of
Jewish emancipation mirrored the
struggle not only for physical freedom, but also to cast off the shackles of ignorance and self doubt.
“Through the lessons of Pesach,
we rediscover that we are the locksmiths of our futures and that education is the key to the unlocking of
new potentials, new opportunities
and new possibilities,” he said.
The traditional “Four Sons”
theme was interpreted as a celebration of diversity. Fittingly, the
speaker for this section was
Marlene Bethlehem, as past president of the SAJBD and currently
deputy chairman of the Cultural,
Religious and Linguistic Commission.
She stressed the need for South
Africans to collectively strive
towards creating a society that was
open to inter-cultural contacts, in
which differences were respected
and the infinite worth of every
human being was appreciated.
SAJBD Gauteng Council member and past UJW president,
Sharon Fox depicted the Seder’s
Four Cups of wine as a clarion call
to action on four fronts, namely to
strive against oppression and build
democracy, develop South Africa
for the benefit of all its inhabitants,
SAJBD National Chairman Zev Krengel with journalist Martin
Semukanya.
liberate South Africans from the
scourges of both overwork and
underwork and finally, to free others similarly suffering everywhere
in the world.
SAUJS Chairman Chaya Singer
presented a contemporary understanding of the Ten Plagues and
what each symbolised. Such a reading, she explained, made it possible
to see the plagues as “a consequence of learning and a process
whereby the souls of the oppressors
could be healed..
She further stressed that Pesach
was not about celebrating the
downfall of the Egyptians. Citing
the great sage Don Issac Abrabanel,
she said that Jews saw their
redemption as being to some degree
lessened and incomplete since it
had to come by means of the suffering of other human beings.
Speaking to the “Avadim
Hayinu” (We were slaves) section,
Elias Inbram, a senior diplomat at
the Israeli Embassy, recounted the
dramatic story of how he and his
family had made the arduous and
dangerous journey from Ethiopia
to Israel in 1981.
He asked those present to remember Israeli soldiers like Gilad Shalit
and Ehud Goldwasser, who were
still in captivity and unable to celebrate Pesach with their families.
The Freedom Seder concluded
with SAJBD National Chairman
Zev Krengel explaining the significance of the items on the traditional Seder plate. Just as Jews,
through a remarkable, millennialong chain of transmission, remembered both their suffering and
emancipation, so should South
Africans remember the events of
their own past, including the long
exile from their land experienced
by so many of their country’s leaders.
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SA JEWISH REPORT
3
Never again will it happen... Interfaith seder in CT
DAVID SAKS
AMONG THE innumerable horrors visited by the Nazis on their victims, were the
inhumane medical experiments conducted in the camps by, among others, the infamous Dr Josef “Angel of Death” Mengele.
At this year’s Yom Hashoah commemorative ceremony in Johannesburg, the
Jewish community will have a rare opportunity to hear the testimony of Marta
Wise (nee Weiss) who, together with her
sister, Eve, was one of the few who survived this particular manifestation of
Nazi depravity.
Marta Wise (nee Weiss), was born in
Bratislava, Czechoslovakia, in 1934. She
was only a few years old when her country
was annexed into the Nazi state. For most
of the war, she and Eve managed to evade
detection by living under assumed Aryan
identities with false papers, but on
October 8 1944 (ironically, Marta’s birthday), they were finally discovered and
arrested. On November 3, they were
deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau, where
they were kept in Mengele’s medical
experiment block together with twins and
dwarfs.
Somehow, the sisters managed to
survive until the camp was liberated by
the Red Army three months later, on
January 27 1945. After the war, Marta
moved to Australia, where she became a
historian, subsequently speaking frequently on the Holocaust and her experiences in it.
In 1957, she married Harold Wise, and
today she has three children and 14 grandchildren. Marta made aliyah in 1998. She
lives in Jerusalem, where she does volunteer guide work at Yad Vashem.
Yom Hashoah in Johannesburg will take
place at the Martyr’s Monument at West
Park Cemetery, on Thursday, May 1, at
11:30. Doron Joffe, chairman, Gauteng
Council, SA Jewish Board of Deputies,
will preside over the ceremony.
The programme includes readings from
Holocaust literature in English, Hebrew,
Yiddish and Ladino and the lighting of six
memorial lamps by Holocaust survivors.
A moving part of the proceedings, which
takes place as people arrive, is the reading
out of the names of some of the Holocaust
victims and where and when they died.
The Johannesburg Jewish Male Choir,
with Evelyn Green as the accompanist,
will sing Ani Ma’amin and the Partisan
Song and Cantor Ezra Sher will intone the
Haskara.
As has been the case in recent years,
there is to be a strong emphasis on youth
involvement. Jessica Mankowitz, head girl
at King David High School (Victory Park)
will give her perspectives on Auschwitz 63
years later, while Gavin Marcus will sing
“To Everyone there is a Name” (in
Hebrew) at the commencement of the ceremony.
•
For
information
about
the
Johannesburg ceremony, contact Shirley
at the SA Jewish Board of Deputies on
(011) 645-2583/23. Details of Yom Hashoah
ceremonies taking place elsewhere in the
country are: Port Elizabeth April 30, 18:30,
contact Amber Volpe, 083-559-4323);
Bloemfontein April 30, 18:00, Leah
Chabas, (051) 436-2207/083-496-0684; Cape
Town May 1 11:00, Gwynne Robins, (021)
464-6700; Pretoria May 1 10:30, Myra
Egdes, (012) 346-8712; Durban May 1 10:30,
Ruth Mink,(031) 335-4452; East London
May 1, 11:00, Theo Blumberg, (043) 7210993.
Marta Weiss and her sister Eve, when
liberated.This photograph was taken at
Auschwitz-Birkenau by Alexander
Vorontsov, a Soviet photographer who
accompanied the soldiers of the Red
Army when they liberated the camp on
January 27 1945. The photograph
depicts 13 children, one of whom (fifth
from the right) is hidden from view, and
only his cap is visible.
Seven of the children have been identified, either by themselves or others (to
the best of their memory), and are still
alive today. Six of the seven live in
Israel: Gabriel Neumann (fourth from
right), Bracha Katz (formerly Berta
Weinhaber, second from right), Tomy
Shacham (formerly Schwarz, first from
left), Erika Dohan (formerly Winter,
fourth from left), Shmuel Schelach (formerly Robert Schlesinger, third from
right), and Marta Wise (seventh from
left). The seventh is Eva Slonim (née
Weiss, eighth from left), who lives in
Australia.
Marta Weiss and her sister Eve, at a survivor reunion 60 years later. On
January 27, 2005, 60 years after they
were photographed by their liberators,
the six survivors living in Israel took
part in a ceremony in Poland marking
60 years since the liberation of
Auschwitz. From right to left: Bracha
Katz (formerly Berta Weinhaber),
Gabriel Neumann, Shmuel Schelach
(formerly Robert Schlesinger), Eva
Slonim (née Weiss), Marta Wise, Erika
Dohan (formerly Winter), Tomy
Shacham (formerly Schwarz). (PHOTOGRAPH: DALIT SHACHAM)
engenders good will
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
MOIRA SCHNEIDER
CAPE TOWN
A SEDER with a difference - including a specially adapted Interfaith Haggadah - took
place here under the auspices of the South
African Jewish Board of Deputies “to celebrate universal peace and harmony” within
the framework of Pesach.
Representatives of different faiths participated, including members of the Jewish
community, ranging from Orthodox to secular.
Leading the proceedings, Mr Justice
Dennis Davis told the gathering that the
seder was “not just a ritual for ritual’s sake”,
but a means of evaluating our lives in terms
of the concepts discussed.
Speaking of the “linkage” between physical freedom from Egypt and the giving of the
law to the Jewish people, he drew a parallel
with South Africa’s freedom which was followed by the passing of the Constitution.
“Physical freedom without a constitutional democracy may not be freedom at all as
we see with our northern neighbours,” he
said referring to the situation in Zimbabwe.
Speaking on behalf of the Christian community, Reverend Bruce Jenneker, canon
precentor of St George’s Cathedral, said that
the community needed to be reminded
“again and again of the rock from which we
were hewn. There is not a thing we do which
doesn’t derive from you”, he said addressing
himself to his Jewish hosts.
He added that the two communities were
separated by “a long history of prejudice
and anti-Semitism for which we are profoundly sorry and for which we repent. We
give thanks to G-d for our Jewish heritage”,
he concluded.
In a message read out by Li Boiskin, on
Lorna Levy, former trade unionist Leon Levy
and Ann Marie Wolpe at the Freedom Seder.
behalf of Western Cape Premier Ebrahim
Rasool, who was unable to attend, Rasool
said that the Passover was “one of the clearest indications that G-d does not tolerate any
oppression.
“It is good that the Jewish community
invites people of all faiths - especially the
Abrahamic tradition - to do the simple,
decent act of enjoying a meal together. In
doing this, it reminds us all of the deep values underpinning the Passover”.
Owen Futeran, chairman of the South
African Jewish Board of Deputies (Cape
Council), noted that the manner in which we
used our freedom was what defined us.
“As religious, civic, communal and business leaders, we all have the opportunity to
shape our society, to seek solutions, to right
what is wrong, to speak up where it is called
for and to set an example to all those whom
we lead or engage with.”
Futeran invited those who were interested
in playing a joint role in helping “build a
society for the better of all”, to engage with
the Board.
After reading from the Haggadah, Ann
Marie Wolpe, trustee of the Harold Wolpe
Memorial Trust, remarked that as a secular
Jew, it was “wonderful to be here tonight”.
4
SA JEWISH REPORT
25 April - 02 May 2008
It is Absa Jewish Achievers Awards time again!
PETER FELDMAN
IT’S JEWISH Achiever Awards
time again and the countdown has
begun for the Absa Jewish Achiever
Awards 2008, which remains an
annual highlight of the Jewish business and social calendar.
This year’s ceremony will take
place on June 17, again in the
Maroela Room, Sandton Sun.
This is the tenth year that the SA
Jewish Report has been associated
with these prestigious annual
awards, which pay tribute to the
community’s business, humanitarian and social achievers in various
categories.
Absa Bank is again sponsoring
the main “Business Achiever of the
Year Award”, which goes to business and industry nominees from
both listed and non-listed companies. The criteria are that nominees
must be members of the Jewish
community, must serve either as
MD or CEO of a major corporation,
and must show consistent performance and credible empowerment
procedures.
Last year, Dr Steve Booysen, Absa
group chief executive, said: “We are
passionate about our role as a leading bank on the African continent
and we recognise the goals we share
with these achievers to strengthen
the fabric of our community.”
He said that as a bank Absa con-
tinued to be customer-centric “and
our customers trust us to be their
partner of choice as they preserve
and grow their wealth...”
The other key sponsors are again
Lexus and Johnnie Walker.
The Lexus Lifetime Achiever
Award is given to a member of the
Jewish community for his or her
lifetime contribution to South
African Jewry by achieving reconciliation, change and empowerment in the fields of business
and/or art or science, and/or sport
and philanthropy.
The Johnnie Walker Entrepreneur Award goes to a member
of the Jewish community between
the ages of 18 and 40 years, who
owns a small or medium enterprise
operating in South Africa, with
empowerment credentials.
The Honourable Abe Abrahamson, chairman of the SA Jewish
Report Board of Directors, said in a
statement that last year’s awards
attracted “a fine and distinguished
list of candidates in the various categories.
“The quality and achievements
of the entrants continue the fine
standard set over the years and
indicates a continuing Jewish contribution to the development of the
South African economy.
“Additionally, the humanitarian
nominees for the Rabbi Cyril
Harris Award and the Board’s
award for contribution to art and
science, add breadth to the Jewish
role in our national life.”
Another major sponsor, Johnnie
Walker, represents a company
which was created just over 200
years ago by a person as entrepreneurial as the nominees in the
Jewish Achiever Awards.
Phumza Rengqe, the Johnnie
Walker brand manager, said:
“Johnnie Walker is all about honouring people whose personal
endeavours set them apart - people
who inspire others. Our global
‘Keep Walking’ campaign is aimed
at inspiring consumers to undertake their own walks of personal
progress.
“It also emphasises the values of
leadership, bravery and a pioneering spirit - which are the common
denominators of all successful
entrepreneurs. Johnnie Walker is
pleased to be associated with the
Jewish Achiever Awards - and we
salute you for the important role
you play in growing the wealth of
all in South Africa’
Kevin Flynn, general manager of
Lexus - another major sponsor said: “The Lexus brand is built on
the promise of pursuing perfection,
and for this reason, we take great
pleasure in recognising those who
achieve excellence. The true pursuit of perfection is only possible
when detail is refined by indivisible
degrees and then refined again - and
so is the case with any true achiever
who continues to build on and develop their successes.
“We are extremely proud of our
association with the Jewish
Achiever awards and commend the
winners on their outstanding
efforts.”
Last year Gill Marcus, one of
South Africa’s most powerful businesswomen, who is also chairman of
Absa, the main sponsor, was honoured with a special award for her
contribution to South Africa.
The criteria for Business Achiever
Awards are that nominees must be
members of the Jewish community,
must serve either as MD or CEO of a
major corporation, and must show
consistent performance and credible
empowerment procedures.
In the Lexus Lifetime Achiever
category, which was won last year by
Daniel Levy this is given to a member of the Jewish community for his
or her life-time contribution to
South African Jewry by achieving
reconciliation, change and empowerment in the fields of business,
sport and philanthropy.
The criteria for the Johnnie
Walker sponsored entrepreneurial
award, won last year by Brett and
Mark Levy are that the nominees
must be a member of the Jewish
community, aged between 18 and 40,
be the owner of a small or medium-
Empowering young adults with leadership skills
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
RITA LEWIS
IN A new initiative to build up the
leadership qualities in the young
adults of the Jewish community
with regard to administering shuls,
the problem of diminishing shul
attendances etc, Rabbi Ron Hendler
together with Judy Alter held the
first of a series of informative sessions entitled “Community Leadership Programme 2008”.
The first programme was to
introduce all the participants
attending the programme to each
other to give them “Building the
Group” projects and exercises. To
do this the some 20 people were
divided into three groups and each
given the same task to do, but in
separate parts of the hall at the
Gardens Conference Centre in
Oaklands, Johannesburg.
The randomly chosen teams were
each given a set of fictitious “facts”
about “shlubs”, “ponks” and “fins”
which they had to disseminate and
work out the day on which the task
set would be completed.
It was interesting to see the various characters and abilities of the
participants come to the fore as
their differing backgrounds, educational levels and vocational qualities influenced their decision mak-
ing during their team’s implementation of the set tasks.
It took time for some to realise
that much of the information given
was a red herring and totally irrelevant. After much debate and sifting through the facts, two teams
gave the correct answers and one
the incorrect one.
The second task consisted of
having to build the highest, selfstanding “tower” possible - using
only sheets of paper.
What soon became apparent was
the ability for some people to take
charge, some to rationalise and
reason, some to be “hands on”
while others worked things out on
a mathematical level.
With the constant frustration
experienced with the falling of the
“towers”, levels of frustration
could be seen and this in itself was
a learning experience.
There was much laughter (and
acceptance) when it became obvious which team’s tower was left
standing - as it had been built in the
most effective way - for the prevailing conditions.
Much camaraderie was effected,
many lessons learnt and questions
asked by these two simple exercises: Would it have been better to
have decided on a leader beforehand, who would that have been,or
The tower
building exercise with
David Marx,
Ryan
Hollander,
Paul
Silverman,
David Frank
and Leyve
Rabinavitz.
Behind is
Ivana
Goldfein.
would it have been better to discuss
the project first?
In analysing their efforts, Alter
said it was not always necessary to
have a solution but it was important to have a good dialogue
between the participants because
that would result in different
answers and opinions being given.
Team members worked more
cohesively when they had a voice,
she said. With dialogue, it was possible to use one person’s suggestion
as a launching pad for others.
However, she said when there
was only talking and no consensus,
there was no investment in what
had been said.
She said there must be consen-
sus. When everyone took notice of
the person with the loudest voice or
the strongest personality and when
each person was vying for position,
often there was no notice taken of
what the weaker person was saying. That, she said, was not good.
Everyone was devoting their
time and energy to whatever project was on hand, so it was important to give everyone time to be
heard.
On the subject of the “tower”
building she said there had to be
“worker bees”. Not everyone could
stand back and give orders. There
had not been an element of fun.
“Duty has to be a fun thing. It is
important to connect with each
Pesachdik food in memory of Maxi Levin
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
RITA LEWIS
Natasha Katz and Gabi Chernick
who initiated the event.
AROUND THE school buildings,
across the playing fields and ending up on the Junior Primary
School area, some 400 primary
schoolchildren from the Menorah
Primary School and many Leila
Bronner High School girls formed
a curving snake so that each one
could add his own item of
Pesachdik food to the growing pile
on the school’s lawn.
The food was the school’s contribution
to
the
Chevrah
Kadisha’s Pesach Appeal and was
made in the name of Maxie Levine
a popular grade 1 teacher at the
school who died recently at a very
early age.
Many teachers and schoolchildren were in tears as they watched
the pile of matzah sugar, tuna,
matzah-meal et al grow - everything given in memory of Levine
who had been “Our Morah” to so
many pupils at the school for
some 21 years.
Levine’s daughter Aviva Karp
was also emotional as she
watched the pile of food spread
and rise.
“I am absolutely overwhelmed
by the children’s generosity to
remember my mother,” she said.
Pointing to all the food she added:
“I am so grateful for all this and
would like to thank everyone on
behalf of my family.
“My mother would have been
very moved by it all. She loved
everyone and everyone loved her,”
she said.
The idea of collecting food in
her memory was the idea of two
matric girls, Natasha Katz and
Gabi Chernick, which was very
fitting as many pupils and staff
attested to the fact that she would
often give money to pupils who
had not brought lunch and had no
money to buy anything from the
tuck shop.
When all the children had finally arrived at the appointed area
and deposited their packages,
Rabbi Laurence Perez, the new
MD of the complex and principal
of the primary school, said it was
a special day in the life of the
school and the children who
learnt there.
size enterprise and be operating in
South Africa with empowerment
credentials.
SA Jewish Report honours people from a broader community
with
the
Cyril
Harris
Humanitarian Award. These are
for people who make a contribution
to the economy and community by
improving both the quality of life
and the fabric of society in general.
• Nomination forms will be available soon from Dlamini Weil
Communications on (011) 804-1485
or fax (011) 804-3512/3466.
• In terms of the rules nominees
must be South African citizens or
hold a valid South African identity document.
• In categories “Business Achiever
Award”, “Lifetime Achiever” and
“Entrepreneur”, a nominee must
be a member of the Jewish community.
• Only the Business Achiever and
Young Entrepreneur nominees
will be called in front of the judging panel. Other nominees are
judged on the CV submitted by
the nominator.
• The “Humanitarian Award” category is open to the broader community, irrespective of culture,
creed or gender.
• Nominations are subject to adjudication by an independent panel
of judges and the judges’ decision
is final.
other - which you can do if you are
having fun,” she said.
Rabbi Hendler said the idea of
the programme was to build practical things in one’s own community.
He said there had been lots of
energy shown during the evening
and he was sure the participants
would achieve a great deal.
The entire programme, which is
made up of one meeting a month,
will end in November when the
final session will be facilitated by
Adrian Gore who will deal with,
“Learnt Optimism”.
The skills of many other highly
qualified professionals will be also
be utilised. They will include Chief
Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Rabbi
David Lapin, Judy Alter, Elana
Godley, Ivanna Goldfein, Andrew
Gordon, Adrian Gore, Gary
Herbert, Sue Jackson, Ian Mann
and Robin Treger.
The programme will run for a
period of nine months to be aimed
towards empowering the participants with more effective leadership skills.
Some of the subjects to be covered in the planned programme
will be personal effectiveness and
time management, strategic thinking, growing shul membership,
thinking like a leader, organisational structure - lay vs rabbinic
leadership, and dealing with conflict resolution, project management etc.
“Maxie Levine was a special
lady and today is her shloshim,
(the 30th day after her passing).
Morah Maxie always loved and
cared for everyone and always
gave money to those who needed
it. What better way to remember
her than to give all this,” he asked
rhetorically.
He said we recited the “Ha
Lachma Unya” (This is the
Bread of Affliction) at our seder
tables.
Before we sit down we ask anyone needy to come in and join us.
“By donating all this food the
children have shown us their generosity and have taken the ‘Ha
Lachma Unya’ and opened their
own doors - and their hearts.
“We give a big vote of thanks to
our teachers, children and mothers for the unbelievable mitzvah
which has been done here today.”
25 April - 02 May 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
5
6
SA JEWISH REPORT
25 April - 02 May 2008
SOCIAL SCENE
Rita Lewis [email protected]
Mashi and Rabbi Mendel Lipskar with their children Rivkie Lipskar, Leah Shemtov, Grunie Uminer, Sarah Malka Lipskar,
Mushkie Lipskar, Goldie Raitport, Dini Freundlich and Rabbis Aaron Lipskar, Zalman Lipskar, (soon to be rabbi) Levi
Lipskar and Shlomo Raitport.
Mendel Lipskar
celebrates with
family, friends
Aaron Lipskar addresses the gathering while his father
Rabbi Mendel Lipskar looks on.
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY RITA LEWIS
True Friendship. Jeremy Kramer with Rabbi Lipskar.
The three youngest Lipskar children, Levi, Mushkie and
Sara Malka with grandchild Sholem.
MANY PEOPLE feel that celebrating any sort of simcha or birthday is really nothing unless it is spent with one’s family. Rabbi
Mendel Lipskar who recently celebrated his milestone 60th birthday at Summer Place in Johannesburg where his new shul is situated, is one who thinks along those lines.
He and his wife Mashi were lucky enough to have all their children and grandchildren present with them when the rabbi invited
some close friends, colleagues and family to share his special day
with him.
Three of the Lipskar children had come from as far as Beijing,
with the others coming from the US, leaving their centres of learning and worship to pay tribute to a father who has been a role
model - not only for them all to follow - but for so many others too.
Paying tribute to Rabbi and Mashi Lipskar, Larry Lipshitz said
the influence they had had on the Jewish community during their
years in South Africa was totally unaccountable.
Rabbi Lipskar and his wife had both left their comfortable
homes to be pioneers in a country far from their homes. To see
their own children doing the same thing must be a source of pride,
Lipshitz said.
The Lipskar’s eldest son, Aaron said this was the first time in
eight years that the family had been together in South Africa which was indeed a cause for celebration.
He said it was a wonderful reason to be together. It was fitting
that his father was able to see his children walking in the same
footsteps as he had done some 36 years previously when he had
arrived in South Africa as a shaliach for the Rebbe.
“For us to do the same thing as they did, to go to China or anywhere, this is the biggest schus for parents - even though we don’t
see them often.”
He said 60 was known to be the age of maturity. However, “my
father doesn’t need to have reached 60 to surmount the challenges,
changes and trials etc, that are here. We are so proud of what he
has done.”
Rabbi Lipskar quoted the Rebbe who had said that it was important not “just to have nachas from your children but with your
children”.
He added: “I am thrilled my children are doing the work they
are doing all over the world and I am very thrilled that they are all
here. The party was a wonderful surprise.”
He thanked everyone for coming, including Rivky for representing all the in-laws. He paid a special tribute to his wife Mashi,
“who is the strength behind everything. She is the sort of partner
you need in shlichut”, and he thanked her for organising “this special day for me”.
He said he had thought the day would be filled with fireworks
etc, but it had slipped by just like all other days.
He said the Rebbe had said the important thing was to retain
your youth.
Dov Grauman, Rabbi Yossy Hecht, Rabbi Lipskar and Rabbi Koppel Bacher.
Jeremy Kramer, Charles Butler and Aaron Lipskar.
Rochie Ainsworth, Michelle Goodman and Mashi
Lipskar.
Dini Groner, Mashi and Rabbi Lipskar with Rabbi Mendel Popack.
25 April - 02 May 2008
COMMUNITY
BUZZ
LIONEL SLIER
082-444-9832, fax: 011-440-0448,
[email protected]
JOHANNESBURG
“Help me. I have no food.” A person
standing holding up a placard at
the corner of Joe Slovo Drive and
Abel Road would not occasion a
second
glance
from
most
motorists, but when that person is
a white woman of about 40, shabbily dressed, unkempt, looking positively ill, then that gives one to
pause.
What gives a greater sense of
shock is the knowledge is that it is
a Jewish woman Let us call her
Miriam.
Sid Anolik tells the story with
brutal frankness.
“A family member experimented
with drugs as many teenagers are
wont to do. So I became involved
with drug abuse and I joined
‘Tough Luck’ an American concept
support group for parents. But the
particular group fizzled out.
“There is the ‘Talisman’ in The
Hill in Johannesburg South, a
rehab centre and from there I
learnt about Miriam. She had been
divorced for a long time and her
sons, now just either side of 20 had
been brought up my their father.
Miriam had been at the ‘Talisman’
for her problem, paid for by the
Chevrah Kadisha (R4 500 per
month) and eventually left there
clean, rehabilitated in March.
“The Chev then found her
accommodation at the Crest Hotel
and then at the Bostonian
Apartments which is in Abel Road,
Berea. Now this is right in the middle of all the drug sellers with
Nigerian overlords there as well.
“I came across Miriam and I was
shocked. She was as skinny as a
rake and honestly it looked as
though she had Aids. She looked
positively ill.
“I heard that she had been forced
to sell herself for drugs; not even
for money for food, but simply to
get drugs again. The Chev had
been providing her with food and
she was actually selling that as
well.
“I believe that there are about 20
Jews, either drug addicted or
recovering
living
in
the
Berea/Hillbrow area supported by
the Chev. An addict will use anything, but heroin is the drug of
choice.
“Thank G-d for the Chev, but
what I do not understand is why
spend all that money to help people
at the ‘Talisman’ and then return
them to the centre of the drug traf-
SA JEWISH REPORT
ficking area? Although there are
individuals who are attempting to
be of help, we need a Jewish support group where parents can come
without fear of intimidation or
embarrassment.
“The Chev should get a property
and help rehabilitate these people
there with proper care. I know it
costs money but it is preferable to
having our children lying, stealing,
cheating and even ending up in jail.
“I don’t know if Miriam is dead
or alive. Al I know is that she has
elderly parents who have no idea
about their daughter’s situation.”
HERMANUS
From Rebecca Lerer, Highlands
House, Cape Town:
“I just want to say that my brother Harry and I Rebecca (nee
Falkoff) are also from the old shul
of
the
Hermanus
Hebrew
Congregation and our father, late
Rabbi Falkoff served the community there for 50 years.
“Also
Reba
Krawitz
(nee
Lipschitz) and Basil Allan, son of
late Simon and Becky Allan, are
here at Highlands House. Harry
and his wife, Rona, stay at
Sandringham Gardens. Harry is 88
years old, bless him, and I am 86.
“Basil Allan and his brother,
Clive who lives in Canada are in
their seventies.
“Reba Krawaitz and I were
together at school. She is also in her
eighties. Freda Averbach was an
Abel and her parents were the late
Jack and Sallie. They were in the
Hermanus Blazer business. There
is also Hilda Behr now in Sea Point
who was a Gavendo of Bot River.
They were also members of the
congregation.
“From the Melnick family there
is Reva Hoffman, now in her seventies and from the Segal family,
Judith and Adie Becker, also in
their eighties. I must mention from
the well-known Silke families,
there are fourth and fifth generation families.
“Congratulations and best wishes to the present community (at
Hermanus) and thank you to
Jonathon Lipman and Rabbi Moshe
Silberhaft and the committee for
the excellent work that they do.
“My best wishes to all and a
happy and healthy Pesach.”
KRUGERSDORP
“A walk down memory lane” from
Sonia (Philips) Myers:
“My late father, who passed away
in 1960, aged 79 was a pioneer of
Krugersdorp. He came from Russia
to join his father who came to
Krugersdorp when it was a dusty
village and mining camp. My father
started a jewellery shop in 1898,
before the Anglo-Boer War.
“From the end of the war until
the early 1900s a lot of water had
flown under the bridge. (This is all
in a book that I am writing). My
father was a great Zionist and his
name is written in the (JNF)
Golden Book in Jerusalem which I
am trying to trace, because the
certificate which my father had
was lost over the years.
Krugersdorp then started to
grow into a town and eventually
there was a large Jewish community. The shul was built and I
remember it as a small child. The
spiritual leader was Reverend
Matthews. I think he had two
daughters - one daughter was a
schoolteacher at the old ‘Town
School’. She taught me.
“My grandfather and also my
uncles were presidents of the shul
for many years. My grandfather
was one of the few people who
used to blow the shofar as if it was
a ‘singing instrument’.
“My father had a jewellery shop
in Krugersdorp and one of his
brothers had a jewellery shop in
Randfontein. Eventually this
uncle opened a shop in Rissik
Street,
Johannesburg
called
‘Phillips Brothers Jewellers’. The
Krugersdorp business was closed
in 1970.”
To be continued.
JOHANNESBURG
From Sylvia Shapshak:
“The
Ponevez
Shul
in
Doornfontein was started by a
group of immigrants. The members were all family or friends and
for many years it played a prominent part in the Jewish community of Doornfontein.
“One of the interesting things
was the giving of a pair of candlesticks to the daughters of the
members on the occasion of their
marriage.
“My grandfather, Victor Nohr,
was a founder member and each
of his five daughters received
their engraved candlesticks. My
mother. Yetty, was the oldest
daughter and her candlesticks
were given to me after she
received her mother’s candlesticks after her mother, Sheina,
died.
“When my mother died, I got
Granny’s and gave my pair to my
eldest daughter, Ilona. These candlesticks are now in use in
Florida, USA. The other candlesticks are now all over the world.
“Betty, the next daughter’s candlesticks are with her daughter in
Sydney, Australia. Next daughter,
Annie’s pair are with her daughter, Shoshana in San Francisco.
Claire’s are in Israel and we
believe that Ivy’s are in San Diego.
Probably there are Ponevez candlesticks everywhere.”
7
8
SA JEWISH REPORT
AROUND
THE
WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
IRAN SEEKS TO BLOCK
CANADIAN NGO
TEHRAN - Iran is seeking to
block
Canada's
leading
Jewish advocacy group from
a UN conference on racism.
On Monday, the United
Nation's "Durban II" conference on racism opened a twoweek preparatory session in
Geneva.
According to the Genevabased monitoring group UN
Watch, Iran opposes the
accreditation request by the
Canadian Council for Israel
and Jewish Advocacy.
Monday's opening sessions
included a 2 1/2-hour debate
on the council's application.
Egypt, Pakistan, Algeria and
the delegation from the
Palestinian Authority lined
up with Iran, while European
Union members, principally
Germany,
Belgium
and
Slovenia, supported the
accreditation request.
The request was submitted
last year, before the Canadian government announced
it would boycott Durban II.
Ottawa feared it would be a
replay of the 2001 Durban
parley, which it assailed as "a
circus of intolerance" directed mainly at Israel.
The UN Human Rights
Council has asked the
Canadian Council to respond
to Iran's position.
Another debate on the
organisation's accreditation
will take place in a week.
"We are now defending our
own name and our own
record,"
the
Canadian
Council's CEO, Hershell
Ezrin, told JTA. Ezrin said
Iran was objecting in part
because
the
Canadian
Council was not involved in
anti-racism or anti-discrimination work.
Iran's actions also may be
partly motivated by Canada's
lead role in a December UN
General Assembly resolution
that spoke out for victims of
Iranian human rights violations,
said
UN
Watch
Executive Director Hillel
Neuer. (JTA)
25 April - 02 May 2008
Scully Levin, a high-flyer of note
ALISON GOLDBERG
SCULLY LEVIN, South African
Airways’ (SAA) chief training
captain, when he’s not training
pilots or flying operationally, performs aerobatic displays and does
stunt work for the motion picture
industry.
Arguably South Africa’s bestknown Jewish pilot, Levin, who
has been with the SAA for 37
years, recently gave a packed
Second Innings audience an
overview of his exciting life. He
also treated them to a film, produced by his daughter, featuring
one of his most ambitious aerobatic stunts where he led a formation of four aircraft that waterskied across a lake - a feat unlikely to ever be performed again, he
commented.
He has done specialist stunt
pilot work in 56 films and rubbed
shoulders with such actors as
Richard Chamberlain, Sylvester
Stallone, Herbert Lom, Ernest
Borgnine and Sharon Stone.
Levin talked about his upbringing
in
Pietersburg
(now
Polokwane), which had a vibrant
Jewish community of 120 families, and what could be described
as a “non-observant Orthodox”
congregation with only three or
so families in the town who kept
kosher homes.
However, he proudly recalled
that every male member, from
even before they barmitzvahed,
was able to lead the congregation
through the entire Friday night
Shabbat service.
From an early age Levin
recalled his father’s wild streak.
As a pilot in the Royal Air Force,
he flew during the Second World
War in India and Burma and
dropped food supplies and ammunition to the famous Brigadier
Orde Wingate. He was then posted
to England and was involved in
the crossing of the Rhine and
invasion of Germany.
Levin as a small boy had no
play pen. Instead, a military surplus Second World War bomber
was bought and placed in his
grandfather’s garden for him to
play in.
He always knew that he wanted
to become a pilot. In 1964, at the
age of 18 he graduated from the
Thereafter, Levin progressed
onto the international services
and flew 747s to many destinations in Europe, as well as to the
US, Australia, South America and
the Far East. During his tenure
on this aircraft, SAA was banned
for a few years from flying into
both the US and Australia,
because of the then government’s
apartheid policies.
Next came the Boeing 747-400
which Levin flew, remarking that
it represented the ultimate in
terms of speed, comfort and reliability. This plane was equipped
with global navigational positioning systems which utilised signals
from 24 satellites in orbit above
the earth, to refine the aircraft’s
internal navigation systems.
With this enhancement, a sustainable navigational accuracy of
as little as 11 metres could be
achieved over the entire course of
any flight. With the advances in
technology that were incorporated into the 747-400, the flight engineer was also dispensed with.
Unfortunately,
commented
Levin, the 747 400 became too
costly to fly and had to be retired.
In its place came the Airbus
A-340, which resulted in a slight
sacrifice in comfort, but in considerable savings.
By this stage both his son and
daughter had become pilots with
SAA, his son flying Airbuses on
the international services and his
daughter flying Boeing 737s
domestically.
Levin then chose to fly the same
equipment as his daughter was
flying so that they could work
together from time to time. This
gave Levin great pleasure and,
also suited him as he needed to
stay close to base in order to carry
out his managerial duties.
Ann Nurock gets top Grey job in Canada
STAFF REPORTER
CABINET GOES FORMAL
JERUSALEM - A more formal dress code is being
adopted in the halls of
Israel's government.
Cabinet secretary Ovad
Yehezkel sent ministers and
other top Israeli officials an
advisory that following the
Passover vacation, they will
be expected to dress formally
at government-level meetings, Yediot Achronot reported on Tuesday.
This means suits with
ties for men, according to
the newspaper. For military
personnel, field fatigues will
be replaced by dress uniforms.
Under Prime Minister
Ehud Olmert, a career politician and former lawyer with
a taste for Western mores,
formal Israeli functions have
been coming more into line
with international standards
of protocol. (JTA)
Air Force’s flight school at the top
of his class and became the first
Jewish pilot in the Air Force in 18
years.
After an abortive attempt at
mechanical
engineering,
he
became a cruise co-pilot for SAA,
as was the order of the day for
inexperienced airline pilots.
Levin’s function was to provide
in-flight relief for the captain and
co-pilot when the aircraft was in
stable flight above 20 000 feet.
In this role he did duty on
Boeing 707s, which are today
obsolete. In order to guide these
planes over oceans, navigators
had to use sextants and plot their
positions by taking sun and star
readings. Only over land were
they able to make use of radio
beacons to navigate.
The 707s carried a pilot, a navigator and a flight engineer.
Shortly after he joined SAA, the
new and mighty Boeing 747 was
introduced into service. This aircraft’s fuel weight alone equalled
the weight of a fully laden 707.
Each Boeing 747 has 16 main
wheels, attached to which are 96
brake discs. Levin explained that
pilots always had to work on the
premise that one engine could fail
on take-off and that the aircraft
would need to be brought to a safe
stop within the remaining length
of runway.
The 747 also had the same navigation system as the spacecraft
that were sent to the moon. With
its arrival the navigator became
part of history. After about 33
years of service, the 747 also
became obsolete as its navigational and flight guidance systems
were not advanced enough to cope
with the restricted airspace in
Europe and the US.
Levin then became a co-pilot on
the 727s and 737s and flew both
domestically and regionally on
the sub-continent of Africa. Five
years later he was promoted to
the rank of captain and was in
command of the same types of
aircraft.
He went on to fly the Airbus
A-300 which boasted a tremendously advanced auto-pilot system. Using this sophisticated
equipment, SAA developed procedures that would enable them to
land in almost zero visibility.
Ann Nurock, president and CEO
Grey Canada operations.
ANN NUROCK, CEO of Grey
Africa since 2004 - the same year
she won the Absa/SA Jewish
Report’s Business Achiever of
the Year - has been appointed
president and CEO Grey Canada
operations.
Nurock’s career at Grey South
Africa spans 17 years. She was
appointed managing director in
2000 and made chief executive in
2004. She oversaw a dramatic
transformation, both in creative
rankings and business wins.
Among her many accolades,
besides being named Jewish
Business Achiever of the Year,
is that she was a finalist
for Businesswoman of the Year
and Boss of the Year in 2004, as
well as runner-up in Ad Person
of the Year in the same year. In
2005, Nurock became vice chairman of ACA. She stood down in
2007, but has remained a board
member.
Nurock was the driving force
behind a key agency initiative,
the Grey Action Programme
(GAP) that saw Grey bring on
previously disadvantaged individuals into internships and give
learners valuable hands-on experience in an agency environment.
In 2007, CEO magazine nominated Nurock as one of the three
most influential women in the
media and communications category of South Africa’s Most
Influential Women in Business
and Government awards.
Carolyn Carter, chief executive
and president of Grey Group
Europe, Africa and Middle East
said: “Nurock steered Grey
South Africa through a dynamic
resurgence, compiling a superlative record of growth and creative success.
“Together with her talented
management team, she has created a jewel in the Grey crown. Her
appointment (to the Canadian
operation) is well deserved and
she remains a tremendous asset
to our network.”
Dr Bongani Aug Khumalo,
chairman of Grey Group Africa
added: “This is a great acknowledgement of South African talent
and the excellent leadership that
Ann has displayed.”
During the past four years,
Grey South Africa has doubled in
size and is now ranked as the
most creatively awarded agency
in the Grey network. It is the
sixth most creative agency in
South Africa (Finweek) and is
consistently rated as a finalist
for Agency of the Year (Finweek
AdReview and Financial Mail
AdFocus).
The agency’s new business
performance has included such
high profile wins as Heineken
and Amstel, Emirates Africa,
Heineken Central Africa, Spitz,
Abalengani
Holdings
and
Khulisa (pro-bono).
Nurock said the foundation
was in place for Grey South
Africa to move to the next level of
its growth and development. “It
is an exciting time at Grey and
the right time for me to take on
new challenges,” she said.
Jim Heekin, chairman and
chief executive of Grey Group,
said: “Ann will bring the same
energy and innovation to her
new post at Grey. She is a champion of powerful ideas that accelerate brands and has forged
highly successful client partnerships. I know she, and her accomplished team, will deliver the
finest resources to our clients
across Canada.”
25 April - 02 May 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
9
Bet Menorah fundraising aids Mamelodi schools
STORY BY OLEN KLEIN
PHOTOGRAPH: HEIN LANGE
THE TZEDAKAH (charity) committee
of
the
Pretoria
Progressive
Jewish Congregation has for some
time been involved in outreach programmes.
In a media release the PPJC says it
Matzah Man
helps collect
Pesach food
THE CHEVRAH Kadisha’s highly successful annual Pesach Food Drive was
enhanced this year by Helping Hands’ new,
young volunteer division known as Step Up
- and Step Up did just that. They also
brought along their Matzah Man.
This loveable and iconic superhero
dropped in at Jewish day schools and spent
hours among the crowds at the Pick n Pay
Hypermarket in Norwood.
Everywhere he went, the Matzah Man
brought fun, laughter and joy to both
young and old. In fact, he elicited so much
goodwill that the collection bins were overflowing with matzah, wine and other
Pesach products.
Matzah Man’s simple message was that
“Your community needs you to help feed
over 800 families over Pesach”.
Once again, The Chevrah’s Pesach collection and distribution has highlighted
Johannesburg Jewry’s unique and
renowned generosity and sense of communal responsibility. It brought together in a
great, united effort, 330 volunteers from all
walks of life - from children, young adults,
entire families to the aged, as well as the
Jewish day schools and the Jewish youth
movements whose collective drive and
energies played a pivotal role in the overwhelming success of the project.
It is because of the selflessness of these
volunteers who gave of their time, and
because of the generosity of those who
gave materially, that once again, in
Johannesburg at Pesach time, there is sure
to be no-one without Kosher Le Pesach
food on their tables.
Matzah Man and the Chevrah Kadisha
are grateful to the community for their outstanding support.
AROUND THE
WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
ISRAEL FOILS HAMAS ATTACK ON
BORDER
JERUSALEM - Israeli forces last
Saturday foiled a massive Palestinian
assault on a key Gaza Strip border
crossing.
Using an armoured car and two
explosives-laden jeeps painted to
resemble Israeli military vehicles,
Hamas terrorists rammed into Kerem
Shalom border terminal before dawn.
Israeli soldiers at first responded
with small-arms fire, but took cover as
the jeeps were blown up by their drivers.
In
parallel,
another
Hamas
armoured car tried to smash through
the Gaza-Israel border fence north of
Kerem Shalom but was destroyed by
tank fire. Thirteen soldiers were
wounded in the Kerem Shalom incident, and four Hamas gunmen were
killed.
Israel's top brass said Hamas had
been denied its objective of killing a
large number of troops and abducting
others in a blow to the Jewish state's
morale on Passover eve.
Six Hamas gunmen and another
Palestinian were killed in later Israeli
airstrikes in Gaza. (JTA)
has concentrated on assisting a
few selected pre-primary schools in
the Mamelodi informal settlement
area as and when sufficient funds
become available from fundraising
programmes conducted at Bet
Menorah.
“We recently selected a classroom at
Meetse A Bophelo Pre-Primary School
in Extension 8 at Mamelodi East, which
is under the tutelage of the headmaster, Patrick Sikhumbana.
“The classroom has been repainted
by us and suitable large size educational posters have been appended to the
walls of the classroom.”
The PPJC has also officially handed
over desks seating 50 pupils.
10
SA JEWISH REPORT
25 April - 02 May 2008
OPINION AND ANALYSIS
FORUM FOR DIVERSE VIEWS
On trade unions
and politics
THIS PAPER was recently sent a copy of a fax that
a large and important South African trade union
had reportedly sent - on its official letterhead - to
Nobel Laureate in Literature Nadine Gordimer.
In it, the South African Municipal Workers’
Union’s (SAMWU’s) first deputy president, Xolile
Nxu, says that it has heard that Gordimer “intends
travelling to Israel to participate in that country’s
60th birthday celebrations” and expresses its concern that this would be “tantamount to promoting
the apartheid regime of Israel”.
The fax says that Gordimer’s “contribution
against apartheid in South Africa has been of paramount importance”, and urges her - in polite language - not to get involved with “or promote anything that supports the apartheid regime of Israel”.
Whether Gordimer really intends going to Israel
or not is only one aspect of the issue - it is known
that she has connections with eminent Israeli
authors who have been in the leadership of the
peace movement for decades. But the choice to go is
obviously hers to make freely according to her own
calculations, without being judged for it.
What is most disturbing about the wording of the
fax, however, is that it illustrates just how successfully the anti-Israel lobby has been in attaching the
label “apartheid” to Israel, to the extent that a local
trade union located some 8 000 kilometres away, is
prepared to lecture to an icon of the anti-apartheid
struggle that Israel eptomises the very thing that
she courageously fought against.
The certainty with which the trade union holds
to its view of Israel, stands out clearly - there is no
room left for doubt.
The institution of trade unions is intrinsically
important in the political and economic life of a
democratic society. And there is nothing wrong
with them taking political stands on issues with
which they identify.
During apartheid, it was the trade unions that led
some of the most effective protests against the
regime. And just this week, workers in South
African trade unions called on their counterparts
at the port of Maputo to refuse to offload the cargo
of military hardware that a Chinese ship was bringing for Robert Mugabe’s regime in Zimbabwe, a call
which most South Africans would applaud.
The matter of arms for Mugabe is something that
is right on our doorstep. The issues are well known
and understood here and South African workers
have close personal connections to Zimbabweans
who are suffering under Mugabe.
One wonders why SAMWU is not also sending
similarly worded letters to South Africans wanting
to visit that country.
Israel is different, however. There is no doubt
that the enormous complexity of the IsraeliPalestinian conflict is little understood by the vast
majority of the members of SAMWU - or, indeed,
other South African trade unions - and that they
would have no ability to judge whether the simplistic label of “apartheid Israel” has any merit whatsoever.
Surely the respect for Gordimer, which is so obvious in the wording of the SAMWU fax, should lead
to the opposite conclusion - that it is precisely people like her, who know intimately what apartheid
was really like, who should go to Israel and see for
themselves.
This is not to say that people who fought
apartheid will necessarily come back from Israel
with glowing reports of the situation there. There
are many things that will disturb them about the
practical circumstances in the West Bank, for
example, in which Palestinians are living, with the
numerous checkpoints and other restrictions on
their movements, etc.
But one can assume that people like Gordimer
would honestly make the effort to interact with people across the political and social spectrums of
Israeli and Palestinian society, including those who
hold a similar set of moral values, yet reject the
“apartheid” label.
When contacted by the Jewish Report Gordimer
indicated that she did not want to get involved with
the press on this issue.
Rather than tell people like Gordimer in this
patronising way that she should not go, SAMWU
should consider encouraging her to go, and to come
back and talk to them about what she has seen and
understood.
Who knows, they might also attain some respect
for the powerful Israeli trade unions which have
played such a central role in Israel’s development?
New Jersey man accused
of spying for Israel
THE ARREST this week of a retired Jewish man in New Jersey on
charges of transmitting classified information to Israel two decades ago,
shows how the Jonathan Pollard spy case continues to haunt the
US-Israel relationship.
RON KAMPEAS AND BEN HARRIS
NEW YORK
BEN-AMI KADISH, a former US Army
engineer, posted $300 000 bond in federal
court on Tuesday in Manhattan before
being whisked away from a mob of
reporters without answering questions.
Kadish is facing four charges of conspiracy to share classified information with
Israel.
From 1979 to 1985, Kadish allegedly
“borrowed” documents from the library
of the Army facility in Dover, New Jersey,
where he was employed and shared them
with the science affairs consul at the
Israeli consulate in New York.
The Justice Department says the documents included information on nuclear
weaponry and plans for upgrading the
F-15 combat aircraft. Kadish allegedly
told FBI agents he shared the documents
to help Israel; he was not paid by Israel for
his services.
The science affairs consul is not named
in the Justice Department’s complaint
sheet, but an archival search reveals him
to be Yosef Yagur. The complaint sheet
notes that “co-conspirator-1” — Yagur,
who is not charged — also received information from Pollard.
Israel
recalled
Yagur
and
his
Washington counterpart, Ilan Ravid, in
November 1985 to avoid their involvement
in the Pollard investigation.
The Pollard case for a short time devastated US-Israel relations. In its aftermath,
Israel swore never to run a spy again, and
Americans broadened their information
sharing with Israel to keep the Israelis
from temptation.
This week’s arrest of Kadish - who lives
in a retirement community in Monroe,
New Jersey, and is active in his local
Jewish community - begs the question of
why US federal authorities are still pursuing Pollard-related leads more than 20
years after the fact.
Pollard, a civilian US Navy analyst, was
sentenced to life in prison in 1987 after
pleading guilty to the spy charges.
Yagur on Tuesday would not answer
reporters’ questions. Israeli officials said
they knew nothing of the case. Officials at
Israel’s consulate in New York declined to
comment to JTA.
Kadish, wearing black sweatpants and a
long-sleeved blue shirt, stood during the
court proceedings as Judge Douglas Eaton
read the four counts of conspiracy against
him.
Kadish was released shortly afterward
on a $300 000 bond, an amount tied to the
approximate value of his New Jersey
home.
He was accompanied to his court
appearance by his attorney, Paula Tuffin.
Aside from having to post bond, Kadish’s
travel was restricted to his home state and
to the court district of Southern New
York. He already had surrendered his US
passport to the FBI.
Upon leaving the court, Kadish held up
a plastic bag to shield his face from the
cameras.
It is not clear from the complaint sheet
filed on Monday that Kadish was the original target of the investigation. The sheet
notes that a grand jury subpoena was
Ben-Ami Kadish, who allegedly spied for Israel, leaves the federal courthouse
in Manhattan on April 22, after being freed on $300 000 bond.
issued on March 21, a day after
Kadish’s first interview with agents,
but does not say whether the subpoena sought his testimony as a witness
or as a target. In any case, detectives
did not immediately serve the subpoena.
Instead, the complaint sheet says
that at the March 20 interview, federal agents presented Kadish with evidence that he shared 30 to 100 documents with Yagur between 1979 and
1985.
Kadish allegedly first met Yagur in
the 1970s when Yagur was employed
by Israel Aircraft Industries. They
were introduced by Kadish’s brother,
also employed by IAI, the complaint
sheet says.
At that meeting, Kadish acknowledged sharing some of the documents
with Yagur, the complaint sheet says,
and acknowledged that he did not
have the authority to share such documents.
That evening, Yagur allegedly
phoned Kadish and implored him not
to co-operate. The complaint sheet
says that in a conversation in
Hebrew, Yagur said: “Don’t say anything. Let them say whatever they
want.” He also said: “What happened
25 years ago? You didn’t remember
anything.”
The next day, Kadish allegedly
downplayed his ties to Yagur in a second interview with FBI agents. He
said that over the years the two had
maintained nothing more than a
social relationship, with phone calls,
e-mails and occasional visits. Kadish
and Yagur had met in Israel in 2004.
More crucial, Kadish allegedly
denied having been in touch with
Yagur the previous evening.
That alleged lie could prove critical
to Kadish’s prosecution: It allows
prosecutors to expand the conspiracy
from 1985 to March 20 of this year,
when Yagur allegedly urged Kadish to
lie.
There is a 10-year statute of limitations on the crimes outlined in the
complaint sheet. Without the alleged
lie, the government’s case would be
flimsy.
Kadish, a Connecticut native who
grew up in pre-state Palestine, served
in the Haganah, Israel’s pre-state
defence force and the precursor to the
Israel Defence Forces. He also served
in the US military during the Second
World War. According to the New
Jersey Jewish News, he has remained
active in the Jewish community since
his retirement, particularly at the
Jewish
Federation
of
Greater
Middlesex County.
Gerrie Bamira, the executive director of the federation, told JTA that
“Ben-Ami Kadish, his wife and neighbours have in recent years been supportive of the Jewish Federation of
Greater Middlesex County and our
work in the community.
“We maintain our belief that individuals are innocent until proven
guilty,” Bamira added.
Kadish is also a former commander
of the Jewish War Veterans Post 609
in Monroe. Moe Eillish, the quartermaster of that post, said of Kadish:
“He was a good man.”
Kadish and his wife, Doris, raise
money for charitable causes through
annual gatherings in their succah,
according to a 2006 story in the New
Jersey Jewish News. (JTA)
25 April - 02 May 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
11
OPINION AND ANALYSIS
FORUM FOR DIVERSE VIEWS
‘Collective Jew’ has to Carter visit: Are
there any results?
bear the brunt
MUCH AS we Jews in South
Africa bemoan the venomous
barbs we have to endure in our
local media at the hands of
Jonathan “Zapiro” Shapiro, spare
a thought for our French
brethren, who have to live with
the likes of Charles Enderlin.
It was this particular France 2
television employee - like Shapiro,
Jewish by birth - who was a key
man in the propagation of that
modern-day blood libel against
the Jewish people, the Mohammed al-Dura atrocity hoax.
As the saga of the al-Dura scandal continues to unfold in the
French courts, one inevitably
thinks of how another antiJewish frame-up was likewise
conceived and - eventually exposed in all its repellent detail
in
supposedly
enlightened
France.
That was “L’Affaire Dreyfuss”,
of course, when an innocent
Jewish army captain was sentenced to life imprisonment on
trumped-up charges of treason.
Today, it is the collective Jew, as
represented by the State of Israel,
that is being falsely accused, in
this instance of wantonly murdering a helpless Arab child at the
start of the so-called “Second
Intifada”.
Incredibly, Enderlin has had
the brazen effrontery to allude to
himself
as
a
modern-day
Dreyfuss, as a victim of a smear
campaign falsely accusing him of
colluding in the concoction of a
damning anti-Israel atrocity
story.
The Israel-haters are good at
that sort of thing. They routinely
appropriate for themselves the
kind of imagery and terminology
that should logically be used by
the objects of their propaganda,
such as that it is the Israelis who
are the Nazis while the gentle,
innocent peace-loving followers
of Hamas are the new Jews.
Is there something about
France that gives rise to antiJewish conspiracy theories? One
could mention here that the infamous Protocols of the Elders of
Zion, while concocted by the
Russian Secret Police, was in fact
based on a previous French satire
on the Emperor Louis Napoleon.
But I suppose we can’t really
BARBARIC
YAWP
David Saks
blame the French for that one. It
is also true that Nicholas Sarkozy
is shaping up to being the most
pro-Jewish French president in
decades, so let’s give the frog
eaters a break.
In the end, the current threat
to world Jewry does not emanate
from any particular nation, but
rather from a global culture
employing a virulent distortion
of the values of human rights
and justice for purposes of
demonising and delegitimising
the Jewish State.
The Dreyfuss affair ended up
splitting France into warring factions, mirroring the ideological
divisions within that society. The
prevailing climate was all very
different from what it is today.
Then, those insisting, against the
evidence, on Jewish guilt were
almost all on the right of the
spectrum, including the army
and establishment church.
It was the left that stood up
against the waves of bigotry convulsing the country and insisted
that justice be done, successfully
in the end, although the scars lingered.
Similarly, the rabid antiSemitism prevalent throughout
Europe at the time - the tottering
Russian and Hapsburg empires
were a case in point - was essentially a right-wing phenomenon.
Small wonder, then, that Jews
overwhelmingly supported leftwing causes, and indeed (like
Leon Trotsky, Rosa Luxemburg
and Emma Goldman) became
leading exponents of those burgeoning ideologies.
It has taken an inordinately
long time for Jews to begin realising that the liberal-left culture in
which they have traditionally
placed their hopes of fair play
and security can no longer be
relied upon to safeguard their
rights and has, in fact, come to
pose an increasingly menacing
threat to their well-being.
Among the first to confront this
disturbing new reality were the
founders of what is generally
referred to as Neo-Conservatism,
Jewish intellectuals like Norman
Podhoretz and Irving Kristol,
who started out, like virtually all
Jewish intellectuals, on the left of
the spectrum but swung rightwards on realising how the liberal-left was inexorably selling out
its own principles.
Even more than its mounting
anti-Israelism, it was the latter’s
increasingly
fanatical
antiAmericanism that goaded the
Neocons into confronting the
multiplying hypocrisies, moral
relativism, inconsistencies and
obsessive prejudices that were
becoming so apparent in the leftdominated media, academia and
popular culture.
Ironically, just as the right once
routinely depicted Jews and
Communist agitators as being
synonymous by the right in years
gone by (remember the bad old
days of apartheid?), today the
word “Neocon” has become a
veiled reference to Jews in leftwing circles.
Conspiracy theories like the
Protocols of the Elders of Zion
originating on the right, has as
one of their most common
themes the theory that Jews were
at the bottom of all the world’s
ills, in particular all the major
wars that had taken place
throughout history.
Now it is the left - more subtly,
of course - who are blaming the
Jews (ie, Neocons/Zionists/
Mossad agents) for fomenting
conflicts around the globe, most
obviously the dubious Iraq
adventure. There is one particular nutball on our local Channel
Islam International who continually bangs on about Mossad and
Zionist diamond merchants being
responsible for the conflicts currently tearing Africa apart.
But that is evidence of yet
another bizarre development,
namely the unlikely alliance now
existing between the hard left and
the Islamist right.
Most perplexing of all, perhaps, is how individuals like
Charles Enderlin should be
emerging from the ranks of the
Jewish people in the first place.
ROY EITAN
JERUSALEM
FORMER US President Jimmy
Carter is sounding a positive note
about his meetings with Israel’s
enemies, but few of the major
players in the region seem to
share the view that he achieved
any significant progress.
Though boycotted by both the
Israeli and US governments,
Carter was upbeat on Monday
when addressing a packed
Jerusalem audience about the
results of his private shuttle talks
with Hamas and Syrian leaders.
“There’s no question that both
the Arab world and Hamas would
accept Israel’s right to live in
peace within the 1967 borders,”
Carter said.
“We believe that the problem is
not that I met with Hamas in
Syria. The problem is that Israel
and the United States refuse to
meet with these people who must
be involved.”
According to Carter, Hamas’
supreme leader, Khaled Meshaal,
said his group would accept a
peace deal signed between
Palestinian Authority President
Mahmoud Abbas and Israel as
long as it were put to a referendum. But such a plebiscite would
require participation by millions
of Palestinians abroad, including
radicalised refugees who long
have refused to give up their
“right of return” to land now in
Israel - a non-starter for the
Jewish State.
Meshaal, moreover, made clear
in a news conference after
Carter’s address that Hamas
would not recognise Israel even if
a Palestinian state were founded
in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
A spokesman for Israeli Prime
Minister Ehud Olmert, who had
declined to meet Carter for fear of
being seen as negotiating with
Hamas, said that Jerusalem “sees
no change in Hamas’ extremist
positions”.
Even Abbas, despite the nod to
his authority from the same
Hamas Islamists who wrested
control of Gaza from his Fatah
movement last June, dismissed
the idea that Carter’s trip had
been effective.
“Carter gave them the right
advice,” Abbas told reporters en
route to the United States, to meet
President George W Bush.
“He urged Hamas to accept a
two-state solution and accept past
Palestinian agreements with
Israel, but unfortunately he failed
to convince them and his visit did
not end up with positive results.”
Carter likely would disagree - if
only because his mission got a rise
out of a Bush administration
whose Middle East policies he has
regularly lambasted.
“The United States is not going
to deal with Hamas, and we certainly told President Carter that
we did not think that meeting
with Hamas was going to help the
Palestinians,” Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice said on
Tuesday.
“We wanted to make sure there
would be no confusion and there
would be no sense that Hamas
was somehow a party to peace
negotiations which Abu Mazen
has undertaken with the Israeli
prime minister.”
Abu Mazen is Abbas’ nom de
guerre.
Carter may be able to claim
some successes, however. While
Hamas refused to budge on its
demand for hundreds of jailed
Palestinian terrorists to be freed
in exchange for Gilad Shalit, an
Israeli soldier being held hostage
in Gaza, Meshaal did agree to pass
on a letter from the captive Israeli.
On the issue of a ceasefire,
Carter proposed to Hamas that as
a sign of goodwill, it unilaterally
stop rocket launches from Gaza
into Israel for a trial period.
“I told them, ‘Don’t wait for
reciprocation; just do it unilaterally. This will bring a lot of credit to
you around the world, doing a
humane thing.’ They turned me
down. I think they’re wrong,” he
said.
But Hamas signalled on
Tuesday that contrary to its previous insistence on any ceasefire
being applied reciprocally and
comprehensively in both the West
Bank and Gaza, it could settle for
a Gaza truce at first.
That might suit Israel, which
wants to deal with Hamas separately from Abbas, whose
Palestinian Authority controls
only the West Bank. (JTA)
12
SA JEWISH REPORT
25 April - 02 May 2008
TAPESTRY
ART, BOOKS, DANCE, FILM, THEATRE
ARTS MATTERS
COMPILED BY
ROBYN SASSEN
Call 084-319-7844 or
[email protected] at
least one week prior to
publication
Civic Theatre, Braamfontein:
In the Nelson Mandela, Andrew
Botha’s “OperaMania”, until
May 4. In the Tesson, “Chilli
Boy”, until April 26, and “Hoot”,
April 29-May 18.
Foxwood Theatre, Houghton:
Elize Cawood and Wilson
Dunster in “Dinner for One”,
April 27, May 4, 11. (011) 486-0935.
Iziko, SA National Gallery,
Cape Town: Lloyd Pollak lectures on 20th century art. On
May 13, he focuses on German
Expressionism, which achieved
a blend of tortured, tribal and
Gothic art, influenced by Van
Gogh. In the Liberman Room,
“DungaManzi/Stirring Waters”
until June 8. (021) 467-4662.
Goodman Gallery, Rosebank:
Work by David Goldblatt, April
26 - May 17.
Johannesburg Art Gallery,
Joubert Park: Spier Contemporary, until May 31. (011) 7253130.
Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef City,
Ormonde: “Saturday Night
Fever” directed by Arlene
Phillips, until June 1. (011) 2485168.
Market, Newtown: In the Barney Simon, Lara Foot-Newton’s
“Karoo Moose”, until May 18. In
the Main Theatre, Philip Miller’s
“Rewind: A Cantata for Voice
Tape and Testimony”, April 26 30 (011) 832-1641.
Disillusioned Schönberg’s
farewell to BTA
cream of the world, as a principal, from day
one.
“THERE IS life after Ballet Theatre Afrikan”,
“I am a quick study and learnt the Vaganova
Martin Schönberg said, adding cream to his
training in seven months.” It takes the average
cappuccino, last week. In a shock statement,
dancer four years.
founder and artistic director of this groundHe was compelled to look for a job. There
breaking dance company for
were only vacancies for corps du
18 years, announced his resballet at the time, but within weeks,
ignation.
he’d bagged soloist contracts for
“My love for dance began
three European companies, had
at the age of
four,”
travelled to Beijing and tripled his
Schönberg said. “My trainsalary.
ing began when I was nine.”
“My professional debut was in
In his matric year at the
the first European cultural trip to
Johannesburg School of Art,
Red China, with the Royal Ballet of
Ballet and Music, he won
Belgium.
Virtually
without
the Oppenheim Foundation
rehearsals I danced to an audience
Grant for Excellence, which
of 5 000.”
facilitated his training in the
He retired from the stage in 1990,
Princess Grace Academy in
and began BTA. “I felt I could make
Montecarlo under Marika
a difference in this country. With
Bessabrasova; the rest is
hard work and commitment I
European dance history.
believed that the government
Ballet companies are
would recognise what we were
strictly hierarchical; Schön- Martin Schönberg.
doing and step in and somehow,
berg sidestepped pecking (PHOTOGRAPHS: BRIDGET UYS help. This was naïve. Our governorder and danced with the LEROUX)
ment is oblivious of anything.
ROBYN SASSEN
The magic has gone
Show: Saturday Night Fever
Cast: Ferdinand Gernandt, Cherise Roberts,
Helen de Jongh, Terence Bridgett, Matt
Counihan, Cobus Cooper Gomes, Byron Olivato,
Shaun Brian Murphy and Jonathan Taylor
Stage Adaptation: Nan Knighton
Set and Costumes: David Shields
Directed and Choreographed by: Arlene
Phillips
Resident Director: Philip Godawa
Venue: Lyric Theatre, Gold Reef City Casino
Until: End of May
REVIEWED BY PETER FELDMAN
“SATURDAY NIGHT Fever” was the definitive
film about the disco era and now three decades
later the show, based on the film, has made its
appearance to enthral a new generation.
The film about Tony Manero and his obsession with dancing, a role that shot a new actor
named John Travolta into the big league,
caught on like wild fire. And the infectious
music of The Bee Gees, with their high falsetto
vocals, captured this disco vibe in all its glory.
I remember the period well - today I still have
in my possession a pair of silver and black platform shoes - and can recall the fever that
gripped the multitude of discos that mushroomed in and around Johannesburg.
“Saturday Night Fever” as a stage presentation, unfortunately, does not work as well as one
(PHOTOGRAPH: JOHN HOGG)
Montecasino, Fourways: In
the Studio, “Defending the
Caveman” with Alan Committie,
from April 26. In the Pieter
Toerien, “Chess”, until May 25.
“Chicago” at Teatro, until May
11. (011) 511-1988.
National Children’s Theatre,
Parktown: “Beatrix Potter’s
Peter Rabbit and Friends”,
directed by Joyce Levinsohn,
until April 26 (011) 484-1584.
Old Mutual Theatre on the
Square, Sandton: New Yorker
Christine Pedi’s “Great Dames”,
until May 10. (011) 883-8606.
RCHCC, Oaklands: Paintings
by Michael Schur, extended by
popular demand. (011) 728-8088.
SA Jewish Museum, Cape
Town: “When Cape Art was
Coffee with Joe”, an exhibition
about Joe Wolpe. Until July 31.
(021) 465-1546.
Standard Bank Gallery, Johannesburg: “Skin-to-Skin”, an exhibition curated for the Kaunas
Textile Biennial, until May 10.
(011) 631-1889.
State Theatre, Pretoria: In the
Opera, SA Ballet Theatre and
Black Tie Ensemble perform
“Autumn Enchantment”, until
April 27. (011) 877-6898.
Victory Theatre, Houghton:
“Rocky Horror”, until April 30.
(011) 728-9603.
human nature are similar.
The murders are all grizzly affairs and graphically depicted.
As films go, “Untraceable” is compelling viewing
up to a point, and then director Gregory Hoblit
Peter Feldman
allows it to degenerate into stupidity and clichés
once the twisted mastermind is revealed and his
Untraceable
motives surface.
It’s tense at times as Diane Lane, playing FBI
Cast: Diane Lane, Billy Burke, Colin Hanks
agent Jennifer Marsh, and Colin Hanks, as her partDirector: Gregory Hoblit
ner, try to track the killer and close down his website. Billy Burke plays the local cop, Eric Box, who
“Untraceable” reminded me a lot of “Saw” in gets involved in the case and also serves as Marsh’s
which a sadistic madman plays a game with potential love interest.
the police by inventing new ways of killing
“Untraceable” does succeed in shaking one up people.
but for all the wrong reasons.
This one, however, involves murdering animals and individuals and showing it on an
Run, Fat Boy, Run
Internet site. The more hits the website
receives the quicker the victim dies. It’s a very With: Simon Pegg, Thandie Newton, Hank Azaria
sick film and may well provide ideas to unstaDirector: David Schwimmer
ble individuals looking for cheap thrills.
Death is viewed here as part of a game, sim- An average cast, burdened with a poor script, are
ilar to “Saw,” where the killer baits the police unable to wring laughs from this tepid romantic
to catch him if they can. Both films make a comedy.
moral statement and their conclusions about
Simon Pegg, who showed an extremely funny
FELDMAN ON
FILM
“After the debacle with the National Lottery,
twice-promised funding was never granted - I
believe that no good can or will come from the
Department of Arts and Culture, National Arts
Council, National Lottery, because there are no
leaders with vision of any kind. I cannot any
longer be at the mercy of people I have lost all
respect for.
“I have resigned from BTA because I have
decided that I alone do not have the fortitude to
continue.”
BTA is a Section 21 Not-for-Profit company
governed by a board of directors. “I will
hand the reigns to whoever they elect in my
place.”
Schönberg seems dispassionate in articulating this decision, yet the violent folds he makes
in the sugar packs on the table, says otherwise.
“I have returned to my passion: teaching full
time. There has been a huge influx of students
who wish to enter the profession. I am seeing
the best talent in the country.”
And BTA’s dancers? “They are freelancing,
with my blessing. No decision has as yet been
taken regarding BTA’s identity. Thoriso
Magongwa is on the board; if they appoint him
as artistic director, good; the reality is that BTA
doesn’t exist any longer.”
Schönberg’s “Pye in the Sky” at this year’s
Dance Umbrella was his unstated “swan song”;
Magongwa danced Schönberg’s autobiography.
Blending the voice of Jennifer Ferguson, the
dancing skills of his BTA stalwarts and photographic images from his life, Schönberg bids
farewell to the fraternity.
would have expected because music and dancing
alone cannot carry a production.
It needs more oomph, a hefty shot of electricity, perhaps, to truly ignite this one. Hearing various versions of the famous Bee Gees soundtrack, performed by the cast, and watching choreographer Arlene Phillips introducing different
styles to the disco format, really doesn’t do it for
me.
My interest quickly waned because there is no
story line to speak of, no genuine characterisations and certainly no dramatic impact. It’s a
series of quick-look episodes in the life of the
key character, played without much magnetism
by Ferdinand Gernandt, and his relationships
with his friends, two girls, Stephanie (Helen de
Jongh) and Annette (Cherise Roberts), his boss
(Jonathan Taylor) and the disco floor.
The dancing, the music and, of course, the costumes are the big things here. Gernandt certainly knows his way around the dance floor and the
ensemble is energetic in pulling off some exacting moves. The explosive professionalism of
Cheslyn and Hayley Henry, who are champion
professional dancers in their own right, were
superb and one of the show’s highlights.
Another shining light was Terence Bridgett as
Monty the steamy DJ. He lifted the show. Clad in
obscenely colourful threads, and spouting the
right buzzy lingo, Bridgett owned the character
and each time he stepped into the spotlight with
those awesome platform shoes he set the scene
alight.
Those who remember the era, and have a
yearning for nostalgia, may take something
away from the production. For people like me,
with age on my side, it’s the music of the Bee
Gees and their disco anthems rather than this
stage interpretation that ring with a kind of
magic.
side to his make-up in “Sean of the Dead” and
“Hot Fuzz”, plays a loser named Dennis. The
character tries to rekindle his relationship
with a former fiancée Libby (Thandie
Newton), whom he had left earlier at the altar
- and to make matters worse she was pregnant.
The immature Dennis cannot commit and
his only link now to Libby is through their
young son, Jake.
Hank Azaria plays Libby’s sophisticated
American boyfriend, Whit. He is a charming
professional and runs rings around the hapless Dennis, who works as an inept security
guard.
To prove to Libby that he can change,
Dennis decides to run against Whit in the
London Marathon. A best friend, who is a
gambler and womaniser, and his Indian landlord train him.
The characters are not fully developed and
Pegg’s is a constant irritation with his infantile approach to life.
Set in the British capital, the film runs out
of steam long before the end with the laughs
scattered and the plot devices tepid.
25 April - 02 May 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
13
TAPESTRY
ART, BOOKS, DANCE, FILM, THEATRE
The mystery of those songs in the heart
Musicophilia: Tales of Music
and the Brain by Oliver Sacks
(Pan Macmillan, R159)
REVIEWED BY GWEN PODBREY
ALTHOUGH THIS book is, at
face value, the enquiry of a scientist, Oliver Sacks’ writing is
warm, accessible, engaging and
anything but clinical.
He seeks to understand what
it is about music - the most
abstract of the arts - that can
not only touch human beings
further and deeper than literature or images, but actually
effect a dramatic change within
the functioning of their brains,
manifested in lasting behaviours and competencies.
While great writing and painting move one profoundly, few
things can permeate one’s central core more ineradicably, or
transport one more rapidly,
than a piece of music.
What is more, there are people
(like French composer Pierre
Boulez) who can pick up a score
of music and, without having it
performed, actually “hear” it as
they read it - far more satisfactorily than they would in a concert hall or through a sound system.
Such individuals do not even
own a CD-player because, for
them, recorded works detract
from the perfection of a composition.
We need look no further than
Beethoven for proof that the
impetus to create music - the
greatest the world has ever
known - is linked to an inner
“hearing” which defies even
deafness.
Yet, if extraterrestrials were
to arrive tomorrow and listen to
any piece of music, they would
probably be bewildered. Why
should a sequence of sounds
and rhythms - “meaningless”
tonal patterns - ignite the soul?
Schopenhauer offered one
explanation: “The inexpressible
depth of music... is due to the
fact that it reproduces all the
emotions of our innermost
being, but entirely without reality and remote from its pain...
Music expresses only the quintessence of life and of its events,
never these themselves.”
Sacks - a professor of neurology with years of research in this
field - relates astonishing case
studies in which individuals
who never before responded or
related to music, found themselves obsessed by it after suffering traumatic events such as
car accidents, heart attacks or
strokes.
One patient had been struck
by lightning and, after recovering, was inspired to change his
career and become a pianist, at
the age of 42. In other instances,
individuals who suffered from
afflictions such as brain cancer
or severe epilepsy, found their
seizures were triggered by hearing singing or instrumental
works.
Sacks provides further evidence of the strong relationship
between music and memory/
amnesia, sight/blindness, senility, frontotemporal dementia,
speech/aphasia and many other
areas of physiological functioning. In all of them, aspects of
music - particularly melody and
rhythm - have properties that
can heal, and occasionally harm,
depending on circumstances.
Undeniably, music has a
unique effect on sensory and cognitive experience.
Then there are conditions such
as Williams Syndrome, in which
children are born with (frequent)
heart defects and low IQs, as well
as a cognitive inability to draw
shapes, understand numbers or
patterns, or fulfil tasks such as
arranging objects.
However, they also show a
strong affinity for language,
resulting in a propensity towards
loquaciousness, certain distinguishing facial features (wide
mouths, upturned noses, small
chins and round eyes) and above all - overwhelming
(indeed, precocious) musical
responsiveness from a very
young age.
Their unusual sensitivity to
sound enables them to create
melodic lines from even the
most
commonplace
noises
around them. Sacks cites cases
of 12-month-old children being
able to match the pitch of their
parents, and of two-year-olds
sitting down at keyboards and
playing back, note-perfectly,
their older siblings’ piano lessons.
Research has shown that the
brains of those born with
Williams Syndrome are almost
20 per cent smaller than normal-sized ones, with oddly
shaped occipital and parietal
lobes, unusually big and rich
neuronal networks, a big primary auditory cortex and other
abnormalities. They also have
genetic (chromosomal) differences.
While the syndrome is
extremely rare (affecting perhaps one child in 10 000) and is
regarded as a retardation,
Sacks points out that the
extraordinary musicality of
those born with it indicates
something very far removed
from a handicap.
Indeed, none of these neurological and other physical differences adequately explain the
striking musical ability of
Williams Syndrome children. It
is an intriguing idea: are these
youngsters actually being compensated by nature (or a divine
‘Mature’ Chicago as fresh as ever
Show: Chicago - The Musical
Cast: Samantha Peo, Amra-Faye
Wright, Craig Urbani, Ilse Klink,
Pierre van Heerden, KJ Haupt,
plus 15 dancers.
Lyrics: Fred Ebb
Music: John Kander
Book: Fred Ebb and Bob Fosse
Choreographer: Gary Chryst
Musical Director: Bryan
Schimmel
Director: Scott Faris
Resident Director: Anton
Luitingh
Venue: Teatro, Montecasino
Until: May 18 2008
REVIEWED BY PETER FELDMAN
IT’S BEEN three years since
this highly-charged version of
“Chicago - The Musical” was
staged
at
the
Civic
in
Johannesburg. It danced away
with several Naledi awards at
the time.
Producer Hazel Feldman said
in a recent interview that she
felt this production had, what
she termed, “legs” and decided
to re-stage it on condition that
the two superb leads, Samantha
Peo and Amra-Faye Wright,
would be available for this short
season.
She also wanted the same
three key performers, Ilse
Klink, Pierre van Heerden and
KJ Haupt, to be in the show.
Drummond Marais, who has
since retired, and who played
the corrupt lawyer Billy Flynn
in 2005, has been replaced by the
urbane Craig Urbani. Urbani’s
presence is dynamic to say the
least and he helps lift the production considerably.
When he performs “All I Care
About”, surrounded by a bevy of
Trial by media: Chicago’s ensemble cast, with Samantha Peo as Roxie Hart and Craig Urbani as Billy Flynn
in the centre. (PHOTOGRAPH: RUPHIN COUDYZER)
beautiful dancers with their
expressive white feather fans,
one realises the quality and
style of this performer.
He cuts a suave and sophisticated Billy Flynn, adept at
working the odds in the cell
block. He demonstrates quite a
few slick moves in the dance
department and his interpretation of the celebrated “Razzle
Dazzle” is one of the many production highlights.
“Chicago - The Musical”, this
time around, is far punchier and
slicker than the 2005 version
and it seems the main players
have now truly grown into their
respective roles.
The lithe Amra-Faye Wright,
who remains the longest serving Velma Kelly in showbiz,
delights again and the synergy
between her and the explosive
Samantha Peo is seductively
strong.
This version snaps, crackles
and pops and audiences who
missed the previous production
should now see it in its new
home, where Ken Billington’s
lighting is spot-on and the
acoustics are superb.
It’s proudly South African
cast has once again risen majestically to the occasion and there
is not a weak link.
The exacting dance sequences, an integral facet of the production, were originally choreographed by Anne Reinking in
the style of Bob Fosse and recreated by Gary Chryst. It
sizzles throughout with some
dazzling and imaginative sequences.
force) for their physiological
shortcomings?
Referring intermittently to his
own passionate relationship
with music, Sacks ponders these
questions. He also explores conditions such as “brainworms”, in
which people suddenly find
themselves thinking obsessively
of a particular melody or passage of music and are unable to
stop, amusia (tone-deafness),
dysharmonia, and why it should
be that a person who is unable to
sing even two notes in key, may
nevertheless immediately detect
when someone else’s singing is
flat.
A related, and equally interesting issue, is the difficulty
many gifted Western musicians,
who were raised and trained on
the diatonic scale, have in relating to the 22-note scales of Hindu
music.
Ultimately, Sacks’ quest reaches beyond scientific or neurological enquiry: music, he asserts,
is as deeply innate and
intractable as “biophilia”, our
feeling for living things.
“Perhaps musicophilia is a
form of biophilia, since music
itself feels like a living thing,” he
declares.
Offering a wide range of scientific, medical, cultural and spiritual portals through which to
enter the realm of this most
enchanting, and enchanted, art
form, Sacks’ book is a rare treat
for anyone who ever lost (or
found) themselves in the rapture
of a symphony, a serenade, a
lullaby, or even a simple, whistled tune.
The key characters in this
story of “murder, greed, corruption, exploitation, adultery and
treachery”, are fleshed out by a
group of extraordinary performers, rich in vocal versatility,
verve and style.
Roxie Hart (Peo), and Velma
Kelly (Wright), are two personalities who both face murder raps,
and offer nicely contrasting figures. Each time the performers
take centre stage they manage to
ignite the production with their
vocal prowess and sheer sassiness.
Wright’s opening signature,
“All That Jazz”, sets the scene
and the mood and texture of the
show never wavers. Another
showstopper is the electrifying
“Cell Block Tango”, imbued with
fresh dimensions.
Samantha Peo sparkles on
such evergreens as “Funny
Honey”, “Roxie” and “Me and My
Baby”.
Ilse Klink, as Matron “Mama”
Morton, best remembered for the
number “When You’re Good To
Mama”, remains a potent force,
while the rotund Pierre van
Heerden carves a sympathetic
Amos, Roxie’s pitiful husband.
And KJ Haupt is terrific as the
sweet, sentimental scribe, Mary
Sunshine, who loves a good
Oprah-type story.
The orchestra is again under
the educated baton of Bryan
Schimmel, who revels in this role
and aptly displays his exhibitionist tendencies. The musicians are
placed squarely centre stage and it works.
The past few years has seen
the musical return to South
Africa with a vengeance, and
“Chicago” remains right up
there near the very top.
14
SA JEWISH REPORT
25 April - 02 May 2008
LETTERS
Disclaimer
The letters page is intended to provide opportunity for a range of views on any given topic to
be expressed. Opinions articulated in the letters are those of the writers and do not necessarily
reflect the views of the editor, staff or directors of the Jewish Report
FOODSTUFFS ARE FOR ALL ZIMBABWE’S JEWS
WITH REGARD to local assistance
to the Zimbabwe Jewish community, I would like to comment on the
following question posed to the
Orthodox rabbinate by George
Conné (Jewish Report April 18):
“Did you personally donate for
those in Zimbabwe, who through
no fault of their own, most probably have no matzah etc, or did you
put a label on the foodstuffs being
sent to them, stating that it was for
Orthodox Jews only?”
As spiritual leader to the
African Jewish Congress, which
has been involved for many years
in rendering assistance to the
Jewish community in Zimbabwe, I
can categorically confirm that in
this regard there has been no discrimination whatever on the basis
of religious affiliation.
Assistance to Zimbabwean
Jewry is now largely channelled
through the recently established
African Jewish Congress Zimbabwe Fund, of which I am president. I am pleased to report that
Richard Newman, a Reform rabbi
in Cape Town, recently raised
R18 000 for the fund from his own
congregation.
I am further greatly encouraged
in general by the positive manner
in which a number of individuals
in our Jewish community have so
generously responded to the crisis
in Zimbabwe. Among other things,
a young Jewish businessman,
quite unsolicited, approached me
to contribute to the fund and further, again on his own initiative,
went on to ensure further welcome assistance by publicising it
within his own circles.
Once again, the issue is not that
the beneficiaries are Orthodox,
Reform or secular but that they
are fellow Jews in need. It should
be further noted that the latter’s
non-Jewish dependants, such as
servants, also benefit from this
assistance.
I am delighted to see how members of our Jewish community are
showing a willingness to look
beyond the confines of their local
communal responsibilities to help
their distressed brethren on the
other side of the border.
Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft
Spiritual leader and CEO,
African Jewish Congress
ISRAEL TREATED JIMMY CARTER BADLY
I WOULD like to comment on the
regretful event of former US
President Jimmy Carter being
shunned by Israel during his visit
to the Middle East.
I would like to mention that as
far as I know, Carter didn’t ever
seek war, or an embargo of any
civilian material, against any
country, according to reliable historians.
(The Americans) have been a
reliable ally of the Allies in the
Second World War and they saved
many Jews and hundreds of US
and other Allied airmen from
areas occupied by Nazi Germany.
I believe Israel’s economy during
Carter’s US presidency didn’t do as
well as it does today, and therefore
needed aid, which it received from
the US - more than it does today.
It is also logical to claim that
Israel is an important ally of the
US. After all, the Cold War didn’t
officially end yet then, and the US
of that time stood against what it
viewed as a real threat to the world.
Wars were not conducted in
order to have good relations with
“moderate” Islamic countries, as
they are conducted today, and former President Bill Clinton shamelessly admits this fact.
So, please, since different notorious “celebrities” are not shunned
by Israel, Carter should obviously
not be shunned by it either.
Avner Eliyahu Romm
Sea Point
Cape Town
JEWISH COMMUNITY SERVICES
PROVIDING INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY SOCIAL SERVICES AND
CONFIDENTIAL COUNSELLING AND SUPPORT FOR:
• Parents and children with emotional and relationship problems
• Protecting children at risk of neglect or abuse - statutory intervention if necessary (JCS is an accredited child protection agency)
• Family abuse
• Ill health - mental and physical
• Addictions: drugs, alcohol and gambling
• Trauma debriefing
• Marriage preparation, building positive relationships, skills training
• Divorce mediation and counselling
• Older people - dealing with loss, depression and changed
circumstances
Tel: (011) 532-9616 • Fax: (011) 640-2721
e-mail: [email protected]
NPO 001-212
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The Editor, Suite 175, Postnet X10039, Randburg, 2125 email: [email protected]
Guidelines for letters
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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.
STILL ABOUT THE STATE OF THE JEWISH CEMETERY
KINDLY ALLOW me to reply to
Rebecca Brook of Glensan’s letter
in the Jewish Report of April 18
(regarding the state of the West
Park Jewish Cemetery).
If this lady took the time to read
my letter thoroughly and correctly and not allowed her imagination to read between the lines, she
would have noticed and “comprehended” that I made mention of
the abundance of rain that we
have had recently.
Also, I mentioned that “I realise
that the Chevrah has other commitments”. Did she not read that
part of my letter?
My letter was solely to vent my
feelings about the disgusting state
of our cemetery and nothing
more. I stand by my remarks.
If I am so “insensitive”, I would
have accepted the shocking state
of our cemetery. I said in the last
paragraph of my letter that “it is
heartbreaking and disgraceful
that ‘our departed loved ones’
should be in such unkempt surroundings”. Do you call that
insensitive?
My letter was to discuss the
state of the cemetery and not the
misfortune of others who are
assisted by the Chevrah Kadisha.
That is entirely another issue,
and has nothing to do with the
state of neglect that our cemetery
is in.
I do not argue that the Chevrah
Kadisha does some outstanding
work. I admire and respect them
for it, but that is not their only
function. The upkeep of the cemetery is also one of their functions
and it should not be neglected.
I request that Rebecca Brook
please read my letter correctly
and not misread or misinterpret
it.
Marlene Nissenbaum
Johannesburg
PS: Thank you so much for your
informative and enlightening
weekly paper. I look forward to
each edition.
PLIGHT OF DISABLED PUT IN THE SPOTLIGHT
I REFER to Michael Bagraim’s
article in SAJR of April 11,
regarding facilities for the disabled.
I concur that the disabled and
those in wheelchairs should
have facilities to enable them to
attend shul services or other
social/communal functions. To
my knowledge most shuls do not
have ablution facilities for
women on ground level.
Because of segregation laws,
women congregants sit upstairs
and only a few can be accommodated downstairs for health or
other reasons, behind a curtain.
In Johannesburg I know that
Greenside Shul which accommodates men and women separately on one level, does have facili-
ties accessible to wheelchair
users and both the downstairs
and upstairs areas are accessible to wheelchair users or persons otherwise indisposed/disabled.
Linksfield Shul also has ablution facilities for women on the
downstairs level which also
accommodates the shul hall.
I remember an occasion when
we took my mother z’l to a movie
in Hillbrow. The manager
switched off the escalator so
that we could help mom up the
stairs. Eventually she was
wheelchair bound for the
remainder of her life.
I empathise that Mr Bagraim
has had such negative reactions.
As with most situations, people
do not understand how a person
who is permanently ill or wheelchair bound (is affected) until
they have had a similar experience.
I certainly hope that the powers that be will take cognisance
of Mr Bagraim’s plight and
request (which applies to many
other people in a similar situation) and that something positive
will be done to remedy the situation.
I am sure that even in centres/shuls where facilities have
to be added/incorporated, there
is a way of overcoming this problem.
Sheila Meyerowitz
Johannesburg
LOOKING AT FACILITIES FOR OUR PHYSICALLY DISABLED
IN THE SA Jewish Report of April
11, Michael Bagraim raised the
important issue of physically disabled facilities. The CJSA supports his concerns and the call for
raising this as a community concern.
As indicated, the Bagraim family discovered that a function
organised by the CJSA at the
Claremont and Wynberg Shul did
not have adequate facilities to
accommodate Judy Bagraim. The
problem was compounded when a
similar lack of facilities prevailed
at the Milnerton branch of the
CJSA.
This matter was raised as one of
urgency at a meeting of the executive of the CJSA, and a unanimous
decision was taken to re-examine
the facilities at the CJSA and to
rectify any deficiencies immediately.
As an organisation catering to
the needs of seniors within the community, we recognise that we have
to be totally inclusive and ensure
that our premises are completely
accessible to the physically disabled. We also conveyed that commitment to Michael Bagraim, but
that was probably after he had submitted the article for publication.
As it happened, the wheelchair
access to the new premises in
Claremont was already in the
process of being constructed. We
checked access at our other centres
in Sea Point and Milnerton, which
were appropriate, but toilet facilities had to be reviewed at Milnerton
and Claremont.
We have called in a builder to
quote on attending to this and we
hope to have the toilets remodelled
as soon as we can.
As you will appreciate, unbudgeted costs are involved, but we felt
that the issue was so important and
immediate, that it had to be done
and somehow, we would raise the
funds to cover the necessary
changes.
With regards to the specific
CJSA function that Judy Bagraim
could not attend because of the
lack of facilities, this was held at
the Claremont and Wynberg
Congregation’s Adele Searll Hall.
We will bring the lack of facilities
to their attention, and hopefully
this will be addressed.
As a community we should take
up the challenge and re-assess the
accessibility of all community
facilities to ensure that wherever
possible we cater to the needs of
the physically disabled, not only
because we are legally required to,
but also because we care.
Diana Sochen
Director CJSA (Cape Jewish
Seniors Association)
ISRAELI PRESIDENT AT THE WARSAW GHETTO
THANKS FOR a moving and
well-researched editorial on the
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Sixty five years ago we also
did not think that we would live
one day to read of such an event
in a Jewish newspaper. Not in
our wildest dreams could we
have visualised an Israeli president, let alone one that would
stand at the memorial to the
Jewish fighters of the Warsaw
Ghetto next to a Polish president.
Shortly before the Nazi invasion, the Polish government had
proclaimed a boycott of all
Jewish shops and now they sit
down with Jews in Warsaw to
listen to the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra! David
Ben-Gurion was right when he
said that he who did not believe
in miracles was not a realist.
It is appropriate that you quoted the first stanza of the
“Partizanim Hymnon”. Indeed,
MIR ZEINEN DO.
Don Krausz
Chairman, Association of
Holocaust Survivors in
Johannesburg
AND A GOOD TIME WAS HAD BY ALL
A BEAUTIFUL warm sunny
morning was spent on Friday
April 18, by residents from
Sandringham Gardens and Our
Parents Home at Italo’s Preview
Theatre in Bagleyston.
The movie which was shown
was Andre Rieu and his famous 35
piece orchestra performing at
Radio City in New York. A tribute
tune was played by Andre Rieu on
his violin to Frank Sinatra, titled
“My way”.
Our dear old folk audience
thoroughly enjoyed this morning’s outing, and more so were
thrilled and loved “Andre Rieu on
Broadway Radio City”.
After refreshments served in
the garden, a huge 60 seater bus
returned the satisfied senior citizens back home. More shows like
this can be arranged with the aid
of sponsors.
Italo Bernico
Johannesburg
25 April - 02 May 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
A breath of fresh air
ALISON GOLDBERG
ABOUT 15 to 30 per cent of all adults have
a chronic problem with bad breath and
about 20 per cent are very worried about
it, according to 56-year-old Prof Mel
Rosenberg, a world expert on oral malodour, who visited South Africa recently
from Israel, to talk on the alcohol-free
mouthwash called Dentyl pH, already the
second biggest selling mouthwash in the
UK.
It comes in two flavours - Refreshing
Clove and Smooth Mint - and is available
from a variety of South African stores.
He pointed out to his South African
audience that it was difficult for a person
to determine himself or herself whether
they had bad breath. The only solution
was to ask a family member or friend.
“Mouth odour,” he explains, “is generally caused by bacteria breaking down
post-nasal drip, food remnants, poor dental care, our own cells, blood and lots
more. Those molecules are found in our
breath; most of it we can’t smell ourselves.”
Bad breath was made out of those molecules which we could smell and which
had an offending odour.
Bad breath in a child could also
emanate from the nose, for instance from
something stuck in the nose, such as a
bead or from bad tonsils - a very common
cause. A dry mouth could also promote
bad breath. There were literally hundreds of conditions and diseases which
could cause bad breath, he said.
While bad breath was mainly a mouth
problem affecting some 85 to 90 per cent
of the population, respiratory infections
could also in rare occasions, cause bad
breath. Other rare diseases which might
cause bad breath were liver and kidney
damage, or the so-called “fish odour syndrome” a medical condition “where the
person senses a smell or taste of fish”.
The figures pertaining to bad breath
can be broken down into several categories. Among the 85 to 90 per cent of bad
breath coming from the mouth, 30 to 50
per cent evolves from poor dental care
and oral hygiene; 5 per cent from nasal,
mainly sinus problems; 3 to 5 per cent
from the tonsils; and 1 per cent from
other, rare causes.
Diabetes, if out of control, can also lead
to bad breath. Then obviously some foods
are a given for bad breath, for instance
onions, garlic and proteins which break
down in the mouth. Coffee - especially if
it has milk in it - and milk alone, can also
cause bad breath. For fresher breath it is
advisable to drink lots of water - this will
also ensure creating enough saliva, especially in hot weather.
Orange juice and colas could reduce
bad breath because of the acids “but
shouldn’t be used for rinsing or gargling
with, because they strip the teeth of their
protective enamel coating”.
He said floss and tongue scrapers were
effective, if used properly.
Rosenberg
believes
alcohol-based
mouth washes caused more harm than
good.
“Although alcohol has an initial effect
of killing some oral bacteria, it also dehydrates and can harm some oral tissue.
“The alcohol itself can also be broken
ABOVE
BOARD
A column of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies
down into smelly substances by bacteria
and yeast residing in the mouth, which
actually worsens your breath.”
Now, the question was, how to combat
bad breath. And this is where Dentyl pH
comes in.
Rosenberg’s vocation happened by
chance. When he finished his PhD in
1982 on bacteria sticking to oil droplets
in a solution, a vial of sputum reacted in
the same way and this triggered his
interest and he eventually became professor of microbiology in the oral
hygiene department of Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Faculty of Medicine.
Dentyl pH contains cetylpyridinium
chloride which contrary to Rosenberg’s
first impressions, can promote the adhesion of oral expectorate to oil droplets.
The mouthwash is two-phased because
of the separation of the oil and the solution and which needs to be shaken before
use.
Rosenberg still travels to the UK where
Dentyl pH is manufactured. It was
thanks to a dentist, a Dr Stemmer, he
says that Dentyl pH took off in the UK in
1996 to the degree that today some 10 million
bottles
are
sold
annually.
Distribution rights for North and South
America have been also concluded and
Rosenberg is holding thumbs that it will
be as successful as is the case in the UK.
Rosenberg stresses that bad breath
isn’t an illness and is usually treatable.
For more information on bad breath,
go to www.freshbreath.co.za where you
can take a personal and confidential
Kiss-O-Meter test that will assist your
bad breath risk.
Prof Rosenberg moved to Israel from
Ottawa 38 years ago and he lives in
Ramat Gan with his family.
On his current visit to South Africa to
lecture to 500 dentists about the causes
of bad breath for “Fresh Breath Week”,
Rosenberg combined his medical and
jazz pursuits!
Equally talented as a jazz saxophonist
and singer, he was prodded to make this
second trip to the country to have the
opportunity to perform with South
Africa’s foremost jazz musicians.
AROUND THE WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
POLL: SOME SETTLERS WOULD RELOCATE
JERUSALEM - Approximately one in
five Israelis living east of the West Bank
security fence would leave if offered government support, a poll has found.
According to an internal government
study whose results were leaked on
Tuesday to Yediot Achronot, some 15 000
of the 70 000 settlers whose communities
are not taken in by the fence, would
accept voluntary relocation packages.
The poll was conducted at the behest
of Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon
and Minister Ami Ayalon, who want
COMMUNITY COLUMNS
Zev Krengel,
National Chairman
Prof Mel Rosenberg, a world expert on
oral malodour, in the lab.
Israel to group settlers within the fence
on the assumption it serves as the de
facto border with a future Palestinian
state.
The newspaper did not provide details
on how many people were polled or the
margin of error.
Israel's failure to satisfactorily rehabilitate many of the 8 000 Jews it
removed from the Gaza Strip in 2005 has
raised speculation that West Bank settlers would think twice about accepting
government relocation offers. (JTA)
15
CONGRATULATIONS TO the staff of the
Board, in particular our indefatigable
National Director Wendy Kahn, and all
those who participated in last week’s
Freedom Seder in Johannesburg. The
event was an outstanding success, and
much enjoyed by all who attended.
Through this outreach initiative, we
aimed at imparting our age-old historical
traditions relating to freedom and national
re-awakening to the wider South African
society.
This we did not only through recounting
our own stirring experiences of emancipation from bondage so many years ago, but
by relating this to our common experiences in contemporary South Africa.
What does the Exodus say to us, as South
Africans, today? How can those experiences and lessons learnt be translated into
helping us to create a free, just and, above
all, compassionate society in which we are
as concerned about the basic needs and
rights of our fellow citizens as we are
about our own?
We hope that through this inspiring
evening, we have succeeded in portraying
ourselves - and our Jewish community as a
whole - as caring, concerned members of
the greater society who are ready and willing to share their cultural traditions for
the greater good of the country.
Political networking
Also last week, we had a most interesting
meeting with Democratic Alliance leader
Helen Zille. This formed part of our broad-
SAJBD Freedom
Seder a resounding
success
er strategy of meeting with as wide a spectrum as possible of political leaders across
the country.
We had previously met with a delegation
from the Inkatha Freedom Party, and
intend meeting with other political groupings in the future.
All this helps us to fulfil our mandate as
the representative voice of the South
African Jewish community, bringing the
concerns of our community to all opinion
and policy makers and at the same time
finding out how we can actively participate
in building our society.
Yom Hashoah 2008
We are honoured that Marta Wise, a survivor of the infamous Dr Josef Mengele’s
medical experiments in Auschwitz, has
agreed to be our keynote speaker at this
year’s Yom Hashoah commemorative ceremony in Johannesburg.
Marta will subsequently travel to
Durban and Cape Town to address the communities there as well. She has lectured
extensively to audiences around the world
on her experiences during the Holocaust,
and currently does so as a guide at Yad
Vashem in Jerusalem.
Yom Hashoah in Johannesburg will be
taking place at West Park Cemetery on
Thursday, May 1, at 11:30. This being a public holiday, we hope as many of our community as possible will join us in remembering the six million martyrs of the
Shoah and of hearing at first hand from
one of those who can bear witness to those
terrible times.
16
25 April - 02 May 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
Feature on Mothers Day
Compiled by Barry & Marlene Bilewitz. Tel: (011) 886-0162 Fax: (011) 886-4202 Cell: 083-475-0288
A tribute to our Yiddishe mamas
Insects - except for bees, ants and certain types of wasps - spend no
time at all on their progeny. They lay hundreds or thousands of eggs
and carry on with their lives, oblivious to the fate of their children.
BARRY BILEWITZ
THIS ATTITUDE is, however, not limited to our six-legged
friends. The shark lays a couple of eggs on the sea bed, then
carries on looking for a snack.
Sperm whales have a much more enduring attitude to their
babies. The mother nurses her young for about two years,
which is six months longer than that of a dolphin. The bottlenose dolphin can stay with his mother for up to six years.
Most mother birds have it made. They have trained the papa
birds well. The father not only helps in pre-birth by sitting on the
eggs, he also helps with the feeding and protection of their
young and - like all good daddies - teaches them how to fly and
eat worms.
Continued on page 17
NK
NK
25 April - 02 May 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
Feature on Mothers Day
A treasure forever for
Mother on her day
When investing in an authentic,
hand-woven Oriental carpet,
you're investing in one of the
highest art forms practised by
humankind. No one deserves such a
gift more than the mother of the
home. She is truly an artist herself,
nurturing, caring, developing and
creating the atmosphere in the home.
PAK PERSIAN Carpet Gallery has a family history too; our family's in-depth knowledge and
appreciation of this exquisite art form, spans
many generations. Only carpets that have been
meticulously scrutinised for authenticity, evaluated for quality and selected for aesthetic beauty,
find their way into our showrooms.
• Our branches are situated throughout South
Africa, Europe and America and through the
years we have built a proud reputation for professional service.
A tribute to our Yiddishe mamas
From page 16
Male lions and tigers, on the other hand, only play
the part of protector of the young. All the feeding
and teaching is done by the mother. The children
only become fully independent at about the age of
16 to 18 months. However, they still stay with the
mother until 30 months or sooner if the mother
has a new litter.
Finally, there is one of the most unique species
of motherhood on the planet - the Jewish
American princess (JAP) and her South African
counterpart, the kugel.
The annual clothing and make-up budget of
genus Mater Judaica exceeds the defence bill of
most African countries (except of course
Zimbabwe's!) However, this has seldom been at
the expense of nurturing, clothing, feeding, educating and indulging their children.
The Jewish mother is made up of Mediterranean warmth and cold practicality and will
change from one to the other faster than greased
lightning. She defends her cubs with the fierceness of a lioness, will try and keep them near her
for longer than an elephant lives and will drop you
and (pretend to) forget you faster than a shark forgets its eggs.
Unlike the shark, however, she will resume the
relationship just as quickly once the issue has
been resolved.
The Yiddishe mama - the embodiment of the
archetypal caring, benevolent, fiery characteristics
that make up the Jewish mother. We, as a community, are most fortunate to grow up under the
ministrations of such a wonderful sisterhood.
17
18
SA JEWISH REPORT
25 April - 02 May 2008
YOUTH TALK
Shelley Elk [email protected]
Young Canin’s TDD KDSP seder: a night
to commemorate
message of hope
and rejoice
a wide range of people at the
summit, from Argentina,
Colombia, Israel, Palestine,
RECENTLY BACK from a
Gaza...
“three dot dash” (TDD) sum“All of us are identical,” he
mit in New York, attended by
said. “ I could relate to them;
30 global teen leaders (12 - 19
our focus is the same. The
years old) chosen from 50
message is non-political and
countries, Ryan Canin, outgowe want to spread the idea of
ing
junior
mayor
of
tolerance, and the possibility
Johannesburg told Jewish
of peace, and meeting the
Report how the vision of Ryan Canin.
basic needs of humanity.”
Mattie Stepanek, who died at
Canin who at age 13 was elected
the age of 13, had inspired him.
mayor to the Mini City Council, a year
He was invited to return with five
later at age 14 collected cans on a
other teens to attend a “We are Family”
`Sunday as a “creative project”, which
fundraising concert in New York this
he “stepped up, into a food drive and
week. Canin is in his matric year at King
broke the world record (for creating a
David Victory Park.
‘sculpture from cans’) which was 10 000
Stepanek, who authored seven books,
cans”.
before his very early death four years
He added: “It took a year, during
ago, was the inspiration behind the forwhich time R250 000 was raised and a
mation of the NGO “TDD” which is
rocket comprising 26 656 cans was built
morse code for “V” or peace.
at the Cresta Shopping Centre in
Just Peace, Stepanek’s last book, conJohannesburg from a total of 37 000 cans
tained the founding statement for TDD:
of food collected. The cans were distrib“Peace is only possible once the basic
uted to seven different charities in
needs of people are met.”
Africa and South Africa.
Just Peace, contained essays on con“In 2007 I was elected to the junior
cepts of how to attain peace, said Canin,
council as mayor. During my term,
adding: “Selected teen leaders’ roles
which ends on May 12, we raised funds
were to promote, expand and project
at the junior council art auction, taught
these concepts.”
debating skills to learners at schools in
Canin’s goals are to speak at TDD and
Tembisa and central Soweto, hosted a
become an ambassador for them and run
teenage personality pageant, a kids cara summit in South Africa next year.
nival, and created a garden project in
“Here in South Africa, we need inspiAlexandra.”
ration. People are needing to bring back
Canin has also represented Gauteng
a sense of hope which is severely lackfor two years as a member of the nationing.”
al debating team.
Canin told Jewish Report: “There was
SHELLEY ELK
STORY ROMY SALANT
PHOTOGRAPH: KARYN KADISH
KING DAVID Sandton Primary School held
a wonderful seder at the Transvaal
Automobile Club (TAC) for both learners
and parents, to celebrate the upcoming festival.
Each grade 7 was involved in the seder,
eloquently reading from the Haggadah and
singing along to the traditional verses. The
hall was decorated for the occasion, creating
a warm and relaxed environment.
As we were taken on the journey of our
exodus from Egypt and fulfilled the mitzvah
of reading the Haggadah, we were reminded
of our Z’man Cheiruteinu (the time of our
freedom).
The seder is more than just a meal, but a
time to “commemorate the miraculous
things G-d did for us”, as a grade 7 learner
recited.
However, the evening was not only a night
to remember our Jewish heritage and the
miracle of our escape from Egypt but a night
to rejoice.
The children and parents thoroughly
enjoyed the evening. There were smiles all
around as the parents photographed the special moment.
It gave the learners and parents a chance
to get to know one another and enjoy not
only Torah values but the basic moral values
that unite all Jews.
The significance of each item of the seder
plate was described and brachot were said
before we took part in a delicious three
course meal. The Shulchan Orech began
with a hard boiled egg dipped in salt water to
remember the Temple days, but also to
rejoice in the fact that the Jews have survived and continue to flourish. Like the egg,
we as Jews may face boiling times but we
emerge stronger.
The meal included other Pesach traditions. Starters were soup and kneidlach, followed by a main meal of chicken, potatoes
and salad and a sweet dollop of ice-cream
and fresh fruit salad completed the meal.
The KDSP seder fulfilled the mitzvah of
telling “the story of the exodus to every generation”. The learners retraced their ancestors’ experiences and connected with their
Jewish heritage.
It was not just about “telling” the chag as
the name of the Haggadah suggests, but
about experiencing the chag.
The recitation of the brachot of the
Haggadah was spiritually elevated by allowing each member to partake of the symbolic
foods. Each item on the seder plate represents both our slavery and freedom and it is
on Passover that we celebrate the transition
from slavery to freedom.
Back: Chelsea
Fisher, Jason
Cohen and Lexi
Cahn. Front: Gabi
Zollmann, Lynton
Kadish, Morah
Efrat Wagner,
Jenna Hertz and
Michael
Levenstein.
Saying Kiddush at
KDS seder table
PHOTOGRAPH BY SHELLEY ELK
Ububele and Ohr Somayach Sandton Nursery School kids enjoying time together.
Ububele benefits from
nursery school fundraiser
OHR SOMAYACH Sandton Nursery School
recently held an extremely successful
games evening to raise funds to further
grow and enhance the facilities and infrastructure available at the school. Monies
raised have already been utilised to purchase new equipment, educational toys,
rubber matting, and launch a multi-dimensional therapy centre.
In a media release the nursery school says
a percentage of the funds raised were given
to the school’s sister school, Ububele which
is located in Kew, Johannesburg.
Ububele, is an African psychotherapy
resource and training centre focused on the
disadvantaged sector of the community.
The Ububele Nursery School, which is
housed within the centre, caters for over 40
emotionally-at-risk
children
from
Alexandra Township.
The school aims to train its own and other
nursery school teachers in understanding
the emotional development of children.
Ohr Somayach Sandton Nursery School
caters for children from 15 months to grade
O.
* For further information regarding
placements, please contact Tova Goldstein,
school director on (011) 802 1210 or 082-5749541.
Hayley Riback (Ima) and Thomas Stenz (the Abba) reciting Kiddush at the King David
Sandton Primary’s annual grade R and grade 1 seder last week.
25 April - 02 May 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
YOUTH TALK
19
Shelley Elk [email protected]
Welcome to KDL’s Chain in honour of
new academic head Yeshiva’s Maxi Levin
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY SHELLEY ELK
FROM THE second term after Pesach, King
David High School Linksfield officially welcomes a new academic head. The position
was created for Lorraine Srage and is
designed to “continue and nurture excellence of the school”.
“We need to keep abreast of the demands
of the new national senior certificate (NSC)
and be in charge of pushing forward the new
curriculum,” Srage told Jewish Report.
Srage who started teaching at KDL in ‘82,
has held positions as form supervisor, vice
principal, head of the history department,
before being elected as academic head.
Education these days was more child-centred, and children needed to learn skills to
apply knowledge and arrive at conclusions,
not just to regurgitate what they had
“learned”, said Srage, who will assist teachers in their own proficiency and development of the new curriculum.
“Chalk and talk” was adequate in the past,
however learners were required, in all subjects to take knowledge and apply it in different contexts, preparing them with techniques required at tertiary levels of education, and “for all walks of life”.
Knowledge, said Sage, needed to have
application in various categories, such as
iIntegrative technology (IT), computer science and computers. IT is more scientific,
requiring learners to “build programs, and
write software”.
KDLH’s recently opened an IT lab, which
enabled the children to have access to computers, where they researched correctly, she
said.
Hebrew, (now an officially designated second language), said Srage, had changed dramatically, with the department taking on
NETA, (developed at the Hebrew University
of Jerusalem) a new dynamic, communicative programme taught in the language itself
in audio and audiovisual integrated formats.
Jewish studies, not an official matric subject, was “essential to a proper Jewish education” and compulsory to grade 12 level.
Tourism and hospitality, a “hands-on”
matric subject,offered candidates an opening to hotel school.
“At KDL we pride ourselves on our academic support programme as well as
extending the excellence of academic children.”
The Maths Olympiad, saw 59 senior pupils
and 44 juniors enter the first round, and 31
seniors and seven juniors qualify for the second round. “A level maths”, extended maths
PHOTOGRAPH BY ILAN OSSENDRYVER
Lorraine Srage, the new academic head
of King David Linksfield High School.
(equivalent to the British curriculum), gave
children the edge at university and was
available for grades 10, 11 and 12 learners
and was offered by the maths department
after school hours.
The life orientation programme offered
grade 11s a “work shadow” programme, an
opportunity to explore the learners’ areas of
interest and career choices. An annual
career evening hosting all universities, technikons and fashion institutes, was open to
grade 11 and 12.
Srage, who has headed up the history
Department, said the “history curriculum
has had many changes; learners are
required to critically research, think,
analyse, discuss different history texts, cartoons, graphs, and sources”.
The new syllabus was dynamic and related to the developing world. Learners were
required to discuss, for example, how the
Cold War shaped the 20th century; the
Cuban missile crisis, etc. They are required
to use historical facts and to formulate their
answers.
“Education as we knew it, is no longer;
what we had has significantly changed.
“Outcomes based education (OBE) has
made a vast impression on the curriculum.
The debate/facts, regarding OBE have been
misinterpreted. OBE is child-centred, relevant to a child’s experiences. They have to
have a voice, reach their own conclusions,
understand what they do, and it is far more
successful than the other system.” OBE,
challenged the political agenda in teaching
(prior to ‘94). Teachers had to be more expert
and specialist in their subject than ever
before, to show different ways of imparting
knowledge, and giving an opportunity to ask
questions.”
OBE had “unbelievable merit”, but one
needed resources, she said.
Yeshiva College Primary and High School, pupils with their donations of food.
Young Jewish singers
proudly give voice
ROUND 1 of Jewish youth y-idols singing
competition was completed in Johannesburg early in March.
“The first round was a great success and
the talent was incredible” Nadine Lazarus
said in a media release. “The Jewish
singers were phenomenal and each and
every singer could make the finals in any
singing competition!
“It really has been a worthwhile endeavour and we are pleased that we offered
these talented singers a platform to expose
their wonderful gift and talent.”
Thirteen semifinalists were selected
from the first round in Johannesburg, to go
forward to the second round, also in
Johannesburg on August 4, which is open
to the public.
The semifinalists who range in ages from
14 to 24 are: Jayde Kaftel, Danya Amoils,
Dana Samowitz, Glen Kier, Dayne
Levinrad, Courtney Fuhr, Ryan Isakov,
Ryan Peimer, Gia Jacobs, Natasha Millar,
Justine Shear, Ari Brest and Dan
Decombes.
The second round will be held at the
Victory Theatre in Houghton at 19:00.
Tickets are R50 each and available from
Nadine on 082-891-8252 or e-mail
[email protected]
Six Cape Town y-idols
semi-finalists chosen
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
MOIRA SCHNEIDER
CAPE TOWN
ROUND ONE of the Cape Town yidols singing contest produced six
semi-finalists, namely Alicia Pam
(19), Richard Gore (22), Chelsea
Wienburg (18), Michelle Levinson
(18) Alix Reingold (16) and ArnaudClaude Bal (16).
Under the auspices of the South
African Jewish Arts and Culture
Trust (SAJACT), the y-idols competition aims to provide a platform
for the musical talents of South
African Jewish singers between Arnaud-Claude Bal (16), one of six y-idols semithe ages of 14 and 24.
finalists chosen at the Cape Town round of the
SAJACT focuses on bringing competition, auditions for a spot.
Jewish arts and culture to the
Jewish community, with its stated
one finalist from the group will be selectrole being to find, nurture and support taled, is to be held on August 7 and will be
ented Jewish people and help them to
open to the public. The successful contestreach their potential.
ant will participate in the national finals
Round two of the competition, at which
in Johannesburg at the end of October.
A collage of some of the Johannesburg semifinalists..
20
SA JEWISH REPORT
25 April - 02 May 2008
WHAT’S ON
NOTE:Deadline for all entries is 12:00 on the Friday prior
to publication.
Key to organisations, venues, contact details and cost:
• The Jewish National Fund (JNF) Choir, Beyachad, 2
Elray St, Raedene. Contact Crystal Kaplan. 083-3765999.
• The Jewish Women’s Benevolent Society (JWBS) Sandringham Gardens, 85 George Avenue
Sandringham 2192. Contact Carolyn Sabbagh. (011)
485-5232.
• The Jewish Outlook Team. Contact Ryan Cane, Support
line: 27 76 215 8600; e-mail [email protected]; website http://www.jewishoutlook.org.za
• Nechama Bereavement Counselling Centre - Room
A304, 3rd Floor, hospital wing, Sandringham Gardens,
85 George Avenue, Sandringham, 2192. Contact (011)
640-1322.
• New Friendship Ladies Group - A group for single
women - contact Lucille (011) 791-5226 or 082-9275786.
• ORT and ORTJET South Africa - 44 Central Street, Cnr
10th Ave, Houghton. Contact (011) 728-7154.
• Rabbi Cyril Harris Community Centre (RCHCC) and
Great Park Shul, Johannesburg. Contact Hazel, (011)
728-8088 or Rene Sidley (011) 728-8378. Cost usually R50, including refreshments.
• Second Innings, Johannesburg - Jewish Community
Services - Donald Gordon Centre, 85 George Avenue
Sandringham. Contact Grecia Gabriel, (011) 5329616.
• The Israel Centre. Contact Debbie (011) 645-2560.
• The Simcha Friendship and Cultural Circle (SFCC),
Johannesburg - Sandton Shul. Contact Sylvia Shull,
(011) 783-5600.
• The United Sisterhood, 38 Oxford Road Parktown.
Contact Helen (011) 646-2409. website:http://www.unitedsisterhood.co.za
• Society of Israel Philately (SIP) - [email protected].
Contact Maurice (011) 485-2293.
• South African Zionist Federation (SAZF),
Johannesburg - Beyachad, 2 Elray Street, Raedene.
Contact Froma, (011) 645-2505.
• South African Jewish Board of Deputies (Jhb) Beyachad, 2 Elray Street, Raedene. Contact (011) 6452500 or (011) 645-2523.
• United Zionist Luncheon Club (UZLC), Johannesburg Our Parents Home. Contact Gloria, (011) 485-4851 or
072-127-9421.
• Union of Jewish Women (UJW), Johannesburg - 1 Oak
Street Houghton. Contact (011) 648-1053. Cost R10
for the Friendship Luncheon Club.
• Union of Jewish Women (UJW), Cape Town - (021)
434-9555, e-mail: [email protected]
• WIZO Johannesburg - Beyachad, 2 Elray Street
Raedene. Contact Joyce Chodos (011) 645-2548 or
Sandy Kramer (011) 645-2515.
• Bikkur Cholim - Jewish Society for Visiting the Sick, 7A
Chester Road, Greenside East, Johannesburg. Joy
Gafin (011) 447-6689.
• Tiyulim (Jewish Outdoor Club) - Contact Greg 082959-9026 or Martin 082-965-7419.
• King David Schools’ Foundation. King David Alumni
[email protected] (011) 480-4723.
• CAJE - College of Adult Jewish Education, Sydenham
Highlands North Shul (011) 640-5021.
• JAFFA - Jewish Accomodation for Fellow Aged. (012)
346-2007/8.
• SAIJE - Sandton Adult Institute of Jewish Education,
Sandton Shul (011) 883-4210. E-mail: [email protected].
Monday (April 28)
• Tiyulim will be going to the Lion Park for a game
drive. Opportunity to interact with 1-3-month-old lion
cubs. Braai area - bring food/picnic. Meet at Balfour
(near the car wash) at 09:00. Cost R95pp. Greg 082959-9026.
Tuesday (April 29)
• Shalom Independent Masorti Congregation is hosting Lionel Slier at 19:30 at 6 Elray Street, Raedene.
Contact (011) 485-5619 or e-mail [email protected]
Wednesday (April 30)
• JWB, Greenside is having a booksale at Balfour
Park.
• WIZO Killarney branch has a booksale at Balfour Park
from 09:30.
• UJW, Cape Town is hosting Dr Geraldine Mitton on
“Happiness” at 10:00 for 10:30 at Stonehaven. Cost
R12.
• The launch of Volume 3 in the series “Jewish Life in
the South African Country Communities”
researched and published by SA Friends of Beth
Hatefutsoth at Beyachad at 17:30. All welcome.
RSVP (011) 645-2598 or e-mail [email protected]
Thursday (May 1)
• Yom Hashoah in Johannesburg will be taking place at
West Park Cemetery at 11:30. to commemorate the 6
Million martyrs of the Shoah and hear first hand from
one of those who can bear witness to those terrible
times.
Saturday evening (May 3)
• WIZO Tzabar branch, Israel Centre and the Beyachad
Library invites you to a screening of “The salt of the
earth” (English subtitles) from 20:30. Cost R40 Phone
Sandy (011) 645-2515 or Naomi 082-496-1111 for
details.
Sunday (May 4)
• Second Innings is hosting Lila Bruk on “What you
should know about your health and nutrition” at
10:00 for 10:30 at the Gerald Horwitz Lounge,
Golden Acres.
• RCHCC presents a documentary - “I have never forgotten you” - the life and legacy of Simon Wiesenthal
at 19:30. Donation R50.
THE BRIDGE LOUNGE by Jeff Sapire
"SORRY PARTNER", South remarked,
after he went down in 3NT. "I was afraid to
play on hearts first in case the diamonds
were 5-3."
"Then perhaps you should have given a
little more thought about trying to find
out how they might be distributed",
replied North.
Dummy played low and East put in the
ten, taken by the ace. East's play was quite
safe - if declarer had either higher honour
then he would always make one trick, and
if West had led low from KQxx then the
ten would have held the trick.
With eight tricks in sight (2 spades, 1
heart, 1 diamond and 4 clubs), declarer
was at the crossroads. Should he take the
spade finesse immediately or cross to
dummy with a club to play a heart
towards the queen
The problem was that the diamond position was unknown - was the lead from a
five card suit or were they splitting 4-4? If
the latter, he could get two bites at the
cherry - try the hearts first, and, if the
queen lost to the king, take the spade
finesse later. But if they were 5-3 it would
look silly to go down for nothing if the
spade queen was onside.
So, after much soul searching he
finessed the spade, which sadly lost. The
defenders took their diamonds and exited
passively with a spade, leaving declarer
with no resource for a ninth trick.
Declarer was somewhat upset to see the
diamonds breaking, because the heart
play would have worked, but in truth he
dug his own grave at trick one.
The correct play is to put up the jack of
South dealer, NS vul
NORTH
AJ
A874
J54
QJ62
WEST
109
J95
Q986
9843
SOUTH
K653
Q63
K3
AK75
South
1NT
2S
North
2C
3NT
Shelley Elk [email protected]
Monday (May 5)
• SIP - Rabbi Dr M Singer will continue his 2007 lecture on old and rare books, Waverley Shul boardroom at 19:30. Entry free. Refreshments.
• UJW Johannesburg is hosting Jack Shapiro on
“What Israel at age 60 means to us as Jews” at
09:30.
Tuesday (May 6)
• WIZO Fortnightly Forum commemorates Yom
Hashoah at Beyachad at 09:30. Willie Criveano
will relate the story of his father Theodore of
Rumania, a righteous gentile. Candle-lighting by
six survivors and Haskara by Chilly Chrysler.
• The Israeli Embassy, SAZF, Israel Centre, IUAUCF, and Zionist youth movements invite you to
a Yom Hazikaron Memorial Day ceremony for
Israel’s fallen at 18:30 at Yeshiva College in the
Solly Liebgott Hall. For information phone
Miriam Garb (011) 645-2531.
• Shalom Independent Masorti Congregation is
hosting Prof Steve Tollman at 19:30 at 6 Elray
Street, Raedene. Contact (011) 485-5619 or email [email protected]
Wednesday (May 7)
• SFCC is hosting David Fleminger who will share
experiences of travels abroad, at Sandton Shul at
10:00.
• UJW Johannesburg is hosting Naomi Musiker
talking on “The role of the Jewish women in early
Johannesburg” at 9:30.
• UJW Cape Town is hosting Riaan Manser “Around Africa on my bicycle”. Cost R12.
• Yom Ha'atzmaut - SAZF will celebrate Israel's 60th
anniversary at the Wanderer's Cricket Club from
17:00 till late. Tickets R50. Dress code is blue and
white + takkies. Messages from the Israeli ambassador and the Chief Rabbi. Come and join us for a
spectacular evening of fun and festivities. Gym display, pyrotechnics and fun rides.
history through medium of books, at 10:00 for
10:30. Venue: Gerald Horwitz Lounge, Golden Acres.
• RCHCC will screen “Quo Vadis” in celebration of
Israel’s 60th at 19:30. Donation R50.
Monday (May 12)
• UJW Johannesburg is hosting Bishop Paul
Verryn, who will talk on “Place of refuge or refuse
dump?” at 09:30.
Tuesday (May 13)
• Shalom Independent Masorti Congregation is
hosting Ian Mann at 19:30 at 6 Elray Street,
Raedene. Contact (011) 485-5619 or e-mail
[email protected]
• UJW Johannesburg is having its 76th AGM with
guest speaker Wendy Kahn, national director of
SAJBD at 09:30. RSVP. Booking essential. (011)
648-1053.
• Second Innings Men’s Not Out Club is hosting
Mark Gevisser author of “Thabo Mbeki the dream
deferred” talking about “issues of the day” at
14:30 at Our Parents Home. Ladies welcome.
Wednesday (May 14)
• SFCC is hosting Rabbi Michael Katz who will
speak on a subject of topical interest at 10:00 at
the Sandton Shul.
• WIZO Tygerberg branch hosts a kaluki afternoon
at 13:20 at the Cape Seniors bayit, Pringle Road,
Milnerton. Cost R25. Phone Doreen (021) 5525486.
• UJW Constantia, is having a “Cabaret” gala
evening at 20:15 at Artscape. Cost R120. In aid of
Tikvah and Kensington crËche.
• UJW Johannesburg is having a video presentation “a morning of diverse viewing”.
Friday (May 16)
• UZLC is hosting Mo Skikne on “Israel has written
the manual on tank warfare”, at Our Parents
Home.
Thursday (May 8)
Sunday (May 18)
• Yom Ha’atzmaut - combined celebrations by all
Jewish women’s organisations at the Simon
Kuper Hall to celebrate Israel’s 60th anniversary,
at 09:30. Entertainment and Israeli brunch.
Booking essential. Tickets R150. Sandy at WIZO
(011) 645-2515 or Jody, at UJW between 09:00
and 13:00, (011) 648-1053/4.
• WIZO Cape Town CSO basic awareness course
from 09:00 to 13:00 at the Marais Road Shul hall.
Friday (May 9)
• The Friendship Forum for Holocaust Survivors,
second generation and members of the community affected by the Holocaust, invites you to
“Exiled in Mauritius”, a talk by Rabbi Moshe
Silberhaft, “the travelling Rabbi.” At Our Parents
Home Auditorium, at 14:30. After the talk Maja
Abramowitz will share her experience of the
Liberation, followed by tea and refreshments.
• UZLC is hosting Jack Milner on “The history of
Jewish involvement in sport”. At our Parents Home.
Sunday (May 11)
• Second Innings is hosting Dr Moish Singer on
“Between the lines” - an anecdotal look at Jewish
• Second Innings is hosting Dr Gareth Edwards
who will speak on “Reconstructive surgery in
breast cancer” at 10:00 for 10:30 at the Gerald
Horwitz Lounge, Golden Acres.
CROSSWORD NO 67
BY LEAH SIMON
EAST
Q8742
K102
A1072
10
Opening lead: D6
diamonds, which East must now cover.
The standard return of the two of diamonds would then indicate that he started with either a four card suit or a doubleton. (It would have to be four, because
West would not have led the six of diamonds from Q109876). The play of the
jack of diamonds, then, can be regarded
as more of a "discovery play" than an
attempt to win a trick.
Some people may think that defending
this way makes life too easy for declarer,
but it is correct to return one's original
fourth highest. Sometimes, as here, it
helps declarer, but in the long run it is
vital for the defenders to assist one
another with the count when returning
partner's lead.
ACROSS:
1. Carry into Texas (4)
3. Grey nail upset by 12-month-old colt (8)
8. Despairing expression as surrounds Los
Angeles (4)
9. Bring about new dig, spanning it (8)
11. Exceed grammatical unit to impose justice
(4, 8)
13. Not at home - place for production (6)
14. Somehow find shul - and French detective (6)
17. Where well-spoken Irishmen learn to rock!
(7, 5)
20. Able? Nope - confused and very skinny (8)
21. Not domesticated - and spent the time away,
we hear (4)
1
2
22. Johannesburg shopping centre (8)
23. Come back to dine with the girl (4)
8
DOWN:
1. It causes quite a stir! (8)
2. Put strain on torpedohead in
motion (7)
11
4. Straying without finishing herring
(6)
5. Duel dress has the right to lack a
13
steering mechanism (10)
6. Near pelvic bone in haemophilia
cases (5)
7. Two American soldiers for the girl
(4)
10. Most unfitting for empty circles! 19
(1, 6, 3)
12. The dread is bad, having attached 20
fabric to needle (8)
15. Make Ian pout? That’s ideal! (7)
16. Small, hard missile in chapel letter 22
(6)
18. Inclines towards lanes, somehow (5)
19. Arts graduate returns to the French - most
efficient (4)
SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD NO 66
ACROSS: 1. Sore; 3. Spinners; 8. Ivan; 9.
Brittany; 11. Humpty Dumpty; 13. Aspire; 14.
Bleach; 17. The black arts; 20. Holloway; 21.
Idle; 22. Cloister; 23. Less.
DOWN: 1. Skinhead; 2. Roadmap; 4. Parody; 5.
No time like; 6. Exact; 7. Says; 10. Story books;
12. Whispers; 15. Abridge; 16. Palace; 18. Hello;
19. Chic.
3
5
4
6
7
9
10
12
15
14
16
17
18
21
23
25 April - 02 May 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
Jabotinsky bust returns to Israel
The bust of Vladimir Jabotinsky returns to Israel after 45 years. Created in
1943 by the Dutch born sculptor, Johan Oldert (1912-1984), it has been in
the home of Esther and the late Ellie Rechavia Kolnick ever since.
DR DAVID VLADIMIR KOLNICK
JERUSALEM
THE BUST has been donated to
Jabotinsky Museum in Tel Aviv by the
Kolnick family in memory of Ellie and
will be transported on the El Al flight on
April 30, the dedication being made in the
Jabotinsky Museum on May 2 by Esther
and her children, Anita Plett and David
Vladimir Kolnick.
The Kolnick family are to attend the
Betar reunion to be held at the JNF
Jabotinsky Park near Binyamina.
Ellie was a loyal life long supporter of
the Jabotinsky Movement, father of
Betar camp for 25 years from 1959-’4,
Shofet Betar South Africa, personal
friend of late Israel Prime Minister
Menachem Begin, apart from being a life
long member of the East Cape Zionist
Council and the IUA. The dedication
takes place 20 years after his passing in
1988.
AROUND THE
WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
EREZ RAID REPELLED
JERUSALEM - Israeli troops on
Tuesday killed three Palestinians who
tried to attack a key Gaza Strip border
crossing.
The three gunmen were shot while
storming the Erez terminal early
Tuesday morning. There were no
Israeli casualties.
Islamic Jihad and Fatah claimed
joint responsibility for the botched
attack, the latest by Palestinian terrorists against border crossings through
which Gaza receives key imports from
Israel.
Despite the violence, Israeli authorities announced later on Tuesday that
Erez and another crossing, Sufa, would
be opened temporarily to allow
through dozens of trucks bearing
humanitarian aid. (JTA)
ABSENCE OF MATZAH IN AMERICA
NEW YORK - The United States is facing a matzah shortage.
Shoppers from coast to coast are having difficulty finding matzah on store
shelves, The New York Times reported.
The shortage is the result of production difficulties at the Manischewitz
plant in New Jersey, as well as the decision by some store chains, such as
Trader Joe's and Costco, not to carry
matzah this year, the Times reported.
(JTA)
AL-QAIDA ATTACKS HAMAS ON
'PEACE'
NEW YORK - Al-Qaida came out
against Hamas' purported willingness
to support a future Israeli-Palestinian
peace accord.
Osama bin Laden's deputy, Ayman
al-Zawahiri, issued a statement on the
Internet on Tuesday attacking the
Palestinian Islamist group after its
leaders told former US President
Jimmy Carter they could support a
future peace accord if it passed a
Palestinian referendum.
"As for peace agreements with Israel,
they spoke of putting it to a referendum despite considering it a breach of
shariah," Zawahiri said, referring to
Muslim law.
"How can they put a matter that violates shariah to a referendum?"
Hamas has made clear, however, that
it would continue in its refusal to
recognise the Jewish state no matter
what
peace
terms
Palestinian
Authority President Mahmoud Abbas
reaches with the Israelis.
The referendum demanded by Hamas
also would have to include millions of
"exiled" Palestinians, many of them
radicalised refugees, making it a nonstarter in terms of logistics and of the
possibility of endorsing a vision of twostate coexistence. (JTA)
ADVERTORIAL
Are you a serious seller?
In the past two years the interest rate has gone up 10 times and is currently
sitting at 15 per cent. Effectively this has made purchasing property for
many first time buyers, in traditionally middle class areas, unaffordable.
Those buyers looking to upgrade, simply cannot afford to do so now.
Yehuda Kay
CEO Jessie K Estates
What is of more concern than the
interest rate hikes, is the attitude
of most sellers. A paradigm shift
in the thinking of sellers is
imperative.
What sellers need to understand is that the boom is over.
House prices have not increased in 2008 and in most
areas have actually, decreased.
In some areas, we at Jessie K
Estates are even witnessing a
drop in prices of up to 30 per
cent.
Sellers therefore need to face
the cruel and actual reality that:
a) Most middle class buyers will
not qualify for last year's
house prices.
b) The real estate market is currently in an absolute "buyers
market". The average estate
agent has op to 11 properties to sell at any one time.
Therefore if your house is
perceived to be too expensive, buyers will simply go elsewhere.
c) Placing your house on the market in order to "test" the market,
simply will not work. The homeowner that does that will not
even get an offer on their home,
no matter how low.
Therefore, if sellers are serious
about selling, they need to immedi-
ately price their house correctly
and not try and hold out for that
elusive and almost impossible high
offer.
High offers just simply don't exist.
Even in the more affluent areas,
buyers are starting to use their
financial muscle by making marketrelated cash offers. Investors, similarly, study their investment field
well before buying.
Your estate agent can correctly value your home for
today's market. Listen to
her/his value and be pragmatic. If you are serious about
selling, don't leave margins for
negotiation, just price correctly!
Houses are also taking
longer to sell. A recent article
in The Sunday Times, confirms
what we at Jessie K Estates
have been experiencing, mainly that it is taking on average
three months to sell a house.
Therefore, aside from sellers
becoming more realistic about
their pricing, they need to
adjust their time frames with
regards to how long it will
take for their property to sell.
For those home owners who
are struggling to pay their
bonds, my advice to you, is to
cut your losses now and sell before
your home is repossessed. The
banks are open for discussion and
would prefer to allow concessions,
rather than becoming involved in
repossessions.
Should you wish to discuss this matter or any other property related matters
(in full confidence), please don't hesitate to contact me at Jessie K Estates
(011) 483-3586 or on 082-338-4745 or [email protected]
21
22
SA JEWISH REPORT
25 April - 02 May 2008
Limmud FSU comes into its own
GRANT SLATER
MOSCOW
THE NIGHT bus to Limmud
Moscow navigates the Fridaynight gridlock of Mercedeses and
Range Rovers on Rublovskoye
highway, the main thoroughfare
to the chateaux of Russia’s oligarchs.
Huddled in the back of the bus,
a
group
of
newly-minted
Limmudniks,
as
organisers
enthusiastically call them, pass
the time playing cards and trading the Hebrew phrases they
picked up from birthright israel
trips and Hillel retreats.
It is precisely at the intersection of the young professionals on
the back of the bus and the oligarchs on the highway that
organisers hope to establish a
solid foundation for Limmud in
the former Soviet Union.
After three conferences here in
two years Limmud - the grassroots, volunteer-driven Jewish
learning extravaganza that started in Britain and has spread to
Jewish communities around the
globe - seems to be catching on in
a country where the Jewish community is more accustomed to
outside support than home-grown
volunteerism and self-sustainability.
“This was completely foreign to
them at first,” said Alexander
Pyatigorsky, a Limmud council
member who recently started his
own company in Moscow.
Most Jewish programmes in
Russia, he said, were “pushed
from the top down. Limmud is the
opposite; it’s from the ground up.”
Pyatigorsky said the attitude
toward volunteerism already had
started to shift. Whereas at first
even Limmud volunteers wanted
pay, now presenters, academics
and experts in Jewish life showed
up at its conferences here without
expecting compensation.
Organisers proudly billed a
recent conference as the first
Limmud event conceived, organised and funded in large part on
Russian soil.
Some 230 participants from
Moscow paid more than $100 - a
significant increase over past
Limmuds - to attend the conference at a verdant resort an hour
outside the city.
International contributions and
low admission fees helped support the two Limmud conferences
here last year. But this year the
scales are starting to tilt, with
only 40 per cent of funds coming
from overseas, according to Moti
Talias, an Israeli consultant
brought in by Limmud FSU’s
founders to assess progress and
provide guidance.
As wealthy Russian Jews see
and experience Limmud, Talias
says he expects local support to
grow.
Limmud “is not something that
you sell to someone”, he said. “It’s
something that you make yourself
and take part in.”
Founded 27 years ago in
Britain, local Limmuds rely on
volunteers for everything, from
organisation to presentation in
putting together gatherings that
celebrate Jewish study, fellowship, culture and pluralism.
A sprawling Limmud retreat
with 700 attendees last October in
a Moscow suburb drew dignitaries from every corner of the
Russian Jewish community. In
a rare show of unity, Rabbi Berel
Lazar
of
the
Chabad-led
Federation of Jewish Communities and Rabbi Adolf
Shayevich of the Congress of
Jewish Religious Communities
and Organisations of Russia, both
attended.
Attendees at the retreat - one of
a series of smaller conferences
planned to supplement the bigger
annual Limmud event - drew
mostly first-timers, according to
conversations with dozens of participants.
Pavel Merchov, 20, a student at
Moscow’s Higher School of
Economics, had never attended a
Limmud event or observed any of
the Jewish holidays. That
changed this winter.
At his girlfriend’s urging,
Merchov traveled to Israel with
birthright israel, which offers 18to 26-year-old Diaspora Jews free
trips to the Jewish state to boost
their connections to Israel and
bolster their Jewish identity.
“It’s a small part of the community, and I know a lot of people
here,” Merchov said at Limmud.
“Now I’ve met a lot more.”
With the relatively small crowd,
many attendees ran into people
they knew from in between
Limmud seminars on everything
from Jewish fashion to the army
and civil society in Israel. The
young crowd mingled well into
the wee hours each night over
bottles of wine or role-playing
games in the hotel’s basement.
Saturday night featured a jazz
concert.
When planning for the Russian
version of Limmud began several
years ago, philanthropist Sandra
Cahn of New York and Chaim
Chesler, an emissary to the region
from the Jewish Agency for
Israel, relied heavily on $1,2 million in start-up capital and organisational support from outside the
former Soviet Union.
Limmudniks at a retreat in Moscow participate in a Havdalah ceremony, on April 11. (CREDIT: GRANT SLATER)
“At the beginning we were like
blind
kittens,”
said
Anna
Smulyanskaya, a member of the
conference board. “But now the
preparation has been more professional. We know the mistakes
that we made.”
Successful in the Moscow area,
Limmud now is spreading to elsewhere in the former Soviet Union.
While Limmudniks juggled
seminars and flirted across dinner tables, Chesler held late-night
meetings with representatives
from the World Jewish Congress
and the World Congress of
Russian-Speaking Jews to discuss
future Limmuds.
In October, a Limmud retreat
will be held in the city of Yalta on
Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula.
The Yalta Limmud will rely in
part on the largesse of Vadim
Rabinovich, a media mogul and
outspoken
figure
in
the
Ukrainian Jewish community.
Chesler said he also expected
the support of Moshe Kantor, the
president of the Russian and
European Jewish congresses,
who might also give a presentation on his burgeoning collection
of Russian art.
The Ukraine Limmud will be
followed by a conference in
Belarus dedicated entirely to
Jewish art and cultural issues.
Plans to hold a conference for
Russian-speaking Jews in Israel
were also taking shape, Chesler
said.
Noting that participants in last
weekend’s retreat paid their own
way, Chesler said he had every
intention of fashioning Limmud
FSU into an indigenous organisation. While Russian donors at
first expected some amount of
control or recognition for their
contributions to the project, that
has changed.
“Now,” Chesler said, “they give
you a credit line and you go out
and do it”. (JTA)
Vorobiof on the fallacies surrounding cancer
STAFF REPORTER
LESS THAN five per cent of all
cancers were hereditary. Those
were the cold facts, said Dr Daniel
Vorobiof, a medical oncologist
and founder of the Sandton
Oncology Centre, which was the
first of its kind in South Africa at
the time.
He said it was a fallacy that
only those with genetic predisposition to cancer could get it.
“Over the years, we have seen
an increase in the number of
occurrences of cancer, but I don’t
believe there has been an explosion. It is a fact that people are
more aware of the illness, are
more educated about it and are
more open to discussion.
“There used to be a stigma
attached to having cancer. In fact,
in some close communities, it was
not discussed and as doctors, we
were often told by relatives not to
tell the patient that he or she had
cancer.”
That has all changed, said
Vorobiof. People were now more
open about it. Stories about cancer were prevalent in movies, on
TV, in newspapers and magazines. “The message is conveyed
directly.”
As a doctor, Vorobiof said it was
better to be open and straight
with patients than to hide behind
fairytales.
“However, there are times we
still have to respect the wishes of
the family and patient,” he says.
The first thing he asks his
patient is: “What do you know,
and how much do you want to
know about your illness. Based on
this we can build up a programme
for the patient on how much
information to supply. Once he
has absorbed the information and
come to terms with it, we build on
that while the patient becomes
more aware about his condition.”
The types of cancer depended
on the population. In the nonblack population, colorectal cancers were more prevalent among
all sexes and races, but the most
common in men were prostate
cancer and in women lung and
breast cancer.
In black patients, says Vorobiof,
there is a much larger variety of
cancers such as oesophageal and
lung cancer in men, and cervical
cancers in women. Cancer is also
more prevalent in HIV-affected
patients
because
they
are
immuno-compromised and therefore have a higher risk of developing cancer.
“Cancer is a treatable disease,
as compared with curable,
although there are a number of
cancers that can be cured. Many
cancers cannot be cured, like
other chronic diseases such as
diabetes, hypertension, heart disease and heart failure, which
although it cannot be cured, can
be successfully treated.
“The earlier the detection, the
more successful the treatment
will be and the higher the number
of cures. Of importance is the
type of cancer, the stage and the
condition of the patient.”
Vorobiof says there are approximately 350 different types of cancer which, in every patient,
varies. It can be at different stages
with many different factors.
Seventy five per cent of these cancers are treatable, and of those 40
per cent are curable with different modalities of treatment such
as surgery, radiotherapy and
chemotherapy.
“In South Africa, and other
developed countries, we have
resources to do so. In underdeveloped countries, the success figures are much lower. It all boils
down to education and this is
being done extensively by many
support groups like CANSA, the
Breast and Prostate Cancer foundations, etc.
“Their aim is to create awareness and understanding, and
seeking earlier care which will
result in more cures.”
Ninety five per cent of cancers
are caused by environmental and
dietary factors such as working in
certain carcinogenic environments and/or with known carcinogens such as asbestos. Other
promoting factors are sun exposure, tobacco, and certain infections (mainly of viral origin).
Stress is considered as a possible cause, but it is difficult to
measure. “Cancer is not produced
by one single cause or effect. It is
a number of elements working
together over a long period of
time. It is a long and slow process,
but it is not a death sentence.
“There are many ways of treating and curing it, and many peo-
ple live long and productive lives.
It does not discriminate, and can
attack everyone from different
walks of life,” he stresses.
His advice on detecting cancer
is that women should do breast
self-examinations monthly and
have regular mammograms.
Women between the ages of 40
and 50 should have a mammogram once a year if they have a
first degree relative diagnosed
with breast cancer. Also a
colonoscopy is advisable once
every five years.
Men over 50 should take blood
tests for prostate cancer every
year, and should also undergo
general examinations yearly.
“These are guidelines and not
strict rules and they should be
tailored to the patient’s condition,
age and economics. Blood tests
generally are not used for diagnosis, but only to confirm the diagnosis.
“So-called blood tumour markers are used as parameters to
determine the effectiveness of
therapy, especially when they are
elevated from diagnosis,” he says.
Vorobiof was born in Argentina
and studied to be a doctor there.
He then made aliyah and did his
internship and specialised in
internal medicine in Beersheva.
In the last ‘70s, he became part of
an exchange programme with the
University of Pretoria, specialising in medical oncology.
He stayed on until 1989, when
he relocated to Johannesburg and
opened the first medical oncology
practice in Sandton. Two years
later, he turned the oncology
practice into the first, multi-disciplinary oncology centre where
patients could receive chemother-
apy and radiotherapy under one
roof. It was the first of its kind in
South Africa.
The centre is also involved in a
strong educational and research
programme in different fields in
conjunction with the International Breast Cancer Study
Group, Breast Cancer International and Colorectal Research,
Melanoma and Ovarian Cancer
Groups, together with European
oncology co-operative research
centres.
There are more than 20 different clinical research programmes
running at the centre which has
also started training people from
other African countries, with
clinical research assistants coming from afar afield as Nigeria.
The Oncology Centre treats not
only patients from Gauteng, but
from other places in the country,
as well as from many subSaharan countries.
Among others, Vorobiof trained as a specialist physician. He
lectured at the University of
Pretoria’s faculty of medicine and
is a part-time consultant at the
Breast Cancer Clinic of the
Johannesburg
Hospital
and
Gynaecology-Oncology Centre in
Johannesburg.
He is very involved with many
national and international oncology groups and has dedicated a
large part of his time to improving education in oncology training by organising congresses and
meetings of international relevance and by being associated as
editor to many oncology-related
international journals.
He has published extensively
and lectured at numerous congresses all around the world.
25 April - 02 May 2008
SA JEWISH REPORT
LIFTS
ZAIDA’S TAXI SERVICE
We specialise in transport,
house-to-destination, school
service, old age homes
and airport trips.
Call Zaida
(011) 646-5265 or
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082-921-1090
MISCELLANEOUS
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HOW TO PLACE A CLASSIFIED ADVERT:
1. Only adverts sent via email to [email protected] will be accepted. 2. You will be advised on cost & payment details. 3.
Payment is prior to the advert appearing. 4. DEADLINE for BOOKING and PAYMENT is Tuesday 12pm. If deadline is missed
the advert will appear (when payment is received) in the next edition. Our banking details: SA Jewish Report, Nedbank
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base and mattress R900 each.
Hava
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or a/h
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CARLO. R15000 o.n.o.
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24
SA JEWISH REPORT
25 April - 02 May 2008
Please support
our advertisers
Shireen sees mishaps Betar Jerusalem fumes
merely as challenges over punishment
JERUSALEM - Betar Jerustraight league title.
salem received an unpreceThe IFA’s tribunal also deciddented punishment for their
ed that the eastern stand at
fans’ pitch invasion at Teddy
Teddy, from which the fans
Stadium last week, the
stormed the pitch, will be
Jerusalem Post reports.
closed for a further two matchThe reigning champions had
es and that, should there be a
two points deducted from their
recurrence of the incident, the
tally this season and will start
club will be shut down for two
next season with a four-point
matches.
deduction and were also given Betar Jerusalem’s
“Betar have a very severe
a technical 2-0 loss in logo.
disciplinary record,” the Israel
their match against Maccabi
Football Association tribunal’s
Herzliya.
verdict read. “A look at their past convicBetar will also play their remaining
tions starting from 2005 shows that the
three home matches of the season, against
club has more than 20 previous convicBnei Yehuda, Maccabi Netanya and Bnei
tions related to fan trouble.”
Sakhnin, in front of empty stands, as well
“This is a disproportionate punishment,
as the first match at Teddy next season,
considering what has happened over the
and were handed a 30 000 shekel fine.
previous 20 years. We will definitely
Betar were leading 1-0 against Herzliya
appeal,” a Betar spokesman said, referwhen thousands of fans stormed the field
ring to the numerous times fans of other
in the 87th minute of the match to celeclubs have entered the pitch to celebrate
brate their team closing in on a second
league titles.
JACK MILNER
THE COMMON expression in modern sport
is: “No pain, no gain.” It is true that most
sportsmen and women who try to reach the
pinnacle of their respective sports, learn to
fight their way through the pain threshold.
But occasionally there is somebody who
rises above the normal limits in their drive
to succeed.
That is true of Shireen Sapiro, a 17-yearold swimmer who in 2004 had a life-changing
experience. Shireen was water skiing on the
Vaal River when she came off her skis and
was run over by another boat.
Her pelvis was shattered and her femoral
nerve ripped out. There was extensive damage to the gluteal muscles and while her
hamstring works, her quadriceps on her left
leg were paralysed.
It was a huge emotional upheaval for
Shireen. She spent the next six months flat
on her back and she had to learn to walk all
over again.
“I was a natural swimmer before the accident. I was swimming since I was nine years
old,” said Shireen.
Her accident put her out of swimming for
two years but Shireen was determined to
come back. “I wanted to prove to myself that
I could do it again. It was the hardest thing I
ever had to do.”
Shireen did some training and returned to
swimming in a school gala, an event she had
dominated before her accident. “I honestly
thought I would get in the pool and be exactly the same.”
It was not the same. In fact the gala turned
out to be a disaster for Shireen as she trailed
in a well-beaten fourth. “It was a huge emotional let down. I didn’t swim again competitively for a few months.”
Realising that she was not strong enough
to keep up with the seniors, Shireen began
training with the juniors at Mustangs in
Bedfordview. Slowly but surely she began to
improve and things got better for her 18
months ago when she joined Bishop Bevin
Seals, also in Bedfordview, and was coached
by former South African Olympian, Theo
Verster.
“The change was remarkable. What he did
for me mentally was just unbelievable.
“I started with Theo in October 2006 and
by December at the World Championships
that were staged at Kings Park Pool in
Durban, I had taken 13 seconds off my 100m
backstroke time. It was totally psychological. I had only been with Theo for three
months.”
She participated in the S10 section of the
competition, which is for swimmers with
muscle dysfunction.
From January last year Shireen attended
Bishop Bevin School and that year, at the
junior world champs at Dellville Pool in
Germiston, she came away with six gold
medals. In May last year she and Natalie du
Toit were the only two South African
females invited to take part in the FINA
World Cup in Manchester, and Shireen came
away with a bronze medal.
Then came the Telkom SA Short Course
National
Championships
in
Pietermaritzburg in August last year and Shireen
broke the world record for the 50m backstroke. “I almost took a second off the
record.”
Then earlier this month at the National
Championships in Durban, which were also
part of the Olympic trial, Shireen came
away with two more world records, shaving
Shireen Sapiro, seen displaying her
numerous medals, will be off to Beijing
later this year to represent South Africa
in the Paralympics.
0,39 seconds off the 100m backstroke when
winning in one minute, 11,86 seconds and
then took an awesome 1,79 seconds off the
50m backstroke, scoring in 33,46 seconds.
“I never believed I would swim a 1:11. I am
now doing better times than I was capable of
before my accident. I also know I can go
faster. I can feel it in my blood.”
So as a result of her excellent times,
Shireen is off the Beijing to represent South
Africa at the Paralympics and based on her
current times, she has to be one of the
favourites for a gold medal.
“I am ready to shake and bake,” laughs
Shireen. “I want to win but I will go in to do
my best. I know I’m capable.
“To be chosen to represent South Africa is
an unbelievable honour.”
On May 7 Shireen will be travelling with
Natalie once again to Manchester for the
World Cup where she will contest the 100m
backstroke. “They have a few wild card
events so I may swim in some other races,
but my focus will be on winning the gold
medal.
“It also gives me an opportunity to lay
down some ground work and study my opposition as most of my Olympic competitors
will be there.”
She has been advised to have a good look
at a photograph of Prime Minister Gordon
Brown so she doesn’t have a repeat of an
embarrassing situation that happened last
year.
“I literally bumped into this guy and he
started asking me how I was enjoying myself
and asked about the championships and I
was just talking back to him like a rebel.”
As Shireen walked away everybody came
up to her and asked. “So what did Tony Blair
say to you?”
Shireen is also doing well in able-body
competition. In the Level 3 Nationals she
qualified as the first reserve for the 100m
backstroke.
But the most amazing thing about this
young lady is her wonderful and positive
approach to life. “I have met some amazing
people and I feel I am a better and stronger
person as a result of the accident.
“I have never been angry with G-d for this
happening to me. I believe that everything
happens for a reason.”