New corruption scandal dooms chances of Olmert comeback

CURIOUS PICTURES - ‘A
COUNTRY IMAGINED’ / 12
SPECIAL NALEDI FOR
DAPHNE KUHN / 13
BOOKS:
BOEREJODE
AND THE BOER
WAR / 13
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Friday, 23 April 2010 / 9 Iyar 5770
Volume 14 Number 14
New corruption scandal dooms
chances of Olmert comeback
PAGE 8
SINGING ‘HIGH NOTES’
FOR ISRAEL’S 62ND
Keynote singers Adam Davis, Oshy Tugendhaft, and
Mark Samowitz on stage at the Kyalami Theatre on
the Track where the Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations
for Israel’s 62nd birthday were held on Sunday.
(PHOTO: JEREMY FELDMAN) SEE PAGES 4-5
Remembering
Vilna exhibit in CT - ‘Beyond Goldstone saga continues FEATURE: Focus on
/ 3, 10, 11, 14, 15
Israel’s fallen / 4-5 historical narrative’ / 2
Hutton Court / 21
YOUTH / 18-19
SPORTS / 24
LETTERS / 14-15
CROSSWORD & SUDOKU / 20
COMMUNITY BUZZ / 7
WHAT’S ON / 20
2
SA JEWISH REPORT
23 - 30 April 2010
PARSHA OF THE WEEK
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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Stan Kaplan (Chairman)
Issie Kirsh (Deputy Chairman), Marlene
Bethlehem, Russell Gaddin, Norman
Lowenthal, Bertie Lubner,
Benjy Porter, Herby
Rosenberg, Howard Sackstein,
Jason Valkin.
KASHRUT
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advertisements and/or advertising features to indicate whether or not they are
kosher. Where no Kashrut mark appears
on an advert, the Jewish Report
assumes no responsibility for the
Kashrut status of that establishment or
advertiser:
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K Kosher
Where no symbols appear, consult the
Beth Din Kosher Guide or contact the
advertiser.
Advertisements and editorial copy from
outside sources do not neccessarily reflect
the views of the editors and staff.
Healthy mind, healthy body
THERE IS a strong belief that
your mental state affects your
physical well-being. If you bear
resentment and are full of anger
this can manifest in physical
symptoms and might even lead
to life threatening illness.
I have heard medical doctors
expounding this philosophy and
there seems to be growing evidence that a significant part of
our health and longevity is
affected by our positive or negative mind sets.
In the famous story of a wouldbe convert approaching Hillel
and asking him to teach him the
whole Torah while he stood on
one foot, Hillel replied: “Do not
do to others as you would not
have done to yourself, the rest is
commentary, go and learn.”
Hillel in fact extrapolated this
idea from the positive instruction “and you shall love your
neighbour as yourself” (Vayikra
19:18). That verse is preceded by
this idea: “You shall not hate
your brother in your heart, you
shall surely rebuke your neighbour and do not bear a sin
because of him.”
Maimonides explains that one
meaning of rebuking your neighbour is referring to keeping the
PARSHAT
ACHAREI MOT
/ KEDOSHIM
Rabbi Ron Hendler
Northfield Shul - Beit
Chana
grievance in your heart without
revealing it to the one whom you
hate. He explains that if you
reveal your upset you are no
longer guilty of hating the person in your heart. One could
argue that the Torah is not only
concerned about the well-being
of your neighbor, but is clearly
concerned about your personal
well-being and by bottling up
something in your heart you will
harm yourself even more than
the other person.
A beautiful idea about bearing
grudges has been expressed as
follows: “It is like swallowing poison and hoping the other person
will die.”
We lie awake at night playing
the grudge or upset over and over
in our heads and the other person often does not know. The
Ramban says that you owe it to
SHABBAT TIMES
April 23/9 Iyar
April 24/10 Iyar
your neighbour to give him a
chance to explain himself.
Why is it that we will so often
tell everybody how we have been
wronged but we will not confront
the so called wrong-doer himself ?
The answer is because it is easier
to talk behind someone’s back
than to look in their eyes and tell
them the truth.
We also may feel that our upset
is childish or petty and is not really worth making a fuss about. It
requires courage to be open and
honest about the way that a person feels. As much as it is a mitzvah to eat kosher food and to keep
Shabbat, it is a mitzvah to be open
and clear about the way that we
feel towards other people.
There is a danger that when one
gets it off his chest that he may
shame or upset the one who is
upsetting him. No doubt this bothers many people and so they keep
quiet. The last part of this verse
anticipates this and says: “Do not
bear a sin because of him.”
This means when we confront
our neighbour we must do it in a
clear and peaceful way. The Torah
is warning us to keep a balanced
approach to being honest on the
one hand and yet on the other
hand not shaming or attacking the
other party. Many communication
courses have been created to
Acharei Mot/Kedoshim
Starts
17:27
17:57
17:11
17:31
17:28
17:20
Ends
18:16
18:47
18:01
18:21
18:19
18:10
Johannesburg
Cape Town
Durban
Bloemfontein
Port Elizabeth
East London
teach this principle in the business world.
The Divine author of the
Torah who created human
nature, has laid out for us in the
clearest of terms about how to
improve our inner well-being.
Today heart disease is a significant killer. We need to be careful
that we do not add to the burden
of our heart by holding on to
feelings which can last a very
long time.
Many people carry anger
against the government, politicians, other racial groups, other
Jews who are not like them, the
list is infinite.
We are busy on the treadmill
at the gym to keep our bodies fit
and healthy. The Torah warns us
that we need to keep our inner
world just as healthy. I encourage you to write this verse down
and to make it a mantra until it
becomes part of your daily life.
Vilna exhibition looks ‘beyond historical narrative’
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
MOIRA SCHNEIDER
CAPE TOWN
RACHEL KOSTANIAN’S mother
sent her to a Russian orphanage at
the start of the Second World War
to give her a chance of survival. At
the end of the war, having lost 48
members of their family to the
Holocaust, the two were reunited
and made their home in Vilnius.
Today, she is the deputy director of the Green House Vilna
Gaon Jewish State Museum and
one of 10 individuals who are profiled in Surviving History:
Portraits from Vilna, currently
on display at the Cape Town
Holocaust Centre. The travelling
multi-media exhibition presents
the life stories of those who similarly survived the massacre of
around 95 per cent of Lithuanian
Jewry and chose to remain there
after liberation.
South
African
Holocaust
Foundation Director Richard
Freedman, told the gathering
attending the opening, that the
exhibition looked “beyond the typical historical narrative” leading
to a “far deeper understanding of
the Holocaust as we get to know
the internal thoughts, special
objects and places which constitute these survivors’ lives.”
Project
leaders
Shivaun
Woolfsohn and Frances Tay came
from the UK to attend the opening
and to conduct workshops and
seminars for, among others, history teachers and the Cape Town
Holocaust Centreís education staff
and volunteers.
Woolfsohn, whose grandparents
A visitor to Surviving History: Portraits from Vilna views the exhibition currently on at the Cape Town
Holocaust Centre.
left Poland and Lithuania for
Ireland in the early years of the
last century to escape pogroms,
told the audience she had felt a
‘moral imperative’ to tell the individuals’ stories. Some had never
spoken of their experiences
before.
“The spirit of the Lithuanian
Jews does live on,” she said.
“They are the ones left behind to
tell the tale. I wanted to share
their memories and the lives
they’d carved out after the war.”
Each one had given her some-
thing that told its own story, for
instance, an amber pendant, a yarmulke, a siddur, a paintbox.
Included in the exhibition are
memory boxes which, she said,
enabled the team to “access the
inner life of each of these individuals”.
She described the project as “a
small attempt at repairing and
restoring a slither of the collective
soul that has been discarded”.
Cantor Ivor Joffe and members
of the Herzlia Ensemble gave a
rendition of Vilna, a song sung in
the Vilna Ghetto, and Mir Lebn
Eybik. Matthew Reid performed
instrumental pieces Budapest and
Belz: Mayn shtetele Belz.
• The exhibition is on at the
Cape Town Holocaust Centre, 88
Hatfield Street, Cape Town until
April 29. For more information
contact (021) 462-5553. It will be
displayed in Johannesburg at the
Rabbi Cyril Harris Community
Centre from May 5 - 17 and at the
Durban Holocaust Centre at
The Jewish Club from May 25 June 7/8.
23 - 30 April 2010
SA JEWISH REPORT
Brickbats and bouquets
THE SO-CALLED “Goldstone barmitzvah” issue has sent temperatures in the South African Jewish
community through the roof, and
has reverberated throughout the
Jewish world, with even a prominent American lawmaker entering
the fray.
The Jewish Report has been in
the firing line from some, an easy
target for bringing this issue into
the open. But also many prominent
members of the community, who,
like this newspaper, hold no brief
for Goldstone, still bemoan the fact
that a barmitzvah has seemingly
become a political controversial
issue.
Some of our letter writers say
bluntly that Justice Goldstone,
through his half-baked report on
Operation Cast Lead, has effectively
excommunicated himself from the
Jewish community, while others including the Chief Rabbi - make it
abundantly clear that a shul must
be open at all times to all Jews.
On our letters pages some of
these views are expressed: for and
against the suggested protest,
should he attend the barmitzvah.
Some rabbis are seething and talk-
3
ing about loshan hora on the part of
the paper.
At this stage blood to the head
has in many cases prevented a
cogent debate about this extremely
important issue. What is encouraging is that even those who are baying for Jewish Report blood are
quite prepared to do so on our own
pages - see pages 10, 11, 14, 15. It is
obvious that this “debate” has not
yet run its course.
Space constraints restrict us
from publishing all the letters we
have received.
In this sorry saga we have no
axe to grind, except being a messenger of news important to the
community.
Goldstone barmitzvah
furore bubbles and boils
MOIRA SCHNEIDER
CAPE TOWN
THE SOUTH African Zionist
Federation (SAZF) would protest Mr
Justice Richard Goldstone’s presence at his grandson’s barmitzvah
should he change his mind and
decide to attend, according to a
report in Monday’s Cape Times.
Last week, the Federation issued a
media release stating that “contrary
to distorted media reports and false
blog accusations, the SAZF states
unequivocally that at no time was
there any suggestion raised by any
party that Judge Goldstone should
be ‘barred’ or ‘banned’ from entering the synagogue.”
But SAZF Chairman Avrom
Krengel told the Cape Town daily
that Justice Goldstone “would also
not be receiving a welcome reception if he chose to make it to the barmitzvah. ‘We’ll exercise our constitutional right to protest’,” he reportedly said.
The South African Jewish Board
of Deputies (SAJBD) entered the
fray issuing its own statement denying that Justice Goldstone had been
pressurised into not attending by
certain sectors of the Jewish leadership. “At no time was Judge
Goldstone prohibited from, or even
requested, not to attend the barmitzvah ceremony by any organisation
or individual,” it reads.
“Rather, this was a decision voluntarily taken by the Goldstone
family and the other respective parties. Certain senior Jewish communal and religious leaders were certainly involved in the discussions
around the topic, but in no way did
they attempt to dictate to or otherwise pressurise the family into
arriving at their decision.”
But the Cape Board issued a separate statement in response to what it
termed ‘pressure’ resulting in
Justice Goldstone not attending his
grandson’s barmitzvah, saying it
“deeply regrets that a religious
milestone has been politicised and
disagrees with the manner in which
this matter has been handled. This
position is in no way a comment on
the merits or demerits of the
Goldstone Commission and its subsequent report,” it read.
In a very even-handed op-ed piece
in today’s Jewish Report, Chief
Rabbi Warren Goldstein emphasised the “ancient and sacred principle” of open shuls. He in conjunction with the rabbi and lay leaders of
the Sandton Shul - where the barmitzvah is to take place - had taken
a decision that the synagogue was to
be open to the entire family, including Justice Goldstone “and that
everything possible would be done
to ensure that the barmitzvah be
celebrated with the dignity and joy
befitting such an important religious milestone”.
Writing in its Above Board column in this week’s paper, SAJBD
National Chairman Zev Krengel
speaks of “widely divergent views
over what constitutes an appropri-
ate time and manner for people to
express their outrage against
(Justice Goldstone). Given the seriousness of what Goldstone has done,
can even a barmitzvah ceremony justifiably become an occasion for
protest action?” he asks.
“Some say ‘yes’, others say ‘no’,
and among those who say ‘yes’ there
are differences of opinion over what
form that protest action should
take.”
Pleading for tolerance for differences of opinion, Krengel states that
it is often found that “those who are
the most vocal in calling for tolerance are in reality guilty of the very
lack of tolerance they deplore. This
has certainly been in evidence over
the Goldstone barmitzvah issue.
“Some insist that discouraging a
man from attending his own grandson’s barmitzvah is an act of extreme
intolerance, yet what this amounts to
is condemning out of hand those who
wish only to exercise their right to
freedom of expression. Justice
Goldstone has every right to attend
his grandson’s barmitzvah if he so
wishes, but by the same token those
who wish to protest against him (so
long, obviously, as this is done peacefully) have just as much right,” he
writes.
The SAJBD strives to promote a
culture of tolerance of diversity in
which all streams of opinion may be
expressed, in order to prevent the
community becoming polarised by
such controversies, he says.
A source in the community leadership who did not wish to be identified
said that “the strong feeling among
very many South African Jews is one
of disapproval of any attempt to disrupt the boy’s barmitzvah by protest.
Protests and demonstrations against
Justice Goldstone could have taken
place elsewhere, but not at the shul
on the barmitzvah Shabbat.”
The embassy celebrates
Israel’s 62nd birthday
A le chaim for Israel: Ambassador Johan Marx, chief director, Middle East, Department of
International Relations and Co-operation clinks glasses with with Israel’s Ambassador to
South Africa, Dov Segev-Steinberg at Yom Ha’atmaut celebration in Pretoria, on Tuesday
(PHOTOGRAPH BY ILAN OSSENDRYVER)
CONTACT
Trevor Stamelman: 082-608-0168
Tel: (011) 885-3742
[email protected]
www.stamelmanproperties.co.za
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• For pictures of these and other properties go to www.stamelmanproperties.co.za
4
SA JEWISH REPORT
23 - 30 April 2010
‘Holy soldiers’ died so that others may live
STORY BY RITA LEWIS
PHOTOGRAPH: ILAN
OSSENDRYVER
TO SEE name after name appearing on a screen, accompanied by
the date they died; each name that
of a young Israeli/Jewish life
snuffed out in war or terror, in
defence of the State of Israel,
makes tears flow involuntarily.
And when a young girl, Atara
Barak Shrem, brought out from
Israel, poignantly related to the
gathering at Yeshiva College in
Johannesburg, at the commemoration service for Yom Hazikaron,
the story of the tragic death of her
brother, Hanan, while a video of
his life was shown, relating the circumstances of his death, there
were very few dry eyes.
The 500 strong crowd who had
come to commemorate Israel’s
fallen, heard how tank commander Uriel Liwerant who, when
trapped in his vehicle during a
drill, had compromised his own
safety to save his three compatriots and in the process, had lost his
own life.
Netanel Azizollahoff recalled
the day - June 25 2006 - when his
group of four soldiers was
ambushed by Palestinians who
had infiltrated from Gaza. In that
attack his best friend Hanan
Barak was killed along with
another soldier, one was injured
and Gilad Shalit was captured and
is still being held by Hamas.
“But,” said Israel’s Ambassador
to South Africa, Dov Segev-
Steinberg, “this is the reality of
the existence of the State of Israel.
It is one of immeasurable human
sacrifice in order to ensure that
the triumphal cry, ‘Am Yisrael
Chai’ (the people of Israel live),
echoes eternally.
“But, while we prepare to celebrate Israel’s 62nd year, the realities of our circumstances are
never far from our minds.
“In truth, it is impossible that
they ever could be, for the reality
of the existence of the State of
Israel is that until peace finally
descends on the Land of Israel, we
must anticipate that only our own
vigilance, our determination to
survive and our willingness to
make the ultimate sacrifice, will
ensure that we live in an atmosphere that allows us to conduct
our lives and raise our children in
a manner befitting any normal,
morally-orientated society.”
Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein
quoted from the Torah the passage: “I am with you in your pain.
“Tonight we feel the pain of
those who have lost brothers, sisters and close relatives. We are
here to pay our respects to them
all. There is a pain that never goes
away. We think of them, not just
today on Yom Hazikaron, but all
the time.”
He said that their deaths were a
source of inspiration. They were
holy soldiers who had died for justice and the State of Israel.
“We respect and admire everything that they have done for the
continuance of the Jewish peo-
Atara Barak Shrem remembers her brother, Hanan Barak.
ple,” he said.
During the evening organised by
the SAZF, chairman Avrom
Krengel spoke of the pain of
telling families of the loss of their
loved ones.
The Embassy of Israel, the
Israel Centre, the IUA-UCF and
Zionist youth movements also
helped with the organising of the
event. The lowering of the flag was
done by Israel Silberhaft who himself had fought in the War of
Independence.
The Last Post was sounded by
Captain Bryan Abbott and a prayer
for the safety of Israeli soldiers
was recited both in Hebrew and
English by Adam Merkel. This was
followed by the lighting of candles.
Candles for each of the wars
were lit by representatives of the
different youth organisations and
involved dignitaries. These included the War of Independence, 1948;
Sinai Campaign, 1956; Six Day
War, 1967; War of Attrition, 196970; Yom Kippur War, 1973; First
Lebanese War, 1982; Second
Lebanese War, 2006; while candles
were lit for the victims of terror
and Intifada by the head boys and
girls of the Jewish day schools.
Ha’atzmaut High Notes a
world-class production
ROBYN SASSEN
PHOTOGRAPH: JEREMY FELDMAN
IT’S NOT every day that a communal organisation marries ego and
understanding of professional priorities to cater for a diverse and
critical audience, and turn out a
world-class production. “High
Notes”, staged under the aegis of
the SAZF Monday evening in celebration of Yom Ha’atzmaut at
Theatre on the Track, Kyalami
ticked all the boxes in terms of critical acumen and sheer Zionist and
entertainment values.
Bryan Schimmel, invited to
musically direct the production,
promised to deliver something
completely different; he’s a man of
his word. The unequivocal success
of “High Notes” attests to inspired
wisdom of its executive producer
Isla Feldman in hiring the best of
the best for the job.
It was an evening in which the
identity of an electric violin could
slip from cutting-edge technology
into that of a klezmer fiddle and
back again, without apologetics.
The repertoire of 13 traditional
favourites slickly rejigged by
Schimmel and Israel-based Eitan
Sobel, brought musical quotes
from all over the jazz and musicals
genres.
Chords from “Fiddler on the
Roof” and Hatikvah were beautifully segued into the arrangements, evoking a new musical
repertoire that engages respectfully with religious liturgy as it frolicks with popular song.
The programme was backed by
boy band-like harmonies and led
by superb tenors: Adam Davis,
Mark Samowitz and Elan Lea from
South Africa; Israel-based Liron
Lev and Hananel Edri, who flew to
Johannesburg a day after graduating from New York’s Juilliard
School of Music.
Oshy Tugendhaft, who needs no
introduction to the community,
stole the show with his soaring
vocals and his affable personality
as he served as both MC and key
soloist.
The production was contextualised and introduced by Ya’akov
Finkelstein, Deputy Chief of
Mission in the Israeli Embassy;
Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein; and
chairman of the SAZF, Avrom
Krengel.
Finkelstein spoke movingly of
his first Yom Ha’atzmaut away
from home, as a soldier in Lebanon
in 1993. “Watching fireworks from
the other side of the border, I
realised that guys like me and my
friends, who were 18, 19 or 20 years
old, were giving their all to make
Israel what it is.
“Israel does not have lots of natural resources. Our human
resources of Jewish genius and
passion to succeed is what gives
her life.
Chief Rabbi Goldstein congratulated the organisers of the event,
adding that “events of this nature
help us to express our pride in
Zionism and in being Jewish”.
He went on to draw an analogy
between 1948 CE, the year of
Israel’s birth, and 1948 BCE, the
year of Abraham’s birth. “Zionism
is not 62 years old, it is almost 4 000
years old. It is built on Jewish destiny and legacy. May Hashem bless
the State of Israel and our soldiers
who defend her.”
Krengel thanked the professionals and staff involved in High
Notes, who enabled it to flow “like
milk and honey”. He commented
that three weeks ago in the celebration of Pesach, we commemorated
how “our forefathers went from
servitude to freedom, thanks to
heavenly intervention”.
From right: Tenors Adam Davis, Elan Lea and Hananel Edri.
He referred to the three commemorative events, in Pesach’s
wake, which acknowledge contemporary history: Yom Hashoah; Yom
Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut,
celebrating how our people were
able to emerge from the ashes of
the crematoria of Europe to being
the envy of the world.
“Everything we take for granted
now didn’t exist 62 years ago,” he
added. “We have G-d and the people
of Israel to thank for allowing us as
Jews to live in peace. In spite of
enemies who try to destroy and
delegitimise us through boycotts
and disinformation, Jews must
stay united and hold fast to our
beliefs.”
The production was seamlessly
stitched together with careful
sound design by Richard Smith,
which lent it essential balance and
crispness.
Not only were melodies and
nuances within melodies upheld
audibly with freshness, but a supporting audio-visual programme
put together and designed by coproducer
Linda
Starkowitz,
enhanced the accessibility and
emotional impact of the show,
highlighting Israel’s joys and
challenges, and brought across
the
Zionist
message
with
strength, but not crassness, conviction and emotional validity;
never cliché.
Durban celebrates Israel’s birthday in environmental style
STORY BY LAUREN SHAPIRO
DURBAN
THAT ISRAEL’S 62nd year of
independence coincides with the
International Year of Biodiversity, was not lost on the Durban
Jewish community.
The annual Yom Ha’atzmaut
celebration, co-ordinated at the
Durban Jewish Centre by the
KwaZulu-Natal Zionist Council,
took this connection to heart in
its planning of the event.
Each table was set with blue
boxes and decorated with flowering seedlings for the guests to
take home and plant in their
homes and gardens.
The celebration’s recycling
needs were expertly managed by
Don’t Waste Services, and children’s activities included environmental awareness projects
such as arts and crafts using
recycled materials.
Those who attended also had
the opportunity to buy trees, to
be planted either in South
Africa or in Israel, to offset their
own carbon footprints (the
amount of carbon generated by
daily activities such as driving,
cooking, and using electrical
appliances, which consume fossil fuels).
Israel has long been a world
leader in environmental affairs,
with the Jewish National Fund
instituting
programmes
of
afforestation, desalination, solar
energy, and environmentally
sound agricultural methods,
even before the State was formally established in 1948.
In addition to the emphasis
on greening the environment,
the celebration also placed a
significant focus on the youth
of the community, with a
range of Israeli and environmentally themed activities
co-ordinated by Durban’s new
community youth shlicha,
Shachar Liran.
After an enthusiastic flag ceremony and Israeli dancing, KNZC
Honorary Officer Sue Edmunds
addressed the youth: “I turn to
you, young people and to your
parents, your madrichim and
your teachers. Our community
and the Jewish world need you
to know what it means to be a
very proud Jew.”
23 - 30 April 2010
SA JEWISH REPORT
5
They make sure that Shoah
horror will never be forgotten
RITA LEWIS
WITH THE recent days of Yom Hashoah
and Yom Hazikaron still reverberating in
Jews’ thoughts, with their connection to
the horror of the Holocaust and the brutal
killing of six million Jews in the Second
World War, a group of South African
Jewish educators recently participated in a
12-day seminar at Yad Vashem’s International School for Holocaust Studies in
Jerusalem.
The seminar was created to allow educators from around the world to gain knowledge on the best and least traumatic way of
passing on information on what transpired
during the Holocaust, to their learners the imperative being that this information
not be allowed to die out with the present
dwindling number of survivors.
With the great interest shown in the tragic events which happened at that time and
the numerous groups of people regularly
joining the Marches of the Living to the
former death camps, 22 South African educators forfeited their December holiday to
learn about the Holocaust.
The group included rabbis, school principals and heads of departments from the
various Jewish schools, who all acknowledged that there was a dire need for
teacher professional development.
Teacher training in Holocaust is now
part of the National South African
Educational syllabus in history, English
and Life Orientation. It is hoped that all
Jewish educators will be able to visit
Jerusalem to experience and learn from
this powerful seminar held at the Yad
Vashem museum and for them to attend
the advance course offered by Yad Vashem.
The educators had the unique experience of learning with world experts on the
Shoah; teachers from Bar Ilan University
and Yad Vashem’s own International
Holocaust School gave lectures, led discussions and arranged outings for the participants.
Lectures covered, among other topics,
the 800 years of Jewish history in Eastern
Europe - specifically Poland and Lithuania.
Professor Yehudah Bauer who recently
represented Israel at the United Nations,
spoke of the “unprecedentedness” of the
Young
participants in
Durban’s
Yom
Hazikaron
remembrance,
with new
youth
shlicha
Shachar
Liran (far
right).
Yom Hazikaron in
Durban focuses on youth
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
LAUREN SHAPIRO
DURBAN
THE ICONIC Dam Hamakabim (Blood of
the Maccabees) sticker has become symbolic of Yom Hazikaron, the Day of
Remembrance for Israel’s fallen soldiers
and victims of terror.
Even on the south-eastern tip of Africa,
nearly 7 000 km from Israel, Durban Jews
proudly wear the sticker as a symbol of solidarity with Israel and in honour of the
fallen.
Nearly 24 000 soldiers and civilians have
been killed in military operations and terror attacks in Israel. In an annual memorial service organised by the KwaZulu-Natal
Zionist Council, the Durban Zionist community gathered at the Durban Jewish
Centre on April 18 to pay their respects to
the fallen.
On a stone monument, candles were lit
in memory, not only of those fallen in battle, but also those who lost their lives during routine military service and those who
still live with physical and emotional trauma. Finally, a candle was lit for the Land of
Israel and for peace.
The ceremony was the first project of the
Durban community’s new youth shlicha,
Shachar Liran. “In Israel, Yom Hazikaron
resonates with the youth because it’s most
relevant to them - it’s the closest they can
be to the army and the members of the
army,” said Liran.
“Most Yom Hazikaron ceremonies in
Israel are led by youth, and I’m really
happy that Durban youth were happy to
take part in this ceremony.”
Young members of the Durban community recited poetry and sang songs of
remembrance while a large audience
viewed a slide show of images of soldiers,
victims and citizens. Audience members
were also presented with an anthology of
poems written by Tzahal soldiers.
The ceremony was followed by a riveting
lecture by Dr Natan Durst, a Shoah survivor and psychologist specialising in trauma and the Shoah, organised by the
Durban Holocaust Centre.
Holocaust, stating that never before had
there been such an intolerable disregard
for human life.
Rivka Duker Fishman of the Hebrew
University spoke of the attitude of the
early Christians to the Jews, mentioning
the Crusaders, the blood libels, the Black
Death, pogroms and the expulsion of Jews
in the mediaeval period, as well as the mass
murder of Jews by Christians in Europe.
They learnt about the destruction of
some 4 400 communities across Europe
and the hardships endured by those in the
100 or so ghettos dotted across Europe,
with the Warsaw ghetto being so overcrowded, that the human traffic could only
move in one direction - or be injured in the
crush.
Descriptions were provided on the forethought and planning that went into the
creation and running of the death camps
and the forced death marches over freezing
terrain where many of them died.
One spoke of the train station at
Auschwitz, located in the centre of Europe,
which had 45 train lines converging there more than at Penn Station in New York -
Participants in the course on the Holocaust
run by Yad Vashem pose in Israel.
transporting Jews for extermination.
Participants also learnt that Jews did not
go “like lambs to the slaughter”, which was
the call to arms of the leader of the Kovno
ghetto. They resisted on many occasions,
especially in the Warsaw and Kovno ghettos.
In the end, however, there was nowhere
to run as in some European countries, local
inhabitants were often crueler than the
Nazis themselves.
The participants also met various
Holocaust survivors, including author,
poet and early childhood educator, Bat
Sheva Degan.
Another survivor, Gita Zikovitch, who is
today a great-grandmother and a survivor
of Auschwitz, told how she, her mother
and two sisters retained their faith
throughout Auschwitz and the difficulty of
their readjustment to “normal life” after
the war had finished.
6
SA JEWISH REPORT
23 - 30 April 2010
SOCIAL SCENE
Rita Lewis [email protected]
Organiser of the event, Val Blumenthal with Eric Samson and his
wife, Sheila.
Through YALE,
unlocking
human dignity
RITA LEWIS
PHOTOGRAPHS:
JOE YUDELOWITZ
YALE, the Young Adults Learning and Earning Centre in
Sandringham, Johannesburg,
which caters for intellectually
disabled Jewish adults, recently
reached maturity - 21 years of
age. This time for celebration.
Under normal circumstances
when someone reaches ‘the age
of consent’ or ‘adulthood’, they
receive a symbolic key to the
door. In YALE’s case, what the
residents receive is love, an
opportunity to work in a sheltered, supervised environment
and also a group home under the
watchful eye of a loving housemother and caring staff.
YALE was founded by Val
Blumenthal who is still involved
in a hands-on capacity and is
presently chairman of the
organisation. She says after the
adults enter YALE, the whole
demeanour of the ‘Yalers’ as
they are known, improves by
leaps and bounds as they learn
independent living skills.
She together with her committee of some nine people, they
recently put on the show Barmy
Days and held an auction to
raise much needed funds for the
organisation.
She spoke of the function of
YALE and praised director
Merle Sager for her constant
input as well as the competent
staff and the high standard of
the work centre. She also
thanked her vice chairman,
Susan Kacev, who had been at
her side for some 21 years and
her entire committee for their
faithful and energetic support.
The function which was held
in the Orchid Room of the HOD
Hall was attended by some 320
high profile people.
Barmy Days was first presented by the Jewish Guild
Theatre Group in 1966, but this
time by SAJACT, the South
African Arts and Culture Trust,
using extracts from ‘Barmy
Days’ which was originally
written by Natalie Knight some
43 years ago. Knight also wrote
the lyrics and although the play
was first presented a while ago,
it is still eminently enjoyable
today.
It was directed by Helen
Heldenmuth, who also played
the part of the bobba.
Also in the show were among
others, Lindy Brest, Rebecca
Eliason, Matthew Gordon, Jodi
Lynn Karpes, Warren Korron,
Ryan Isakov, Len Kay, Gabrielle
Levy, Darren Meltz, Lior
Ronthal,Gary Samson and Alon
Zahavi.
The auction was run under
the capable hands of Ariella
Kuper who flew in from Cape
Town especially to be the MC
and auctioneer.
She was able to raise a goodly
amount of money from the sale
of two Rolex watches, a William
Kentridge poster, beaded shirts,
artwork, holidays and jewellery.
SAJACT’s role in the community is to ‘find and nurture talented Jewish people and help
them reach their potential’. It
also provides a platform for
Jewish artistes of all disciplines where talent is exposed
and promoted.
The evening was dedicated to
Israel Alec Sackstein who
would have been 100 this year
and was Natalie Knight and her
sister Val Blumenthal’s father.
Members of the YALE Committee, Susan Kacev; Vicki
Kuper; Lauren Frame; Marilyn Blumenthal; Melanie
Jacobs; Nicole Furman; and Shardi Matthews.
Sisters Val Blumenthal and Natalie Knight.
Rona and Eric Ellerine.
Shardi and Stan Matthews with Susan Kacev.
Jonny Jawno; Michael Blumenthal; and Bradley Benatar.
Michael and Ann Pimstein.
Rodney and Beryl Rottanburg.
Natalie Knight holding a
Bafana Bafana beaded soccer
shirt with Selwyn Nathan.
Judy and Martin Moritz.
23 - 30 April 2010
SA JEWISH REPORT
COMMUNITY BUZZ
LIONEL SLIER
082-444-9832, fax: 011-440-0448,
[email protected]
SOUTH SURREY, BRITISH
COLUMBIA, CANADA
Rae Sank from continues with the
story of her grandmother, Eva
Smolowitz (Chawa Pianka):
“For years Eva had been agonising
over her two older sisters, Leah and
Clara, whom she left behind in
Russia. She begged my zaida to help
her bring both of them over from
Russia.
“It was not an easy task, but they
persevered, and to her great joy, her
sisters eventually made their way to
South Africa.
“When Sonny was only eight
years old and my mother merely 10,
(and later when my Aunty Rae was
older, she joined them as well), my
zaida decided that it would be better
for them to live in Cape Town,
among the Jewish community, and
get a Jewish education.
“I cannot imagine what it must
have been like for my bobba - sending her children so far away from
her so young. They would only
come home again twice a year, for
school holidays.
“The journey to Cape Town was
three days by train and communication between my grandparents and
their children was almost nonexistent, except for letters.
“My mother recalls that they
made only one telephone call to
Tsolo in all the years they lived in
Cape Town! In our age of instant
communication, cellphone, Skype
and the like, it is very difficult to
comprehend.
“Then, in 1960, tragedy struck the
family. In March of that year, my
vivacious and beautiful Aunty Rae
died tragically young, leaving
behind a little girl of two.
“Less than three months later, my
zaida died as well. He had been
struggling with ill health and the
loss of his beloved daughter shattered him.
“My bobba was left a widow at the
youthful age of 50. She left Tsolo and
moved permanently to Cape Town
to live with us.”
To be concluded.
TOLSTOY AND THE JEWS
From Kimon Neophyte:
“The year 2010 marks the centenary
of the death of Leo Tolstoy in 1910.
Known as the author of arguably
the two greatest novels ever written
- War and Peace and Anna Karenina
- he continues to attract attention
100 years after his passing. The
movie The Last Station, is about the
difficulties over his publishing
rights near the end of his life.
“There are many qualities which
account for Tolstoy’s greatness, but
ranking high on the list must be his
humanity. He was able to recognise
and vividly portray in his writings
those qualities which make us fully
human. Wherever there was injustice, oppression, violence or intolerance, he spoke out against it.
“Writing at the time when
pogroms resulted in a million Jews
fleeing Russia, he spoke up for the
Jews. ‘What is a Jew?’ he asked. ‘Let
us see what sort of peculiar creature the Jew is, which all rulers and
all nations have together and separately abused and molested,
oppressed and persecuted, trampled and butchered, burned and
hanged - and in spite of all this he is
still alive.’
“His answer to the question is
expressed in such resonant language that it deserves to be quoted
in emphasis:
“‘The Jew is that sacred being
who has brought down from heaven
the everlasting fire and has illumined with it the entire world. He is
the religious source, spring and
fountain out of which all the rest of
the peoples have drawn their beliefs
and their religions.’
“The understanding reflected in
these words, bears witness to
Tolstoy’s humanity and draws
attention to what is important in
the centenary of his death in 1910,
namely man’s concern for man.
Hopefully this year will usher in
more Tolstoyan wisdom.”
ORIGIN OF THE WORD
‘KITKE’
Another view by Isaac Reznik:
“Although the word ‘kitke’ is from a
Polish word meaning ‘twisted’, it
was never used as such in Europe in
the 1800s to describe a Shabbat
bread, known as ‘challah’.
‘The twisted challah was already
mentioned in the Talmud some several hundred years before, and was
baked for special occasions, as well
as the Shabbat. This was to enhance
the appearance of the bread on the
Shabbat and Yomtov table.
“When many of the Jews fled
from Eastern Europe to evade the
pogroms and settled in either
England, America, South Africa
and what was then known as
Palestine, the name ‘kitke’ was
never used to describe the challah.
“The immigrants arrived in
South Africa after the Kimberly diamond fields were discovered in 1867,
but then many left for the
Witwatersrand in the Transvaal for
the gold rush - 1886 onwards.
“In
Kimberly
there
were
Hottentots and Koi ethnic groups,
from the Griqualand territory, who
were servants of some Jewish fami-
lies. Many of these Jewish families
then came to the Transvaal, and the
small mining camp known as
Ferreirasdorp (in Johannesburg).
They brought their servants with
them.
“As there were no bakeries, all
challahs for Shabbat and Yomtov
were baked in private homes.
“The majority of the womenfolk
had long plaited hair, and they would
often be seen plaiting the hair of
their children as well. The Koi servants saw this plaiting, and alluded
to their word for twist which is
‘kitkoi’.
“The Koi servants would then
deliver the challahs to the various
Jewish households and tell them
that they were delivering the kitkois.
This word was soon to become the
formal name for challahs and eventually known as kitkes.
“If Jews from South Africa travel
anywhere in the world, they never
ask for challahs but for kitkes.
“If Jews visit or live in Israel,
Australia, Canada or England and
asks for kitke, immediately they are
told they must be from South Africa.’
JEWISH LIFE
From South African Friends of Beit
Hatefutsoth:
We urgently, but urgently, require
photos of families who lived in the
small towns of Natal and the Orange
Free State. Volume 4 of Jewish Life
in the South African Country
Communities is due to be published
shortly.
We would appreciate people contacting us by post, e-mail or by
phone. Our address is c/o Beyachad,
Elray Street, Rouxville Johannesburg, telephone (011) 645-2598, e-mail
[email protected]
MUIZENBERG
From Hedy Davis:
“The Memories of Muizenberg exhibition opened last month at the
Jewish Museum in Cape Town and
will move to Johannesburg later in
the year.
“I have now embarked on a book
tentatively entitled ‘The Shtetl By
The Sea’ and I would be grateful for
any help that you can give me to
increase the number of former
Muizenbergers and friends of
Muizenberg, whose memories and
stories I will be able to include.
“I do know that you reach a very
wide former Muizenberg and former
South African audience and when
working on the original Memories of
Muizenberg project, the support of
The Jewish Report was highly valued.
“Please send all contributions to
[email protected] or Hedy
Davis, POBox 909, Wendywood, 2144,
South Africa.”
AROUND THE WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
LEZAK, GOLDBERG AMONG INDUCTEES TO JEWISH HALL OF FAME
NEW YORK - Wrestler Bill Goldberg
and Olympic swimmer Jason Lezak
have been among seven inductees
into the National Jewish Sports Hall
of Fame.
The five others inducted last
Sunday at the Hall of Fame in
Commack, New York, were Virginia
Tech menís basketball coach Seth
Greenberg; female judo champion
Rusty Kanokogi; Penn State womenís volleyball coach Russ Rose;
Achilles Track Club founder Dick
Traum; and former NFL offensive
lineman Alan Veingrad.
Goldberg, an all-American defensive end at the University of
Georgia, was taken in the 11th
round of the 1990 NFL draft by the
Los Angeles Rams, but he turned to
wrestling and martial arts three
years after an injury ended his football career in 1994.
During his seven-year career on
the World Champion Wrestling circuit, World Wrestling Entertainment twice recognised Goldberg as
the world heavyweight champion.
In an often humorous and casually self-effacing speech at the Hall of
Fame ceremony, Goldberg sought to
tie his unconventional career choice
in professional wrestling to
Judaism.
"I wanted to try my best to give the
Jewish youth something to look up
to, someone who's persevered and
somehow made a difference,"
Goldberg said.
"What better way to help Jewish
youth in dealing with adversity than
to parade around the ring on national television in my underwear,
demolishing every single person in
my path?"
Goldberg did not address recent
rumours of a return to professional
wrestling, instead saying that he
wanted to focus on remaining on
this season of NBC's reality television show "Celebrity Apprentice".
Lezak, a professional swimmer,
came to national prominence as the
unassuming hero of the US 4-by-100metre freestyle relay team that won
the gold medal in the 2008 Beijing
Olympics and set a world record.
His dramatic final lap of the race
made international headlines and
helped teammate Michael Phelps
notch a crucial victory on his way to
a record eight gold medals at the
Games.
Lezak has won numerous
Olympic medals, including an individual bronze at the '08 Games, and
earned four gold medals at the
Maccabiah Games in Israel last
summer. (JTA)
7
8
SA JEWISH REPORT
23 - 30 April 2010
AROUND
THE WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
ISRAEL CELEBRATES YOM
HA'ATZMAUT
JERUSALEM
Israelis
packed roads and national
parks to mark their country's
62nd birthday.
In keeping with Israeli tradition, Israelis spent the Yom
Ha'atzmaut holiday at barbecues, at national parks and
hiking spots - and in traffic
jams in between. The Israel
Air Force also mounted a
demonstration above the
country's skies.
In the International Bible
contest held each year on Yom
Ha'atzmaut, Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu's son
Avner finished in third place
behind the winner, Or Asuel
of
Kfar
Saba.
Avner
Netanyahu answered two
questions correctly but erred
on the third.
Israel received letters of
congratulations from around
the world, including from
kings and queens in Europe,
and heads of state.
In a statement from the
White
House,
President
Barack Obama said the special Israel-US relationship
"will only be strengthened in
the months and years to
come".
He said: "I look forward to
continuing our efforts with
Israel to achieve comprehensive peace and security in the
region, including a two-state
solution, and to working
together to counter the forces
that threaten Israel, the
United States and the world."
(JTA)
GROUPS OPPOSE ARIZONA
IMMIGRATION LAW
WASHINGTON
Three
national Jewish groups have
urged Arizona's governor to
veto a bill that would force
local authorities to enforce
federal immigration law.
If passed, the bill "would
make state and local law
enforcement officers' jobs
nearly impossible, and would
bring us further from, not
closer to, the goal we all share
of making our communities
safer", said the letter sent on
Monday from the Hebrew
Immigrant Aid Society, the
American Jewish Committee
and the Jewish Council for
Public Affairs to Governor
Jan Brewer, a Republican.
"It would also cause hardship to countless Arizona residents - US citizens, legal
immigrants, and undocumented immigrants alike who if this law is passed, will
live under a cloud of suspicion and fear."
The legislation, which
becomes law unless Brewer
vetoes it in the next five days,
would require police to ask
those suspected of being in
the country illegally to produce documentation. It also
would ban soliciting work
from people on sidewalks if it
slows traffic.
Brewer has said she has
reservations about the bill,
which would be the toughest
such measure in the country.
Opponents are concerned
that it could lead to racial profiling and inhibit undocumented workers from reporting crime. (JTA)
The Holyland housing development in Jerusalem, widely dismissed as an eyesore, is at the centre of a corruption scandal allegedly involving
former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and former mayor of Jerusalem Uri Lupolianksi. (KOBI GIDEON / FLASH90 / JTA)
New corruption scandal dooms
chances of Olmert comeback
LESLIE SUSSER
JERUSALEM
WHETHER OR not he is found
guilty of taking bribes in the
Jerusalem Holyland corruption
scandal, Ehud Olmert’s political
career is almost certainly over.
At best, the former prime minister and former mayor of
Jerusalem can expect many
months, if not years, of litigation
that will further tarnish his
already tainted reputation and
leave him unelectable. At worst,
he faces a long prison term.
Olmert had hoped to make a
dramatic return to political life
as soon as three other pending
corruption cases against him
were resolved: the Rishon Tours
affair, in which he is accused of
double billing on fundraising
trips overseas; the Talansky
affair, in which he is alleged to
have
accepted
cash
from
American Jewish businessman
Morris Talansky in exchange for
granting favours; and the Small
Business Authority affair, for
allegedly granting personal
favours to attorney and former
aide Uri Messer, when Olmert
was trade minister.
For months Olmert had been
insisting that the charges in the
cases would disintegrate the way
a long list of allegations against
him had in the past, including
improper conduct in his handling of a privatisation tender for
Bank Leumi while he was
finance minister, and his buying
and selling of two luxury homes
in Jerusalem.
The implication was that as
soon as his name was cleared,
Olmert would make a triumphant comeback to politics
and possibly even challenge Tzipi
Livni for the leadership of the
Kadima Party.
But the new scandal, in which
Olmert, as mayor of Jerusalem,
is suspected of having taken
nearly $1 million in bribes for
extending building permits to the
Holyland construction project, is
likely to put to rest any lingering
thoughts of a comeback.
Not only do the dimensions of
this new corruption affair dwarf
the others, but the preponderance of allegations against
Olmert reinforces a perceived
pattern of criminal conduct that
Olmert would be hard-pressed to
shake off in the political arena.
The Holyland scandal also
involves Olmert’s successor as
Jerusalem mayor, Uri Lupolianski, and Messer, among others.
The extent of the alleged corruption raises two central questions: Was the Holyland affair an
isolated case or, as seems more
likely, part of a system? And to
what extent was the municipal
corruption in Jerusalem a reflection of a wider phenomenon in
municipalities and local councils
across Israel?
The Holyland saga goes back to
the mid-1990s, when Hillel
Charney, whose family owned
the original Holyland Hotel,
received a permit to build three
new hotels on the 12-hectare site.
With the Oslo process in full
swing, Israel’s 50th anniversary
coming up and millennium celebrations around the corner,
Jerusalem was in dire need of
more hotel rooms. On paper, the
initial blueprint seemed reasonable.
To help shepherd through the
project, Charney brought in
experienced real estate people
who apparently convinced him
he could do much better with a
mega-sized housing development. The plans were changed
several times before the current
building complex was approved.
What started out as a plan to
build about 279 000 square metres
burgeoned to more than 10 times
that figure, translating into hundreds of millions of dollars more
in revenues for the owners and
developers.
It also resulted in a plan for 10
12-storey buildings and two 30storey buildings. About half of
those already have been built on
the Holyland site, breaking the
Jerusalem skyline with what
experts and Jerusalem residents
long have described as the city’s
worst architectural eyesore.
Before the first stones were
laid, two questions already were
being asked: How did the developers get such excessive building
allowances, and how was such an
architectural monstrosity approved at both the city and
regional planning levels?
The anomalies were so blatant
that the police launched an
investigation, but it was soon
closed due to lack of evidence.
The evidence of major wrongdoing only came to light several
months ago when one of the real
estate experts, or “fixers”,
Charney brought in, went to the
police with a notebook and other
documentation detailing a long
list of bribes Charney allegedly
had made to city officials, police
and at least one member of the
regional planning committee.
Apparently in trouble with
creditors and claiming Charney
hadn’t paid him all he was owed,
the fixer offered to become a
state witness in return for immunity and the settlement of some
of his debts.
Although the man with the
notebook has been named as
Shmuel Dachner, there is a gag
order against naming him or
anyone else as the state witness.
Police apparently are looking for
another suspect to turn state witness to bolster their case.
The case could boil down to a
battle between the two former
mayors, both of whom maintain
they are innocent. Olmert claims
he approved only the hotels, and
that the upgrade to extensive residential building rights was
approved by his successor,
Lupolianski, who was mayor
from 2003 to 2008. Lupolianski
claims it happened on Olmert’s
watch, when Lupolianski was
deputy mayor.
Both accounts are problematic.
The approval for a residential
building came in 2002, when
Olmert was still in charge. But
the Charney family also made
huge donations to Yad Sarah, a
well-known charity for the sick
and aged founded by Lupolianski, and to a yeshiva run by
Lupolianski’s son.
Police believe both mayors
were deeply involved. Lupolianski already has been arrested;
Olmert is expected to be questioned soon. Messer, who also
was arrested, allegedly served as
the conduit for the cash bribes to
Olmert.
The Holyland case points to a
City Hall riddled with corruption. Dozens of officials, from
low-level clerks to the top elected
officials, including the city engineer and two mayors, are suspected of taking bribes.
Over the past few years, dozens
of Israeli mayors have been prosecuted for similar offences.
Under the Israeli system, all
building projects and rezoning of
land must be approved by municipal and district planning committees, and are subject to a
process of objections and reservations from the general public.
The process is cumbersome and
the laws complex, and ultimately
leave considerable power in the
hands of the mayors.
With land scarce and expensive,
this apparently has created strong
incentives for bribery by would-be
developers who stand to make a
fortune if they can get mayoral
backing for their projects.
Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu is planning a major
land reform that on its surface
will give the mayors even more
power. Netanyahu wants to cut
the red tape by cancelling the
regional committee stage, leaving decisions in the hands of
a small municipal body. He
argues that this will lead to
far more building starts and
reduce the cost of housing.
Critics say it could lead to even
more bribery and corruption
because the regulatory process
will be weakened.
The quandary Israel faces is
how to reduce the red tape without increasing corruption. (JTA)
23 - 30 April 2010
SA JEWISH REPORT
9
10
SA JEWISH REPORT
23 - 30 April 2010
OPINION AND ANALYSIS
FORUM FOR DIVERSE VIEWS
Contentious and
constructive debate
THE HEATED emotions of the last week generated by the
‘Goldstone barmitzvah saga’ has raised two key questions.
Firstly, how welcome - or unwelcome - Mr Justice Richard
Goldstone should be made to feel here, after his scurrilous report
on Israel’s Gaza operation last year, and the feelings that he
‘betrayed’ the Jewish people by accusing Israel of possible ‘war
crimes’. Secondly, the role of the media and the Jewish Report in
this affair.
On the former question, rabbis across the board have stressed
unequivocally that a synagogue is open to any Jew, irrespective of
his or her politics. And, in the current case, that Sandton Shul
never closed its doors to Goldstone.
In sermons in shuls across the community last Friday night,
numerous rabbis emphasised this. Chief Rabbi Warren
Goldstein’s op-ed piece in this issue reinforces the point.
This leads to the question of other parties’ roles in the saga.
The Jewish Report is a Zionist newspaper. It supports the activities of Zionist organisations like the SAZF and similar bodies in
promoting Israel, defending it against its enemies and encouraging aliyah.
In the current situation, the focus by some on Goldstone the
man - the giving of ‘airtime’ to him through protests - can be questioned, although the right to protest is beyond question. His
report has already been widely published, analysed meticulously
by the best brains inside the Jewish world and outside it, and
found to be fatally flawed.
Furthermore, it has begun to fade into the background as other
events seize the headlines - although Israel’s enemies will continue squeezing as much mileage as they can out if it to smear Israel.
Aside from the moral issue of whether protesting at the barmitzvah of a person’s grandson is the right thing to do - mixing
politics with Judaic ritual - throwing the spotlight again on
Goldstone the man, may have the effect of resurrecting his discredited report in the public eye. Ignoring him might be better, as
this community has come to do with Ronnie Kasrils.
Concerning the role of the media and the Jewish Report: we
hold no brief for Goldstone, but believe the events surrounding
his attendance or non-attendance at his grandson’s barmitzvah
warrant a discussion.
Some have criticised us for covering the story at all; others have
praised us for doing so and opening an important debate.
Still other comments have to do with our report’s details,
specifically our expressing the effects on Goldstone of the agreement between the SAZF, the shul and the Goldstone family by
using the terms ‘barred’ and ‘effectively barred’ - with quotation
marks around the former in our headline. This accepted journalistic practice worldwide is shorthand for: Don’t accept it literally;
there’s more to it. This is made clear in the well-balanced story
we carried.
Comments have been made that that phrase, ‘effectively
barred’, gave the impression that Sandton Shul itself had forbidden Goldstone from entering - against the halachic principle of
admitting any Jew to a shul. That was certainly not intended.
Instead, we were referring to the enormous social pressures
being brought to bear on Goldstone with the threats of protests
outside the shul, which have seriously discouraged him from
attending the function as protest action like that envisaged would
have seriously detracted from the barmitzvah ceremony itself.
Goldstone’s decision to stay away, however, in the end remains
entirely his own.
The Jewish Report is available on its website late on Wednesday
evenings, and is freely available to be picked up by other media,
bloggers, etc. Indeed, it has been used by Israeli and other papers,
and the Goldstone saga has been carried by some of them.
A serious newspaper will inevitably occasionally enter contentious issues. South African Jewry deserves more than only
‘feel-good’ content in its media. Sometimes the messenger carrying a difficult message feels the heat which that message evokes.
Ultimately, this debate is important. It concerns how we should
behave towards someone espousing views repugnant to many and
who is seen to have done damage to the Jewish people and Israel.
But it goes further: how should we deal generally with ‘dissident’
Jews holding views on Israel or other matters, diverging sharply
from the mainstream?
Should we engage with them or exclude them? And should such
a person - Goldstone in this case - be made to feel unwelcome at
an important family function like a barmitzvah? Where is the
line?
It is also about the forum and manner in which such issues can
be addressed responsibly. We see the pages of the Jewish Report
as one such forum - an important one at that.
Hopefully, when the heat of how this debate began has settled
and all sides recognise the good faith of the other, constructive,
rational ideas will prevail. We look forward to that. Our pages will
remain open to host debate on diverse topics of importance to our
community and our readership, including viewpoints which are
sometimes highly critical of the media in general and us in particular - see the op-ed piece by Rabbi Yossy Goldman on this page.
We may not always agree with these viewpoints, but they have
a place in our “open forum” as part of the debate.
Should Justice Goldstone be
allowed in our shuls?
RABBI YOSSY GOLDMAN
Sermon delivered at Sydenham
Shul, Friday night, Parshas TazriaMetzora, 5770 - April 16 2010
YOM HASHOAH was this week.
Yom Haíatzmaut will be next week.
But the one topic dominating the
conversation in Johannesburg
since last night was neither of those
important dates nor the volcanic
ash over Europe, nor even the 2010
World Cup Soccer ticket frenzy.
In South Africa and the Jewish
world, the hottest topic of conversation was that Judge Richard
Goldstone had been ‘barred’ from
attending his grandson’s barmitzvah at one of our sister shuls here
in Johannesburg.
Many are asking me: ‘Rabbi, what
is your opinion?’ ‘What if the grandson’s barmitzvah was scheduled
here at Sydenham Shul?’
I am very happy to answer that to
the best of my knowledge, no
responsible, recognised Beth Din in
the world has put Judge Goldstone
into cherem (a banning or shunning
order). And even if they did, I am
not aware that a Jew in cherem is
forbidden to come to shul.
He may not be counted to a minyan, but if he wanted to sit in shul
and daven or be inspired to do
teshuvah, I am not aware of anything preventing him from doing
so.
Now make no mistake. I am no
fan of Richard Goldstone. I have
spoken out strongly against the
Goldstone Report on Gaza and the
terrible mistake he made by agreeing to chair such a United Nations
Commission which was terribly
unbalanced and biased from the
very beginning.
From this very pulpit I said:
“Judge Goldstone has betrayed not
only Israel and the Jewish people.
He has betrayed his own Bobba!”
But having said that, I would still
defend his right as a Jew to come to
shul - even if it were not his own
grandson’s barmitzvah. Would I
have given him an Aliyah? I’m sure
not.
An Aliyah to the Torah is an honour and a privilege and one can forfeit such privilege by inappropriate
behaviour. We may well have decided to explain to the family why we
cannot honour him. But not to let
him come to shul would, in my opinion, be very wrong.
In fact, our slogan here at
Sydenham Shul is that we are ‘a
family shul where every Jew is welcome’. Religious or non-religious,
right-wing or left-wing, straight or
gay, humanitarian or vegetarian,
every Jew is welcome. Jews are not
Al-Qaida, rabbis are not the Taliban
and banning people is certainly not
my style.
On Shabbat morning, when we
put the Torah back into the Aron
Kodesh, we will say the words from
Proverbs referring to the Torah - its
ways are ways of pleasantness and
all its paths are peace.
Yes, we must take a stand when
necessary for our faith, our people,
our principles and our conscience and certainly for Israel. But a family simcha is not the time and a shul
is not the place.
If you want to protest against
Judge Goldstone, go to OR Tambo
International Airport when he
arrives and protest. I may well join
you. But at Shul? Lo Zu Haderech this is not the way.
Rabbis ought to insist on preserving the independence and integrity
of our synagogues as safe havens for
all Jews. Denying access to one sets
a dangerous precedent for others.
In fact, much damage has been
done to South African Jewry over
this unfortunate story and a ‘story’
it is. It all began with a story in the
Jewish Report on page 3, strangely,
written by its Cape Town correspondent.
It stated that “Mr Justice Richard
Goldstone is effectively being
barred from attending his grandson’s barmitzvah”.
You may not have known this, but
newspapers have special headline
editors and this one said “Goldstone
‘barred’ from his grandson’s barmitzvah”. And the very same line
was highlighted on the front page
too.
Statements subsequently issued
by the Chief Rabbi and the Board of
Deputies, insist that at no time was
Judge Goldstone prohibited from
attending the barmitzvah ceremony
in shul. Rather, when the family was
informed by the shul that leading
members of the South African
Zionist Federation were planning a
protest, they decided that the judge
would stay away voluntarily.
And now the story is out in our
general media and has quickly
found its way to the international
media and even a Jewish
Congressman in the United States
has made a statement lambasting
us. And South African Jewry, its
shuls and its rabbis, now have egg
on their faces.
And how does the newspaper get
away with such deliberate distortion and sensationalism? Through
the medium of two tiny squiggles
called inverted commas over the
word ‘barred’!
And guess what? Yet again, most
remarkably, current events can be
discovered and give us insight
right here in the Parsha of the
week. This week’s Parsha deals
with Tzoraas - the ancient leprouslike malady which affected people
who were guilty of inappropriate
behaviour.
And although there are a number of such misdeeds, the most
famous of all is, of course, loshon
hora. Now, newspapers and the
media in general are the world
experts in this field. They specialise in loshon hora. After all, as
the old line goes, “the public has a
right to know”. So this is but one
more classic case.
I am grateful to my friend and
colleague, Rabbi Aharon Rose, who
brought to my attention one of the
contemporary commentaries’ insights on this subject. Why does
loshon hora result in a disease of
the skin davka, he asked?
The answer, he says, is because
those who speak, or write, loshon
hora only investigate ‘skin deep’. A
superficial, half baked bit of gossip
becomes the basis for a seemingly
credible news report and the story
quickly gets a life of its own and the
truth soon becomes the consequence and victim.
If they would have gone beyond
the superficial and looked a little
bit deeper or asked the rabbis
directly involved, a whole different
story would have emerged. [see
note below - editor]
This unfortunate episode is a
powerful lesson on the dangers of
loshon hora and for all of us to be
more careful and circumspect
before we speak or write. May the
Torah and the Jewish way of life
always be seen for what it really
and truly is - the way of pleasantness and the pathway of peace, tolerance and mutual respect.
• Editor’s note: Our reporter did
call and speak to Rabbi Suchard of
Sandton Shul, who declined to comment on the Goldstone story. She
also left two messages for the president of the shul with his business
secretary, the second time mentioning that it was urgent. He did not
return the calls.
Obama meets Jewish leaders at White House Pesach Seder
(OFFICIAL WHITE
HOUSE PHOTO BY
PETE SOUZA)
23 - 30 April 2010
SA JEWISH REPORT
11
OPINION AND ANALYSIS
FORUM FOR DIVERSE VIEWS
Sacred principle of open shuls
CHIEF RABBI WARREN GOLDSTEIN
AT THE heart of the storm around the
barmitzvah of Justice Richard Goldstone’s grandson, stands an ancient and
sacred principle: open shuls.
The rabbi and lay leaders of the
Sandton Synagogue, where the barmitzvah is taking place, consulted with me on
how to respond to the threats of protest at
the judge’s presence at the barmitzvah
service. Together we took the decision
that the synagogue is open to the entire
family, including Justice Goldstone, and
that everything possible would be done to
ensure that the barmitzvah be celebrated
with the dignity and joy befitting such an
important religious milestone.
I am acutely aware of the wrongs perpetrated by Justice Richard Goldstone. Only
a few months ago an article of mine was
published, in which I criticisised his
report on the Gaza war as replete with
numerous procedural and substantive
injustices, all of which tainted its findings
legally, factually and even morally.
At the time I wrote that his Gaza report
“is a disgrace to the most basic notions of
justice, equality and the rule of law” and
that it is “unjust and wanting in truth”.
His severely compromised report has
unfairly done enormous damage to the
reputation and safety of the State of
Israel and her citizens.
In the face of much opposition, I have
on numerous occasions and publicly,
defended the justice of the cause of the
State of Israel, and so feel saddened and
outraged at the injustices of the
Goldstone Report and its very real practical implications threatening the safety of
millions of Israelis.
Nevertheless and in spite of all he has
done, there is a great principle at stake
here, one which is central to Judaism:
open shuls. A shul is the home of G-d, and
it is open to all. The very first shul in history, the Biblical Tabernacle, which was
constructed 3 322 years ago, as recorded
in the Book of Exodus, was led by Aaron
the High Priest, who was a great unifier of
the people and whose life philosophy is
described by the Talmud as “loving peace,
pursuing peace, loving people and bringing them close to Torah”.
These are the values of an open synagogue. An open synagogue is a place of
holiness and G-d’s presence, and should
never become an arena of politics, division and pain. It must be a place of compassion and kindness. The Talmud says
that we are commanded to act with compassion and kindness because G-d does,
and we are required to imitate Him.
Open shuls are inclusive, and welcome
in a tolerant and non-judgemental way all
who seek to enter and join in our services
and pray to G-d. I am proud and grateful
that in South Africa over many years our
shuls have been beacons of openness and
inclusivity. In this respect, our South
African community can offer direction
and guidance to world Jewry.
Writing in the Jerusalem Post a number
of years ago, Rabbi Berel Wein, the international recognised Jewish thinker and
historian, said: “One of the tragedies in
current Jewish life is the abandonment of
all connections to Torah and the synagogue by secular society. Only the ‘religious’ have a right to synagogue attendance and Torah study. Secular means
never stepping foot in a synagogue. What
a tragic misreading of Jewish history and
life!”
In South Africa everyone comes to shul,
and so it should be. Our shuls do not turn
away any congregants because of what
they have done, or not done, or who they
are, or what opinions they hold. And that
is probably one of the reasons why, as
surveys have shown, South African Jews
have the highest proportions of religious
identity and adherence in the world, and
why in the last two decades there has
been in South Africa an unprecedented
AROUND THE WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
STATE DEPT SUMMONS SYRIA ENVOY ON ARMS TRANSFERS
WASHINGTON - The Obama administration "condemned in the strongest terms"
Syria's alleged transfer of arms to
Hezbollah and has suggested that Syria's
actions would affect renewed bilateral relations.
The administration summoned Syria's top
envoy to discuss the transfers, a sign that it
has evidence contradicting Syria's persistent denials.
"The most senior Syrian diplomat present
in Washington today, Deputy Chief of
Mission Zouheir Jabbour, was summoned to
the Department of State to review Syria’s
provocative behaviour concerning the
potential transfer of arms to Hezbollah," the
US State Department spokesman, Gordon
Duguid, said in a statement on Tuesday.
"This was the fourth occasion on which
these concerns have been raised to the
Syrian Embassy in recent months, intended
to further amplify our messages communicated to the Syrian government."
Israel made public its concerns about
reported arms transfers last week; Duguid's
timeline of four encounters in "recent
months" suggested that the US concern
about the matter predated Israeli announcements.
"The United States condemns in the
strongest terms the transfer of any arms,
and especially ballistic missile systems such
as the Scud, from Syria to Hezbollah," the
statement said.
"The transfer of these arms can only have
a destabilising effect on the region, and
would pose an immediate threat to both the
security of Israel and the sovereignty of
Lebanon. The risk of miscalculation that
could result from this type of escalation
should make Syria reverse the ill-conceived
policy it has pursued in providing arms to
Hezbollah."
Obama in recent months has begun to roll
back some of the US isolation of Syria
implemented during the Bush administration. He has nominated an ambassador to
Syria for the first time since 2005, and has
spoken of "enhanced" relations.
Syria wants above all to be removed from
the State Department's list of terrorismsponsoring nations, an action that would
open up possibilities for commercial and
other ties.
Duguid made clear that the arms transfers could bury that possibility.
"Syria’s designation as a state sponsor of
terrorism is directly related to its support
for terrorist groups such as Hezbollah," he
said. (JTA)
growth of Judaism.
Open shuls are also places of principle
and faith, dedicated to prayer, Torah
learning and deep spirituality. Many
think that tolerance is about compromising principles. All beliefs, whether religious or secular, can lead to narrow, partisan bigotry, and even hatred and violence.
Some say that tolerance and openness
cannot co-exist with passionate beliefs in
supreme religious truths and morality.
They are wrong. The Talmud says that
G-d is a G-d of compassion, but also of
truth. We need to find a way to combine
our passion for our faith and moral principles, with a gentle and warm engagement with people who do not share it.
Judaism teaches that in doing so we do
not compromise our beliefs. On the contrary we are in fact in sync with them, as
the Hebrew Bible says: “Her [the Torah’s]
ways are that of pleasantness, and all her
paths are those of peace.” These words,
taken from the Book of Proverbs, describe
what the Talmud says are among the
defining qualities of Judaism.
And that is why I feel so strongly that
the shul be open to Justice Goldstone,
even though he has done so much wrong
in the world. This is not about him. It is
about the eternal principle of open synagogues, of a Judaism of peace and gentleness, a Judaism of openness and compassion.
The proud and ancient legacy of open
shuls that we have merited to inherit,
must be defended and strengthened, so
that we pass it on to our children.
12
SA JEWISH REPORT
23 - 30 April 2010
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
Artspace, Rosebank: An
exhibition of new work by
Richard Smith will be opened
by Johan Myburg on April 23,
(011) 880-8802.
Fugard Theatre, District 6:
‘London Road’, with Robyn
Scott, on until May 8, (021)
461-4554.
Goodman Gallery, Rosebank: ‘Transcend’, an exhibition of new work by Diane
Victor, on until May 22, (011)
788-1113.
Joburg Theatre, Braamfontein: In the Mandela, Opera
Africa’s ‘La Bohéme’, until
April 25. In the Fringe, ‘Cathy
Specific’, with Brendan van
Rhyn opens on April 27, (011)
877-6800.
Linder Auditorium, Parktown: Johannesburg Musical
Society hosts Katya Apekisheva (piano), performing
Grieg’s Four Lyric pieces,
Tchaikovsky’s Theme and
Variations, Chopin’s Nocturne
in E Minor and Scherzo No. 2
and Moussorgsky’s Pictures at
an Exhibition, April 25, (011)
728-5492.
Market, Newtown: In the
Laager, Patrick Marber’s
‘Closer’ until May 2; in the
Barney Simon, ‘Death of a
Colonialist’,
with
Jamie
Bartlett, directed by Craig
Freimond on until May 9, (011)
832-1641.
Montecasino, Fourways: In
the Studio, ‘Andre, the Hilarious Hypnotist’, until May 30;
in the Main Theatre, ‘Boeing
Boeing’, directed by Alan
Swerdlow until May 2; in
Teatro, ‘Grease’, until June 13.
(011) 511-1818.
Old Mutual Theatre on the
Square, Sandton: ‘uNik’ with
Nik Rabinowitz, until May 1;
Candis Angelene (soprano)
and Mark Cheyne (piano) in
concert on until April 23. (011)
883-8606.
RCHCC, Oaklands: Caren
Arenstein, Lesley Jasven and
Miriam Perkel show new work
until April 29, (011) 728-8088.
Standard Bank Gallery,
Central Johannesburg: ‘City
and Suburban’, paintings by
Karin Preller downstairs, and
‘Umtshotsho’ by Standard
Bank Young Artist, Nicholas
Hlobo, upstairs, both until May
8, (011) 631-1889.
University of Johannesburg,
Auckland
Park:
International choreographer
Redha
Bonteifour
brings
‘Redha’s Giselle’, danced by the
Tswane Dance Theatre, April
29 - May 8, call 072-122-9692.
Wits, Braamfontein: In the
Atrium, Hemenay trio (Helene
Vosloo (flute), Marian Lewin
(cello) and Malcolm Nay
(piano)), perform on April 24.
In the Downstairs Theatre,
Greg Homann’s ‘Prejudice and
Pride’, on until May 1, (011)
717-1380.
A rich, accessible perspective on SA art in new series
ROBYN SASSEN
“EVERY NOW and then a project
comes along and whacks you,” managing director of Curious Pictures,
Harriet Gavshon describes A
Country Imagined, the company’s
latest documentary series, presented
by Johnny Clegg, and on air for the
first time on SABC2 this Sunday
evening.
“The SABC presented a brief for a
2010 ‘blue chip project’. We pitched
for it and won; it’s a complex project
which we have been working on for
the last two years - each one-hour
episode of the series of 13 took
approximately three months to make.
It’s been filmed with HD technology,
which offers superb quality.”
A Country Imagined will take you
on an unusual, rewarding South
African journey, introducing you to
artists, their work and the land surrounding them.
Some, like George Pemba, Hugh
Masekela, Gerard Sekoto and David
Goldblatt are well known. Others will
soon be. A Country Imagined brings
them all together against a backdrop
of spectacular scenery and a vexed
and dramatic history.
The hard work in the making of the
series, which features over 400
artists, was not only about traipsing
through landscapes. “Much of it was
about bureaucracy,” Gavshon
explains. “Every art work in the
series had to have its rights cleared
before we were able to show it.
“Our first professional on board
was Wits-trained art historian
Tracy Murinik. She began by scouring art galleries for their landscape
holdings.
“You say landscape art in South
Africa and may think dry colonial
paintings. We’re looking at those,
but not only. The series reflects 400
years of engagement with the land.
It’s primarily about visual art, but
we haven’t ignored music or dance.
Clegg celebrates his 30th year in
the industry this year. “The decision to have him as presenter was a
win. Johnny can teach, learn and
perform simultaneously; he has so
much knowledge which he shares
generously.”
Making the series, Clegg travelled
more than 80 000 km through South
Africa with the production team. He
performs with musicians and
dancers in remote villages, talks to
artists, both famous and not, hikes
the Drakensberg to find the best
rock art and views, travels in hot air
balloons, helicopters and boats. To
this he brings his insight, expertise
and humour, offering viewers a rich
and accessible perspective on South
African art.
Johnny Clegg
explores the
South African
landscape in A
Country
Imagined:
From the east
to the west,
from the old to
the new. (PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY CURIOUS
PICTURES)
Known for Tobias’ Bodies, The
Lab, Hard Copy, Tsha Tsha and
Hopeville, Curious Pictures premises itself on “storytelling skills,”
Says Gavshon: “We aim to transfer
ideas in depth and on a first hand
basis to our viewers on different
platforms. SABC2 has the broadest
demographic spectrum of all local
television stations. The series fits a
public service mandate; it’s been
designed to coincide in part with
the Fifa World Cup.”
“Our challenge was to find ways
to enjoy art forms that are traditional but might be dismissed as
‘craft’,” Murinik added, touching
on a debate that has fuelled art history for decades.
“We need to look at these categories differently. Our challenges
were in the layers of things that
needed to be weighed against one
another. Nothing is obvious.
Different things reflect different
realities. But there are also overlaps.
“Our challenge was also not to
alienate audiences with highbrow
language and not just simply fill in
the anthropological approach to
this material.
“In this project,” Gavshon adds,
“we’ve avoided formal interviews
completely. There are no interviews with ‘experts’. No one talks
about someone else, except Johnny,
who is our conduit. The whole
series is constantly interactive,
never passive.”
• A Country Imagined airs on
SABC2 at 21:00 from April 25.
Capegate MIAGI Centre a music boost for Soweto
PAUL BOEKKOOI
“NOBODY is too great to write for
children,” the great Hungarian composer and pedagogue Zoltán Kodály
exclaimed in 1929. To this one may
add: “Nobody is too great to teach
them.” Musical activity is the chief
objective which should be encouraged from a young age.
In a utopia it would be a daily
necessity, but in South Africa - a
country where the bare necessities
are often lacking - it seems like a luxury. Real musicians with a vision
would, however, confirm that a solid
base in music education can change
a country’s face and, more importantly, its fortune in less than a generation and a half.
It’s against this backdrop that the
news of the establishment of the
Capegate MIAGI Centre for Music
(CMCM), part of the Morris
Isaacson School in Soweto, was so
much more than a beacon of hope.
With violinist Maxim Vengerov, the
MIAGI (Music Is A Great Investment) patron who was in Soweto
in May 2008 for the sod-turning ceremony, the whole project is in capable
hands.
Very little of this would have materialised without the financial generosity and total commitment to the
project of the late Mendel Kaplan,
Capegate Miagi Centre for Music (CMCM), designed
by the late Monty Sack, in its final stages of construction. )
Right: Robert Brooks. Photographs: Supplied.
whose legacy as a philanthropist
and executive director of Capegate
Holdings is second to none. He
funded the building of the music
centre with the full co-operation of
the Kaplan Kushlick Education
Foundation.
The late Monty Sack was the
architect. He put heart and soul
into this project.
To find out more about the vision
of running such a school, I spoke to
Robert Brooks, the executive director of MIAGI who established the
International Classical Music Festival (ICMF) of South Africa 10
FELDMAN
ON FILM
Peter Feldman
PICK OF THE WEEK
The Messenger
Cast: Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson,
Samantha Morton, Jena Malone, Eamonn
Walker
Director: Oren Moverman
The Iraq war has spawned a number of
movies, but all of them approaching the subject matter from different angles.
A touching movie in this field, with strong
performances, is The Messenger and while
The Hurt Locker has been reaping the awards
and gaining all the attention - this one is a
commanding effort, nevertheless.
years ago. Its name was changed to
MIAGI five years later.
“The school will fall under the
Gauteng Education Department
and pupils will be taught the full
curriculum, with music added as an
extra subject,” explained Brooks.
“Apart from MIAGI’s projects
like the festivals and tours undertaken by the MIAGI Youth
Orchestra and MIAGI Youth Big
Band, we also investigated the possibility of a permanent social upliftment project in education which
would be sustainable. That’s why we
seriously hooked into the idea of a
Ben Foster, in his first leading role, portrays
Will Montgomery, a US Army staff sergeant who
has just returned home from a tour in Iraq with
eye problems that need medical care.
However, Will still faces the challenge of completing his mission while seeking to find comfort
and healing back at home.
His next assignment is in the Army’s Casualty
Notification service where he has the unenviable task of notifying next-of-kin that their son
has been killed in action. Partnered with fellow
officer Tony Stone (Woody Harrelson), the two
travel around the country bearing this bad news
to the loved ones of fallen soldiers. The reaction
to the news varies greatly and these two soldiers
have to show a brave front in dealing with the
outpouring of emotions with which they are
confronted. It’s not an easy task, but they have a
strict code they follow.
During one of his trips Will is drawn to Olivia
(Samantha Morton), to whom he has just delivered the news of her husband’s death, Will’s
emotional detachment slowly begins to dissolve
as he starts spending more time with the engag-
music school.
“We’ll start the project with the
youngest possible children: the
ones on the crèche level. The school
already proved itself to be one
delivering some the best results in
the region.
“We initially see this as a multipurpose mass-education project
being developed over a six or seven
year period, with first class training
in groups in the lower grades, with
various instruments like penny
whistles and percussion. Over time
we’ll also start teaching one-on-one
to those pupils who show special
talents and work hard.
“In a diverse culture like ours a
lot of the potential directives one
could follow will have to be discussed; Every music pupil will naturally be led through the basics, but
soon observant teachers will be
able to guide them in their choices.”
With a number of music education hubs already established in
Soweto, is there a niche MIAGI will
be able to fill? Brooks responds: “It
is at the level of pupils who’ve
never been exposed to music,
where we aim to make a difference.
We’re bound by the education
department’s
guidelines,
but
should we prove that our project is
successful, it could well be applied
in other parts of the country.”
ing Olivia.
As the film unravels, what emerges here is a
human portrait that is both moving and surprisingly humorous as pain, friendship and
survival all come under the microscope.
Director Oren Moverman handles this subject in a delicate manner and this shines
through each frame. Harrelson won an Oscar
nomination for his reading of the role, but it is
young Ben Foster’s performance that receives
the plaudits. He gets under the skin of the
character and you get to feel his trauma.
The production cleverly probes the psychologies of men traumatised by the war and
the urges of the widows who need to hear
more than just words of comfort.
What really resonates here is the complex
story of the camaraderie that exists between
two men whose only hope of avoiding selfdestruction is to let down their guard, something that is strictly against protocol.
If anything, this movie manages to communicate honestly and artfully the true casualties of war: the surviving combatants.
23 - 30 April 2010
SA JEWISH REPORT
13
TAPESTRY
ART, BOOKS, DANCE, FILM, THEATRE
Anglo-Boer War’s ‘Boerejode’
REVIEWED BY GWEN PODBREY
TWO NEW books touch on the
many untold truths of the AngloBoer War and First World War,
from both a Jewish and media perspective.
Boerejode: Jews in the Boer Armed
Forces 1899-1902 by David Saks.
Price (incl postage): R180. To order,
e-mail: [email protected]
A highly illuminating, and impeccably researched, account of the
role played by Jews in defending
the Boer Republics during the
Anglo-Boer War. Saks brings to
light the long-forgotten heroism of
many Jewish combatants who
identified strongly with their
Afrikaner compatriots’ struggle to
preserve their political, cultural
and economic independence in the
face of British imperialism.
For newly-settled immigrants
battling to establish themselves as
smallholders, shopkeepers and
general dealers, in a country
aflame with political tensions, the
decision to ally themselves with
the Boer cause involved severe
penalties for Jews, who - in terms of
British policy - risked being deported back to their countries of origin.
(They were primarily from the
Russian Empire.)
The book uncovers fascinating
instances of camaraderie and the
profound bonds formed between
Jews and staunch Calvinists in an
era when anti-Semitism barely
existed in Afrikaner commando
ranks - bonds so profound, in fact,
that many Jewish oudstryders
‘Afrikanerised’ to a great extent.
The book not only pays homage
to Jews who fought (and frequently
died) bravely and defiantly for their
adopted country, but casts a sad
reflection on what became of that
country in later years, when racial
and religious tensions remoulded
South Africa into a pariah
supremacist state.
It also poses important questions
about the South African Jewish
community vis-à-vis present-day
extremist Afrikaner groups at a
time when the countryís identity is
once again in flux.
Saks’ mention of Jewish names forgotten for over 100 years - is sure
to spark lively discourse among
readers, and remind them of a
shared history with people whose
anger, pride, resourcefulness and
endurance are startlingly recognisable. Very highly recommended.
Unreliable Sources: How the 20th
Century was Reported by John
Simpson (Pan-Macmillan, R217)
A most instructive overview of how
the British press has reported the
key events of the past century,
beginning with the Anglo-Boer
War, when English journalists
(including a very young Winston
Churchill) witnessed the brutality
and hypocrisy of, for example, Lord
Kitchener, and ‘heroes’ like BadenPowell, who ‘won’ the Siege of
Mafeking by the simple expedient
of depriving black townsfolk of
their rations so that whites could
continue eating.
(For a more detailed account of
Baden-Powell’s tactics, see the War
Diary of Sol Plaatje, who was living
in Mafeking at the time. See, too,
revisionist works such as maverick
historian Kenneth Griffith’s Thank
G-d We Kept the Flag Flying - a
book about the Siege of Ladysmith,
which, together with his histories
of the Irish liberation struggle,
earned Griffith the opprobrium of
the British public, including death
threats, and led to the banning of
his documentaries from the BBC.)
For any war correspondent with
even a modicum of conscience, the
dilemma of whether to tell the
truth or be loyal to queen and
country, weighed heavily: but,
then, this was an era in which independent, uncensored journalism
per se was still an unknown entity.
The British media faced a rather
easier task in the First and Second
World Wars, when the aggressor
came from without the empire’s
borders - but there were still internal power shifts, blatant doubledealing and large amounts of ‘classified’ information preventing a
fair appraisal of the situation.
By the sixties, however, England
Special Naledi for Daphne Kuhn
“It’s hard to compete with
the big, branded musicals,
but we believe in keeping the
SANDTON’S Old Mutual
drama artform alive,” she
Theatre on the Square could
explains. “It’s about keeping
just as easily be named
a balance between what’s
‘Daphne’s’ - because that’s
viable and appealing to all,
what many of theatre’s loyal
and what’s less viable.”
patrons affectionately call it.
The Theatre on the Square
This, perhaps, sums up
also hosts music and musical
proprietor Daphne Kuhn’s
theatre as well as children’s
approach to the venue: it’s a
theatre workshops. “It’s very
welcoming home away from
important to educate chilhome, where she is your
dren in the joy of theatre and
affable, warm, always-smilprovide cultural awareness,”
ing hostess, and where you
says Kuhn.
can go for a jolly good
She loves the heady fix of
evening’s entertainment in
helping create new works
an intimate environment.
and unearthing fresh talent.
Having produced over 350
“I suppose I could take any
productions in the 13 years
job at a corporate and
since she opened the thearrange events, but I love
atre’s doors on what is now
what I do and I want to do it.
Nelson Mandela Square (not
I studied drama and was
to mention another 20-odd Daphne Kuhn receiving the Naledi Award,
thrown into the deep end in
plays staged at the theatre’s supported by Naledi Theatre Award’s
terms of the business aspect
previous
location
in executive director, Dawn Lindberg.
of things - but you learn to
Rosebank), Kuhn is known (PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY BUZ PUBLICITY)
take the knocks and enjoy the
for her passion and devotion
successes.
huge responsibility when it
to all things theatre.
“I’m inspired by young people
This vocation recently earned comes to finances and so on.
and their enthusiasm,” Kuhn
Tenacity and a can-do attitude
her the executive director’s
adds. “That keeps me going. I’m
award at the Naledi Theatre is one thing, but the reality is
very positive about the future of
Awards, honouring her excep- that bums on seats pay the bills.
the arts - which is essential to
tional contribution to South Kuhn has come up with what
cultivating a good, well-rounded
seems to be a winning mix ’n
African theatre.
society, as theatre mirrors our
Kuhn was shocked and pleas- match formula: stage commersociety.”
antly surprised over the years cially popular shows such as
• “uNik” with Nik Rabinowitz
plays staged at her theatre have stand-up comedy, including the
performs at Old Mutual Theatre
won several awards, but she says likes of Marc Lottering and Nik
on the Square till May 1, and the
that “people often don’t realise Rabinowitz, which allows her to
theatre’s Friday lunchtime conthe role a producer or artistic cross-subsidise drama and niche
certs features Israeli pianist Amit
director plays in the staging of fare that may not necessarily
Yahav on May 7, (011) 883-8606.
theatre productions. There’s a strike box-office gold.
CHRISTINA KENNEDY
- and, indeed, all of Europe - was
swept up in rising anti-Vietnam
permissiveness, the Woodstock
ethos and the nascent gender liberation movements, and the press
found both its feet and its voice.
The rise of alternative media like
television gave this added impetus.
More recent events - such as the
Thatcher years, the Iraqi war, the
gradual slide of the monarchy into
little more than tabloid tokens, and
the huge demographic changes in
Britain - have posed the same problems, but in new and more sophisticated forms.
The rise of the British yellow
press, and the present immunity
enjoyed by many of its more radical
newspapers, is a mutation of the
tongue it has grown since the
Victorian age.
And, like the media everywhere
else, balance between credibility,
internal socio-political pressures
and prejudice on the part of news
reporters remains precarious.
The point, of course, is that
there is no such thing as an objective press, nor an objective truth,
either in Britain or anywhere else.
Jews know this all too well, having
long endured the outpourings of
the BBC, and the arrogant, onesided diatribes of its self-styled
prophets.
Simpson’s book, while somewhat
over-ambitious, is so beautifully
written, wryly humorous and deftly
iconoclastic that it is a joy to read.
14
SA JEWISH REPORT
23 - 30 April 2010
LETTERS
Disclaimer
The letters page is intended to provide opportunity for a range of views on any given topic to be
expressed. Opinions articulated in the letters are those of the writers and do not necessarily
reflect the views of the editor, staff or directors of the Jewish Report
The Editor, Suite 175, Postnet X10039, Randburg, 2125 email: [email protected]
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Letters up to 400 words will get preference. Please provide your full first name and surname, place of
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plume. Letters should preferably be e-mailed. Letters may be edited or shortened.
A COMMUNITY MIRED IN INTOLERANCE AND PREJUDICE
A FEEBLY-MANAGED PHASE OF DAMAGE CONTROL
I DIDN’T think this community could
descend any further into the mire of
intolerance and prejudice in which it
has been wallowing in recent years,
but with the affair of Mr Justice
Richard Goldstone and his grandson’s
barmitzvah, it has proved that there
are no depths to which it cannot sink.
Whether or not Goldstone was
‘banned’ from attending, whether or
not the SA Zionist Federation was
planning to picket if he did attend, the
fact that the issue arose at all and that
the Federation could believe it had any
right to interfere in what is a private
family simcha, is absolutely iniqui-
THE GILBERT & Sullivan song, “A
Policeman’s lot is not a happy one”, must resonate in the editorial office of this newspaper
which must inevitably and all too frequently,
deal with no-win situations. The report,
“Goldstone ‘barred’ from grandson’s barmitzvah”, is a case in point.
The apparent fury generated by the “irresponsible audacity” of the editor’s decision to
publish this report, is a prime example of
shooting the messenger instead of the message.
To blame the JR for drawing the attention of
the community it serves to a matter of wide
public interest is, to me, blatantly unfair as
(from what we the public have been able to
glean), there is nothing inaccurate within the
report, including the heading.
On the contrary; there is every indication
that unnecessary and unwarranted pressure
was brought to bear, at the highest levels, to dissuade Justice Goldstone from attending his
grandson’s barmitzvah.
The suggestion that this included a barring
and a demonstration outside the Sandton Shul
on the morning of the ceremony, must bear an
element of truth as so outrageous an accusation would not emanate from nowhere.
If criticism should be directed anywhere, it
should be at the meddling that has taken place
in a matter that should have been recognised as
strictly private and should not have been used
as a platform for the display of personal or
communal animosity.
I believe that it is commonly agreed that the
Goldstone Report is a flawed and shoddy piece
of work, an opinion shared by both legal
experts and academics who have given it their
serious and considered attention.
To say that he has done unfathomable damage to Israel’s security is beyond doubt and
those who come in contact with him could
tous.
That it did interfere, is quite clear
from its statement on Friday that “discussions were held with the Sandton
Synagogue regarding the forthcoming
barmitzvah of the grandson of Judge
Richard Goldstone”. Why? What did it
have to do with the Federation?
As far as I know, a barmitzvah is a
religious ceremony. By desecrating it
and turning it into a political circus,
does more harm to Judaism than the
Goldstone Report could ever do.
Pat Tucker
Johannesburg
DON’T LET THINGS GET IN WAY OF POLITICAL EXPEDIENCY
IT IS disingenuous for Mr Justice Dennis
Davis to once again start preaching
about lashon harah, after the disgraceful
manner in which he himself insulted
Caroline Glick in a previous edition of
the SA Jewish Report.
He disdainfully referred to her as “One
Caroline Glick” and tried his utmost to
demean her. What, you may ask, was the
heinous crime which she committed in
order to deserve this? Well, she actually
criticised the “chosen one” - President
Barack Obama.
We must all clearly understand that
Obama is the “most popular president in
modern living memory” - at least according to Davis. In fact, he is so popular that
he managed to lose Ted Kennedy’s “safe”
senate seat (which had been held by his
party since 1953) to Scott Brown.
According to Robert Gibbs and
Obama’s other spin doctors, it was
Martha Cokely’s fault and George Bush’s
fault and everyone else’s fault except for
Obama. Anyone who really believes this,
should come forward and claim his 10year free membership of the “Flat Earth
Society”.
The problem is that among Davis’ elitist clique, you don’t allow things like
facts to get in the way of political expediency. If Obama goes around saying what
you want to hear you simply proclaim
him the “most popular president in modern living memory” and let the truth be
damned. If anyone dares to disagree with
you, then you attack them - just like
Davis did to Glick. When they attack one
of us, it is “freedom of speech”, but when
we fight back and attack them, it is
lashon harah.
Irwin Gutkin
Jerusalem
express their displeasure in several civilised
ways, including shunning him, refusing to shake
his hand or, most intelligently, taking intelligent
issue with the content of his tome.
However, we appear to believe that because
Goldstone is a South African Jew we have the
right to be even more vociferous in our condemnation and, in doing so, qualify to behave in the
most undignified manner. This is not just a local
issue and does little to promote our moral status.
Simply assuming that we have the right to
interfere in a family affair, is beyond the realms
of acceptability and says far more about us than
about him.
It shows that we are intolerant, arrogant and
without sensible compassion for the family and
boy involved - it also says that within our leadership there are those who sometimes allow their
ego and sense of self-belief get in the way of
sound judgement, the same way that Goldstone’s
own ego misled him into believing that he could
control the path of his poisoned investigation.
We are now assailed with press releases, statements and backtracking that are transparent to
say the least, leaving us with the distinct impression that we have reached a feebly-managed
phase of damage control.
I am of the firm belief that, without external
influence, the Sandton Shul committee alone
should have been left to deal with this matter.
That community boasts sufficient men of stature
and integrity to adequately cope with a “problem” of this nature.
However, of one thing I am convinced- the
Jewish Report did not err in providing the background to this sorry incident and I, for one wish
more strength to their pen in the face of such
misguided condemnation.
Victor Gordon
Pretoria
DON’T DEPRIVE JEW OF ‘NACHAS’ OF GRANDSON’S BARMITZVAH GOLDSTONE BARMITZVAH: JEWISH COMMUNITY SCORES AN OWN GOAL
WHILE I am disgusted with (Mr Justice
Richard) Goldstone for having accepted
the deliberately skewed mandate (into
the Gaza war issue) and corresponding
it by taking on board two blatantly antiSemitic and anti-Zionist members, I am
equally disgusted by the people who
would deprive a Jew of the “nachas” of
attending his grandson’s barmitzvah.
Jack Miller
Gresswold, Johannesburg
RABBI KURTSTAG AND SAZF CONGRATULATED ON
GOLDSTONE STANCE
JUSTICE GOLDSTONE, you have done
a tremendous disservice to Israel and
the Jewish people!
Congratulations to Rabbi Moshe
Kurtstag and the SAZF for taking a
forceful stance against Justice Richard
Goldstone.
I suggest that Justice Goldstone goes
to Gaza and celebrate his second barmitzvah and take his pals (former Chief
Justice Arthur) Chaskalson and (Mr
Justice) Dennis Davis with him.
The sins of the father?
Lamyce Nafte
Greenside, Johannesburg
GOLDSTONE BARMITZVAH: HOW NOT TO WIN ANY FRIENDS
OTHER THAN a small lunatic fringe,
Jews in general are inclined to be tolerant of other human beings, irrespective
of affiliation.
Consequently I am abhorred by the
manner in which the leadership of the
Zionist Federation and the relevant shul,
reportedly put pressure on Mr Justice
Richard Goldstone to “agree” not to
attend his grandson’s barmitzvah.
Quite apart from the considerable distress this must have caused the family, it
demonstrates an intolerant attitude
which is totally unacceptable.
Nobody should deny anyone the
opportunity to express an opinion on the
Goldstone Report (or anything else), but
a supposedly joyous family function is
not the arena for “political” debate and
“action”.
I am thoroughly ashamed of these fellow Jews - and have to say that this is certainly not the way to win friends.
Herbert Hirsch
Mouille Point, Cape Town
‘BARRING’ GOLDSTONE FROM GRANDSON’S BARMITZVAH
GOES TOO FAR
I READ the article on Mr Justice
Goldstone’s decision to ‘withdraw’ from
his grandson’s barmitzvah SAJR April
16), with a mixture of outrage and disappointment.
The debate over the Justice
Goldstone’s decision to chair the enquiry
into Operation Cast Lead (the Gaza
incursion) has been debated in full and in
every conceivable medium.
Whatever criticisms have been levelled
(some legitimate, some not), Justice
Goldstone is also a man, a father, a
grandfather and, most importantly, a
Jew.
His grandson has done no wrong, neither has his family and yet on this child’s
most important day, he is robbed of the
attendance of his grandfather because
‘people are angry’ and there may have
been a demonstration!
A demonstration at a child’s barmitzvah? Potential abuse being hurled by
Jews at a fellow Jew, in shul? Is this what
we have become?
Have we become so intolerant and
insensitive that we cannot act with civility and decorum at a significant and religious event?
What message do we send to this child,
as he becomes a man, about the nature of
our community and the values which we
hold dear?
We are better than this - we are a committed and tolerant community, we stand
together. If we can exclude a grandfather
from a barmitzvah, who is next?
I fear that this shameful episode will do
great damage to us all.
Warren Shapiro
Durban
ONCE AGAIN the Jewish community has
taken the opportunity of scoring an “own goal”
regarding the Goldstone barmitzvah issue.
Yes, the score by now must be “Anti-Semites 15,
SA Jewry nil”. What a shameful display, the
Board of ‘Apathies’, the shul committee, and
the Beth Din! Hang your heads in shame.
Goldstone certainly does not have my affection, but this ugly display of punishing his
grandson and family, is totally beyond the
pale. You guys make me want to puke!
Fred Levy
Cape Town
LIKE MALEMA, GOLDSTONE SHOULD BE CENSURED
I READ in the SAJR of April 16 that Mr Justice
Richard Goldstone will be made to feel most
unwelcome if he attends his grandson’s barmitzvah.
(Julius) Malema and Goldstone both need to be
censured for speech/actions intending to cause
harm to others. Malema’s song/ranting is quite
obviously hate speech. Goldstone’s report on the
Gaza incursion is much more surreptitious. The
result of the UN report is to taint people (Israeli
army officers) as criminals for defending their
country against armed assailants.
Hamas (backed by a major rocket-producing
country and soon to be nuclear power - Iran) has
in its charter the intention to destroy Israel as a
Jewish homeland. Note that Israel did not have
an occupying army in Gaza when rockets were
launched from Gaza over a period of a few years.
It appears from various prominent people who
know Goldstone that his credentials are impeccable, so one can only assume he knows nothing
about Iran or their proxies, Hamas’ and
Hezbollah’s intentions. Now he knows.
John Brenner
Johannesburg
REASONS TO CONTRADICT LUBAVITCHER REBBE BROCHA
YOUR NEWSPAPER prides itself on being open to
all opinions. I write this letter purely out of love
and respect for the South African Jewish community and its leaders, both secular and religious. It
is truly the very best in the Diaspora.
I am therefore very concerned that I have never
read any articles, or columns warning of any
impending danger to the future welfare of the
Jewish community. In my opinion this is due to the
brocha given by the Lubavitcher Rebbe zt’l some 20
years ago, that it would be good (to remain) in
South Africa. This brocha was accepted by all sectors of the Jewish community.
While I really do hope that it will be good for the
Jews in South Africa, we must be made aware of
reasons which contradict the Rebbe’s brocha.
As I mentioned earlier, these are never given any
space in any Jewish publication. We must be
reminded that not too long ago the Jews of Europe
were also “encouraged” to remain where they
were. Ninety per cent of the great Orthodox leaders (including Chabad), were anti-Zionist. We all
know the tragic consequences of their misjudgements.
In those days it was difficult to make aliyah,
even though many secular Jews did manage get
to “Palestine”. How ironic it is that since 1948,
when the “gates” of Eretz Yisrael are wide open,
millions of Jews prefer to remain in voluntary
exile, ignoring the rapid increase of antiSemitism in all parts of the Diaspora. I appeal to
your newspaper to publish some opinions and
articles which encourage leaving the exile. I am
sending you some of my own, and hope you keep
your “word” of publishing all opinions.
Choni Davidowitz
Johannesburg
YOM HA’ATZMAUT, ALAS, WAS ‘WOMEN-REIN’
THE YOM HA’ATZMAUT community event at
Kyalami on Monday night, was a very nice event.
The organisation was superb, the performers
had great talent, there were respectable and heart
warming speeches. I enjoyed it.
However, it was also ‘women-rein’ - clean of
women. Like our slavery in Egypt, the trend is
creeping on us. We did not even see how it happensand here it was - a “women-rein” secular event!
Fundamentalism is like that - all or nothing.
The fact that we celebrated the 62 years of the
Independence of Israel, exclude the majority of us.
In Israel we are celebrating 62 years of a society
striving for equality. Women are taking active
and important part in community, in politics,
start-ups, science and yes, in Yom Ha’atzmaut
events and even - believe it or not - in other public events.
I can only repeat Chronicles B 35, 25: Kings A
10, 12: Ecclesiastes 2, 8; Shmuel B 19 36: ‘Im
eshma od bekol Sharim Ve-Sharot’ - ‘Can I hear
any more the voice of singing men and singing
women?’
Naomi Dinur
Johannesburg
23 - 30 April 2010
SA JEWISH REPORT
15
COMMUNITY COLUMNS
ABOVE
BOARD
Zev Krengel,
National Chairman
A column of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies
IT WAS inevitable that the hugely emotive issues thrown up by
the controversy over Mr Justice
Richard Goldstone’s anticipated
attendance - or non-attendance,
as the case might be - of his
grandsonís barmitzvah ceremony, would generate a wide range
of viewpoints and that these
would often be diametrically
opposed to each other.
Many painful questions have
indeed been raised, all of them
tied up with issues relating to
Judaism, Zionism and Jewish
family life that go to the very
heart of our identity as Jewish
South Africans.
While even here there are
some that disagree, most mem-
All we ask for is tolerance
bers of our community would
concur that in heading up a disgraceful kangaroo court whose
express purpose was to gather
“evidence” of Israel’s predetermined criminality, Mr Goldstone did enormous harm to
Israel, the Jewish people and
indeed to the cause of impartial
justice he was once thought to
epitomise.
That being said, there are
widely divergent views over
what constitutes an appropriate
time and manner for people to
express their outrage against
him. Given the seriousness of
what Goldstone has done, can
even a barmitzvah ceremony
justifiably become an occasion
for protest action?
Some say “yes”, others say
“no”, and among those who say
“yes” there are differences of
opinion over what form that
protest action should take.
Should it be up front and in your
face, or in the circumstances
would a more subtle cold-shouldering approach be most appropriate?
It is not my intention to pronounce which of the above
approaches is the correct one.
Naturally, I have an opinion on
the subject, but for purposes of
this column, it is not relevant to
state what it is.
What I really wish to address
is the whole question of showing tolerance for differences of
opinion, something which I
believe has been in unfortunately short supply throughout this
particular controversy.
It is a truism that there are
two sides to every question. In
this regard one often finds, by a
bizarre irony, that those who are
the most vocal in calling for tolerance, are in reality guilty of
the very lack of tolerance they
deplore.
This has certainly been in evi-
LETTERS
REFORMING JUDAISM AND SECULARISATION, A MAJOR PROBLEM
I AM motivated to write this letter
after reading the most interesting
letter on the “Self hating Jew phenomenon” in the SAJR. If memory
serves me correctly, I recall that at
the time of the first public declaration against the State of Israel, of
the so-called “Not In Our Name”
group, the Progressive community
felt it necessary to take out a full
page advertisement in this publication, distancing itself from the
group.
This was obviously due to the fact
that the vast majority of the signatories to the statement were associated with this community. I believe
the answer to this phenomenon lies
in the breakdown of a very intrinsic and basic Judaic belief. I will
explain.
Every morning in the first brachot of Shacharit we say: “Sheloh
asani goy,” thank you G-d for NOT
making us like the other nations of
the world.
That is, we the Jewish people, are
as one body, wherever we may be
across the world. We are not like the
other nations, requiring a specific
national identity, but rather we are
joined, all of us, by the covenant
between G-d and his people, across
national borders, ethnicity and gender.
Ask any non-Jew this question
and they will tell you that they see
us, secular, religious, rich and poor
as ONE, which we are!
This knowledge has unfortunately been lost today due the reforming
of basic Judaism and the secularisation of Jews across the Western
world and Israel itself. These
“enlightened” Jews see themselves
as one of the nations of the world, as
do the Israelis, who are, however, no
different than the rest of us.
These Jews feel they can align
themselves intellectually with the
critics of the Jewish people, but in so
doing they associate themselves
with those evil elements whose ultimate goal is the total annihilation of
the Jewish people, G-d forbid.
Sixty-two years of attempts to placate her enemies have brought an
ever increasing majority of rational
Jews living in Israel to the inevitable
conclusion that liberal leftist ideas
are nothing but fantasy in the face of
the naked aggression of an antiSemitic world.
As Israel becomes more religiously observant and moves inexorably
in a more rightist direction, the likes
of “Not In Our Name”, “Open Shuhada Street”, the Justice Goldstones
of the world, and those who defend
him and his ideas, will find themselves increasingly marginalised
from the main body of the Jewish
people, to be excluded and rejected,
and in my opinion, correctly so.
Eric Hoffer asks: “What is it that
drives some intellectuals in free
countries to hate their native land
and wish for its annihilation?” He
concludes: “One who hates what
most people love probably savours
his own uniqueness.
“The adversary intellectual cannot actually wreck a society, and he
cannot seize power, but by discrediting and besmirching a society, he
undermines the faith of its potential
defenders.”
Howard Yuter
Pretoria
ADDING MILLION PALESTINIANS TO THOSE ALREADY IN ISRAEL, IS A DEATH KNELL
FOR THOSE too busy to read
through a half page article by David
Saks in his Barbaric Yawp column,
“Is SA a future Zimbabwe?”, in the
SA Jewish Report of April 16, I
would oblige by summarising it as
follows:
1 Zimbabwe is de facto a failed
state, with minority rights crushed.
2 South Africa as he outlines our
tendencies, might just go that route.
3 Saks writes: “There are those
who advocate, based on the South
African experience, that Israel and
Palestine should go the one-state
route. (My note: Jews who advocate the one-state solution are
from opposite ends of the spectrum, such as left wing and right
wing.)
My comments are as follows: If
we include approximately one million Palestinians to the Arabs
presently living in Israel, then
with their current birth rate they
will outnumber Jewish Israelis in
30 to 40 years’ time.
The ultra-Orthodox Jews in
Israel also multiply at a massive
rate, but they don’t serve in the
army and don’t study any technology. One had better pray.
John Brenner
Cyrildene
Johannesburg
FOR THE RECORD
Motty Sacks: Reference is to the ‘leadership’, not the ‘membership’
In the article by Motty Sacks on
page 14 of last week’s issue,
where he stated that “nearly
60 per cent of South African
synagogue and Jewish school
membership will not sing
Hatikvah”, he intended to refer
to the ‘leadership’ not the membership.
AROUND THE WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
REFORM LEADER LIGHTS INDEPENDENCE TORCH
WASHINGTON - Israel included a
Reform rabbi for the first time in
launching its Independence Day celebrations.
Rabbi Richard Hirsch was one of
14 Israelis asked to help light the
torch on Monday evening marking
the
start
of
Israel's
62nd
Independence Day.
The committee naming those
honoured, working out of the office
of Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu, recognised Hirsch for
strengthening ties between the
Reform movement and Israel.
Hirsch headed Reform's Religious
Action Centre in the 1960s, when it
played a key role in the civil rights
movement. He moved to Israel to
direct the World Union of
Progressive Judaism in 1973.
"He is credited with influencing
the organisationís decision to relocate its headquarters to Israel,
solidifying the commitment of
Progressive Judaism and its adherents to Israel and the Zionist
endeavour," a RAC statement said.
Hirsch went on to chair the
Zionist General Council. (JTA)
dence over the Goldstone barmitzvah issue. It is all very well
to make allegations of victimisation and intimidation against
those who wish to protest, yet if
people do wish to protest, surely
they have every right to do so?
Some insist that discouraging
a man from attending his own
grandson’s barmitzvah is an act
of extreme intolerance, yet what
this amounts to is condemning
out of hand those who wish only
to exercise their right to freedom of expression. Justice
Goldstone has every right to
attend his grandson’s barmitzvah if he so wishes, but by the
same token those who wish to
protest against him (so long,
obviously, as this is done peacefully) have just as much right.
It is possible to disagree, even
robustly, with another viewpoint without belittling the
character and integrity of the
one who holds it. Sometimes,
when emotions are running
high, it can become quite a delicate balance to maintain, but
ultimately there is always a line
between taking issue with a particular opinion on the one hand
and being contemptuously dismissive of the one who propounds it on the other.
We need to resist the tendency
to adhere rigidly to a certain set
of orthodoxies while writing off
everyone outside those narrow
ideological
boundaries
as
benighted and wrong.
The SAJBD, by its very broadbased nature, does not and
indeed cannot represent one
particular constituency or set of
views. What we strive to promote is a culture of diversity, in
which spaces are allowed for all
streams of opinion to find
expression.
We do not expect there to be
conformity of viewpoints, nor do
we even want this. Diversity of
opinion within a community
should not be regarded as a
weakness; indeed, it is a
strength. It only becomes a
source of weakness when it is
misused to turn people against
each other.
The debate over the Goldstone
barmitzvah issue will come and
go. What remains for us is the
ongoing challenge of fostering a
genuine culture of tolerance for
diversity in which even the most
emotive controversies will not
result in our community becoming polarised.
Once it is recognised that the
acceptance of diversity is a sign
of strength, not weakness, we
will have achieved a degree of
strength and maturity that will
enable us to take in our stride
similar and even greater challenges in years to come.
This column is paid for by the
SAJBD
Advertorial
NEVER ON CHOL HAMOED
“We’ll build it on a Sunday, a Monday, a Tuesday, a Wednesday, a
Thursday and part of Friday. But never on Shabbas, Yom Tov or Chol
Hamoed”. These were the words of Arnold Garber, non executive chairman of Peaceway Trading, the company which is redeveloping the retail
centre at the corner of Long and Summerway in Glenhazel. Together with
co-directors Joel Back and Shaul Daniels, they have invested significantly
to turn the main corner in Glenhazel into a beautiful retail spot. “This was
the second Chol Hamoed that we stopped all building operations. Last
time during Chol Hamoed we found one of the sub contractors clearing
up rubble. We had not made it 100 % clear that not building also means
not clearing up rubble. We have put it on all the leases that tenants not
only are not allowed to trade on Shabbas and Yom Tov, they are not even
allowed to go into their store to clear up or tidy up. We want this centre
to have the Shchina that will bring Mazal to all who trade there, buyers
and sellers.
We have also built a Keilim Mikvah on Summerway, for the benefit of
the community. The main anchor tenant will be KosherWorld, a unique
store dedicated to the Jewish community of the area. It will be based on the
principle of PPP according to Garber. “The first P refers to Position. I doubt
that there is a better position in Glenhazel than the corner of Long,
Summerway and Ridge Roads. It will have 35 parking bays and you will
be able to walk out of your car and into the store. The time taken for the
shopping experience will be much less than driving to the big stores, walking distances from the car to entrance of the store etc. Once inside the store
the experience will be quick and efficient with a 650 square metre size
store. The second P refers to Products. No products that are not Kosher will
be stocked. The guarantee that all products stocked are Kosher will not be
given by the owners or management, but by the Johannesburg Beth Din.
There will be no food preparation in the store. We will only sell boxes.
Whether the boxes are bakery or butchery products, they are still boxes.
There are enough good butcheries and bakeries in the area and there is
no need to re-invent the wheel. Fruit and vegetables will also be sold only
pre-packaged. By selling everything pre-packaged and pre-priced, we
ensure hygiene, shopping speed and efficiency. In addition to Kosher edible products, the full range of toiletries, cleaning materials, baby products,
etc. will be sold in one single store. The third P refers to price. We are
committed that other than the short term specials that the big stores have,
usually 4 or 5 days at a time, we will be no more expensive than any of
the big stores in Johannesburg. We will also offer delivery services for
added convenience. Furthermore we will offer a unique service of prepaid accounts especially useful for people who need to deploy loose cash.
By depositing cash at any bank, or doing an internet transfer, shoppers
will enjoy a further 2 % discount on our already low prices, which normally goes to the credit card companies.
”Upstairs there are fours shops, three of which are already let. The
second floor are offices and are fully let. Glenhazel will never be the same
again.
16
SA JEWISH REPORT
23 - 30 April 2010
AROUND THE WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
CONGRESSIONAL HEARING TACKLES ANTI-SEMITISM IN
SOCIAL MEDIA
WASHINGTON - Social networking sites presented a new and
dangerous medium for spreading anti-Semitism, panellists told
a US House of Representatives
subcommittee recently.
The April 14 hearing, titled
‘Combating
Anti-Semitism:
Protecting
Human
Rights,
looked at the proliferation of
hate speech through social
media alongside such concerns
as anti-Semitism being masked
as anti-Israelism or antiWesternism.
Hannah Rosenthal, the State
Departmentís special envoy to
combat and monitor antiSemitism, favoured "positive
talk" as a means of combating
the hate, while some Jewish
groups said using legal means to
remove the incitement was the
better way to go.
Representative Chris Smith
(Republican New Jersey) asked
Rosenthal about how to combat
the reappearance of the blood
libel - the falsehood that Jews
use gentile blood to make
matzah - popping up in the
Middle East through television
and the Internet.
“The answer to bad and hateful speech is good speech,"
Rosenthal replied. "There are
examples where there is incitement to violence and we raise it
with the television stations and
with the NGOs on the ground.”
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, associate dean of the Simon
Wiesenthal Centre, said that
rather than countering hate
speech with positive speech,
companies should enforce their
policies on hate speech.
“We all click a gray button
that says “I agree”. Have you
ever taken the time to read what
you are agreeing to?" Cooper
asked. "It’s a contract and it
does not allow for hate speech.”
Working with companies to
remove sites that violate the
terms of agreement has been
successful, he said, noting
a positive relationship with
Facebook, which has 400 million
users.
Cooper showed the panel antireligion and anti-Semitic websites, including a Facebook page
called ‘Zionism Terminator’,
and spoke of suicide bomber
games and others in which the
player commits atrocities such
as gunning down Haitian survivors.
The concept of the lone wolf is
also alarming, he said, referring
to James von Brunn, who last
June gunned down a security
guard at the US Holocaust
Memorial Museum. Von Brunn,
who died in January, maintained a website blaming Jews
and African-Americans for an
earlier jail sentence.
Other panellists included
Elisa Massimino, president and
CEO of Human Rights First;
Rabbi Andrew Baker, the
American Jewish Committee's
director of international Jewish
affairs; and Kenneth Jacobson,
deputy national director of the
Anti-Defamation League.
Massimino, whose written testimony included a 10-point plan
for combating hate crimes,
urged the Congress members to
press the Organisation for
Security and Co-operation in
Europe “to live up to the commitments they have already
made” to effectively track and
combat hate crimes and for the
US to make its presence known
on the issue. (JTA)
Passing of two stalwarts
of SA country Jewry
DAVID SAKS
A
LARGE
crowd
drawn from as far
afield as Durban and
Polokwane, gathered
at
the
Kimberley
Jewish cemetery last
week to pay their last
respects to Jules Katz
(pictured), a much
loved and respected citizen of the
town who passed away on April 10
at the age of 88.
Among those who attended,
were many members of the
Griqualand
West
Hebrew
Congregation (GWHC), of which
Katz was a committed life-long
member and past president.
Country communities spiritual
leader, Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft,
officiated at the funeral, which he
described as one of the largest
Jewish funerals that had ever
taken place in Kimberley.
Katz arrived in South Africa
from Lithuania in 1929. He was
educated at Grey College in
Bloemfontein and went on to serve
with distinction in the South
African Artillery Corps in Italy
during the Second World War.
After qualifying as an electrician, he settled in Kimberley in
1948, remaining there for the rest
of his life and achieving considerable prominence as a businessman
and dedicated community worker.
He was also a fine sportsman,
who narrowly missed out on representing his country at boxing at
the Olympics. Together with his
wife Shirley, whom he married in
1949, he established a hardware
and building supplies business,
Jules Katz and Co. This grew into
a household name in Kimberley
and the Northern Cape.
Barney Horwitz, current president of the
GWHC, described Katz
as having been a pillar
both of the local Jewish
community
and
of
Kimberley society as a
whole, one whose qualities of kindness, generosity and respect for
others had been shaped by his personal and humble beginnings.
“He lived by the Jewish scriptural law that you should be kind
to a stranger since you were once
a stranger in Egypt and he was
once a stranger in South AfricaӔ
Horwitz said.
Katz is survived by his sons
Jeffrey and Barry, daughters
Moeksie and Rosie and grandchildren Jason, David, Jessica and
Taryn.
***
In March this year, country
Jewry suffered another sad loss in
the death of Dr Joseph Ivan
Koopowitz (pictured), who like
Jules Katz combined
an outstanding professional career with
that of extensive
involvement
in
Jewish communal,
civic and general
welfare affairs.
Better known as
“Koopie” or by his
second name, Ivan, he died in
Queenstown in the Eastern Cape,
at the age of 77.
In its obituary, the Daily
Dispatch described him as having
been “one of Queenstown’s most
philanthropic sons.”
In addition to being prominently involved in philanthropic associations and as president of the
Queenstown Hebrew Congregation, Koopowitz served for a
number of years on the town
council, including a term as
mayor from 1980-1982.
Koopowitz was born in East
London, but raised in Queenstown, and returned there with his
wife, Gitty, after completing his
medical degree at Wits University.
Later, he added a diploma in
Forensic Medicine to his qualifications.
The couple had four sons, three
of whom themselves became medical doctors while the fourth,
Neville, is today CEO of Discovery
Health.
Koopowitz, while remaining in
private practice, also became parttime district surgeon in 1969, and
subsequently served on the committee of the District Surgeons’
Association of South Africa.
After the district surgeon post
fell away, he dedicated much effort
to ensuring that the pensioners he
had looked after for 30 years would
be cared for. For seven
years, he was the sole
medical practitioner
at Sterkstroom hospital and was instrumental in raising the
necessary funds to
establish an HIV centre there. This will be
named
the
Ivan
Koopowitz Discovery HIV Clinic in
his memory.
Until his death, he continued to
work as the Police Forensic
Medical Officer, and ensured that
the next generation of officers
would be trained in that field.
Welcoming expatriates ‘home’ for the Fifa World Cup
RONEL ZEFF
AS THE Fifa World Cup soccer
fever gains momentum, many
would-be supporters are anxiously
searching for accommodation. The
King David Schools’ Foundation
serves as the alumni network of
learners from the King David and
former Hillel schools.
The KDSF invites all former
Davidians who are currently living
overseas and who would like to
come ‘home’ during June/July of
this year, to make use of its dedicated alumni website, www.kdsf.org,
to find accommodation with other
former Davidians
To search for accommodation,
please visit www.kdsf.org and click
on the “Going to the 2010 South
Africa World Cup? Great places to
stay at great places”. Users will be
able to find kosher accommodation
near shuls, shops and kosher
restaurants.
The website also enables former
Davidians, parents and staff to
send e-greeting cards, post classifieds, look up “long lost classmates”, receive monthly newsletters about former Davidians, and
invitations to events.
A trip back home to South Africa
A day of fun, of
running, walking
and also eating
ON SUNDAY April 18, Temple
Israel in Port Elizabeth played
host to a “first-ever, 3 km Leo
Baeck Memorial Fun Run/Walk”
and souk. Prize money was sponsored by various companies, as
were banners, entry forms, etc.
The members were asked by
Margaret Davidson to bake cakes
for the cake stall, donate books for
the book table and secondhand
goods were donated to the White
Elephant stall. This was all done
to raise much needed funds “and
to create an awareness of our
presence here in Port Elizabeth”,
Temple Israel said in a media
release.
“This will, G-d willing, become
an annual event to give honour to
Leo Baeck after whom our hall is
named. Temple Israel wishes to
thank all the volunteers and participants on the day.”
would not be complete without
tours to places of historical and
current interest such as Gold Reef
City, Soweto, Sammy Marks House,
the Lion Park, and of course the
King David campuses.
This is a great opportunity to
teach your family about South
African history and also show
them where you went to school.
Contact
Searle
Sacks
on
+27 82 453 3088 or email [email protected] to book
your day trip to the school
grounds and places of interest visit www.kdsf.org for a description of each. Kosher lunches are
included.
Join hundreds of other King
David and Hillel alumni on June
10 at the King David High School
Linksfield rugby field for the
David Carnival - a reunion party
like no other, complete with rides,
games, entertainment, stalls, food,
music and song - a celebration of
South Africa and all things
Davidian!
The carnival is open to alumni,
family and friends from King David
Linksfield, Victory Park, Sandton,
Yiddish Folk, Minnie Bersohn and
the former Hillel. To receive your
personalised invitation, register at
www.kdsf.org
All proceeds raised from these
initiatives go towards the KDSF’s
scholarship programme, which
educates deserving children at the
King David schools, whose parents
cannot afford the cost of private
education, as well as towards the
KDSFís outreach programmes, in
which each King David school is
partnered with an underprivileged
school in Alexandra and Thembisa
townships.
• For more information, please
visit www.kdsf.org or contact
Ronel on +27 11 480 4710 or
[email protected]
23 - 30 April 2010
SA JEWISH REPORT
17
ADVERTORIAL
Are you ready for the Great Parade?
Anticipation is mounting. Excitement is growing. Lag B’Omer is just over a week
away (Sunday May 2) and with Lag B’Omer comes ‘The Great Parade and Fair’.
A SPOKESMAN for Chabad
House, organisers of the event,
said: 'Lag B'Omer is an island of
celebration in the midst of a
mournful period in the Jewish calendar. The day commemorates the
end of a plague that killed
24 000 of Judaism's greatest
scholars during the Talmudic era.
Tradition teaches that they were
punished for their disunity, so we
are commemorating this day with
a display of unity.
This year's parade has been
endorsed by all major Jewish
schools, numerous Johannesburg
shuls and promises to be the
biggest and best Lag B'Omer
event to date.
The parade will begin at 10:00,
with a “Children's Rally” at
Cheltondale Park. Marching
bands, and colourful floats will
guide
the
parade
along
Cheltondale Road and Louis
Botha Avenue and into the
grounds of Torah Academy.
Once there, participants will be
treated to a kaleidoscope of activity including an amusement park,
entrance free, charge for food
and rides, music, helicopters and
parachutists. It promises to be a
fun-filled day for young and old.
So ladies and gentlemen, boys
and girls, mummies and daddies,
bobbies and zaydies, make sure
you are at this great event. When
everyone is talking about it in the
AROUND THE
WORLD
NEWS IN BRIEF
EMANUEL: NO US PEACE
PLAN FOR NOW
WASHINGTON - The time is not
ripe for a US-promoted Middle
East peace plan, President
Barack Obama's chief of staff
said on Monday.
"A number of people have
advocated that," Rahm Emanuel
said on the Charlie Rose show on
Bloomberg Television.
"That time is not now,"
Emanuel said. The "time now is
to get back to the proximity talks,
have those conversations that
eventually will lead to direct
negotiations, start to make the
hard decisions to bring a balance
between the aspirations of the
Israelis for security and make
that blend with the aspirations of
the Palestinian people for their
sovereignty."
A number of Obama administration officials in recent weeks
have suggested in leaks to media
that the president is considering
such a plan by autumn.
Obama himself, along with
Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton and now Emanuel, have
pushed back against those
reports, saying it would be best
to leave a plan to the parties.
(JTA)
weeks to follow, make sure you
can say “I was there.”
Lag B'Omer - the day on which
we celebrate the importance of
Jewish unity is on Sunday May 2.
Chabad House has organised a
“Parade and Fair” where we can
all celebrate together.
Show off your Jewish pride and
join the Johannesburg Jewish com-
munity as we march through the
streets in true unity. Complete with
marching bands, floats, clowns,
rides, shows and so much more, the
parade is one spectacular event
that will long be remembered.
• For more information call
Shmulie 072-766-7478
[email protected]
18
SA JEWISH REPORT
23 - 30 April 2010
YOUTH TALK
Alison Goldberg [email protected]
KDL Primary
remembers
Israel’s fallen
OWN CORRESPONDENT
PHOTOGRAPH: YONIT WEIL
Celebrating Israel’s
birthday at Rosabelle Klein
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
SANDRA HIRSCH
THE CHILDREN at Rosabelle Klein
(Waverley)
Nursery
School
in
Johannesburg, had a wonderful time celebrating Yom Ha’atzmaut. They did a
march around the playground and then
sang songs about Israel.
They lit candles for Israel too and then
blew them out and sang ‘Happy Birthday’
in English and Hebrew. Afterwards, there
were lots of sweets and treats for all.
Happy birthday Israel!
King David Linksfield Primary School
started the morning recently with a very
moving ceremony to commemorate Yom
Hazikaron, to commemorate Israel’s fallen.
The ceremony started with a two minute
silence where it was explained to the children how in Israel everything comes to a
standstill for these two minutes, to commemorate Yom Hazikaron.
The children read Yizkor and the Prayer
for the State of Israel, followed by a moving
slide show.
Pictured are Natasha Cohen and Tali
Blumenfeld of grade 7.
A moving Yom
Hashoah
ceremony at
KDVP Primary
KAREEN SANDLER
PHOTOGRAPH: LUCY SIMMONDS
IN ORDER to commemorate Yom Hashoah, King
David Victory Park Primary School held a moving ceremony in which six candles were lit, symbolising the six million Jews who perished during
the Holocaust, as well as certain concentration
camps. Pictured is Barak Peretz of grade 7 lighting one of the symbolic candles.
KDVPP grade 7s meet our
Australopithecus Sediba
MICHELLE THORNE
PHOTOGRAPH: JANNIE LE ROUX
Learning
Hebrew from
an early stage
THE GRADE 7s of King David Victory
Park Primary School went to Maropeng on
April 14. It was an exciting and most
informative morning.
They were privileged to have been there
in the week that the discovery of
Australopithecus Sediba by palaeontologist, Professor Lee Berger of Wits and his
son Matthew, was on show.
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY SANDRA
HIRSCH
THE GRADE Rs at Rosabelle Klein (Waverley) Nursery School in Johannesburg, are
all very proud to be learning Hebrew. They
are learning many things from their
teacher, Ita, including how to write their
own names.
Showing off how they do this are Zara
Woolfson; Ben Woolfson; Samuel
Edelstein; Amy Hirsch; and Hannah
Gnesin. They are so proud of themselves
and we are so proud of them!
Looking ‘fab’ in their soccer gear
OWN CORRESPONDENT
PHOTOGRAPH SUPPLIED
THE YESHIVA College playschool
through to the high school will be donning the Bafana Bafana colours every
Friday until kick-off for the Fifa World
Cup on June 11.
The school looked fantastic this past
Friday and definitely added to the football
frenzy, creating a buzz and excitement on
the Yeshiva campus and beyond.
Grade 3V
learners
looking
‘fab’ in
their
‘Football
Friday’
attire.
Grade 4 TA boys will march
for Lag B’Omer parade
OWN CORRESPONDENT
PHOTOGRAPH: SUZANNE BELLING
GRADE 4 pupils from Torah Academy
Primary School, will comprise a marching
band in a giant Lag B’Omer parade under
the auspices of Chabad House on May 2.
The parade will leave from Cheltondale
Park and will march to Torah Academy
playing fields, to be part of other festivities.
With the boys are pictured Yinon
Falkson (left), a TA grade 11 learner and
a professional musician from the band
Kol Penima; shluchim Moishe Wilschanski (second from left); Dani Saul
(right); and musician Menachem Hecht
(back, second from right), a grade 10
learner.
Yinon and Menachem are training the
boys in preparation for the big day.
23 - 30 April 2010
SA JEWISH REPORT
19
YOUTH TALK Alison Goldberg [email protected]
Getting inspired by
Vincent van Gogh
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
VAL ARONSON
THE CHILDREN in King David Linksfield
Pre-Primary’s grade R unit, learned
about the life of Vincent van Gogh and
his famous paintings. Posing with their
inspired interpretations of the painting of
the sunflowers, are Montana Trakman,
David Landau, Daniel Appelton and
Kelly Kramer, all from Andy Berzen’s
group.
‘Giant turnip’ gives
kids food for thought
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
CHANA RIVKA LEWIN
THE YOUNG participants of Kaleidoscope
Kids holiday fun, hosted by Torah
Academy Nursery School, under the
direction of Chana Rivka Lewin, were
enchanted by “The Tale of the Giant
Turnip”.
In the photograph they are seen simu-
On Cue theatre recently paid a visit to
Rosabelle Klein
(Waverley) Nursery
School. The children
wait in anticipation for
their visit. The children
always have fun getting involved as can be
seen in the photograph with actors, children and teachers
alike, getting involved
in the action songs.
The kids also learn
valuable lessons!
Hearty
welcome to
Jannie le
Roux
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
STACY FLEISHMAN
KING David Victory Park Primary School welcomes their new deputy headmaster, Jannie le
Roux. We are confident that he will have a successful and happy stay at our school.
At KDV
Pre-Primary,
they celebrate
Israel’s birthday
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
LYNDA ROMAIN
WHAT AN exciting day! Israel’s 62nd
birthday. All the children at King David
Victory Park Pre-Primary School celebrated Yom Ha’atzmaut with flags, songs and
delicious cookies.
Pictured
standing
behind
their
Jerusalem pictures are Ella Segev and
Adam Bertoldi.
lating trying to pull the gigantic turnip out
of the ground.
The aim of drama is to actively involve
learners in expanding their thought
processes and coming up with original
solutions. On thinking what they’d do
with such a huge vegetable, they came to
the conclusion that it would be cooked,
baked and shred. This theme will be continued during the winter programme.
On Cue theatre visits
Rosabelle Klein tots
STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH BY
SANDRA HIRSCH
ON CUE theatre brought two stories to an
excited Rosabelle Klein (Waverley)
Nursery School recently. The two stories
were Little Red Riding Hood and
Peter Rabbit. The moral of Little Red
Riding Hood was not to talk to or trust
strangers and the message came across
very clearly.
The second story was about Peter
Rabbit. He was supposed to go and get
vegetables for his mother but was lazy, so
he stole from Mr Fox instead. The moral
of the story is not to steal from others.
Magic Moments to put magic
into underprivileged lives
ALISON GOLDBERG
ON FRIDAY April 23 underprivileged
black school children from Ikage
Primary School in Alexandra township
north of Johannesburg, have been invited through Magical Moments to an Israel
Day at King David Sandton Primary
School.
Magical Moments is a non-profit
organisation working with underprivileged children in townships and squatter
camps.
Many of the children at Ikage Primary
come from impoverished and disadvantaged backgrounds, many from homes
plagued by unemployment and affected
by HIV.
About 40 children, aged eight and nine
have been invited by the King David
Sandton Israeli dancers for an afternoon
of Israeli dancing and fun.
Each KD child will host a visitor and
help create a magical experience. The
children will learn traditional Israeli
dances in circles as well as partner
dances.
The visiting children will demonstrate
a dance of their own. Snacks, lunch and
drinks will be provided. A gift pack is to
be given on departure.
The aims of the cross-cultural event
are to expose the South African
black community to Israeli culture; to
show the vibrant and dynamic dance and
music of Israel; to create a media opportunity and show the positive side of
Israel; to expose King David children to
other cultures in South Africa; and to
create an opportunity for the children to
be charitable.
Partners in the event are the Embassy
of Israel, Magical Moments and King
David Sandton Primary.
20
SA JEWISH REPORT
23 - 30 April 2010
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:
• Beyachad Resource Centre/Library, 2 Elray St, Raedene, 2192. Norma Shulman (011) 645-2567. email:[email protected]
• Bikkur Cholim - Jewish Society for Visiting the Sick,
7A Chester Road, Greenside East, Johannesburg.
Joy Gafin (011) 447-6689.
• CAJE - College of Adult Jewish Education, Sydenham Highlands North Shul (011)640-5021.
• CSO - Emergency phone number 086 18 000 18.
• ELBM - Emunah Ladies Beit Midrash. 60 Mejon St
Glenhazel. (011) 887-2910. “Lessons of our Lives”
course on Wednesdays at 10:00. R350 for the
course or R50 per shiur.
• FFHS - Friendship Forum for Holocaust Survivors,
Second Generation and Members of the Community
Affected by the Holocaust. Presentations held at the
Gerald Horwitz Lounge, Golden Acres, 85 George
Ave, Sandringham
• HOD - Hebrew Order of David International. HOD
Centre Oaklands Road, Orchards. Office (011) 640
3017 - [email protected]
• JAFFA - Jewish Accomodation for Fellow Aged.
(012) 346-2007/8.
• KDSF - King David Schools’ Foundation. King David
Alumni [email protected] (011) 480-4723.
• 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 082927-5786.
• ORT and ORTJET South Africa - 44 Central Street,
Cnr 10th Ave, Houghton. Contact (011) 728-7154.
• Preview Theatre - 9 Valerie Crescent, Bagleyston,
(011) 640-1061.
• 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.
• SAIJE - Sandton Adult Institute of Jewish Education,
Sandton Shul. E-mail: [email protected].
(011) 883-4210.
• Second Innings, Johannesburg - Jewish Community
Services - Donald Gordon Centre, 85 George Avenue
Sandringham. Their group meets at the Gerald Horwitz Lounge, Golden Acres, 85 George Avenue Sandringham every Sunday morning for tea at 10:00 followed by the meeting at 10:30. Contact Grecia
Gabriel (011) 532-9718 for information.
• Society of Israel Philately (SIP) - [email protected].
Contact Maurice (011) 485-2293.
• South African Jewish Board of Deputies (Johannesburg) - Beyachad, 2 Elray Street, Raedene. Contact
(011) 645-2500 or (011) 645-2523.
• South African Zionist Federation (SAZF), Johannesburg
- Beyachad, 2 Elray Street, Raedene. Contact Froma,
(011) 645-2505.
• The Israel Centre. Contact Debbie (011) 645-2560.
• The Jewish National Fund (JNF) Choir, Beyachad, 2
Elray St, Raedene. Contact Crystal Kaplan. 083-3765999.
• The Jewish Outlook Team. Contact Ryan Cane. Support
line: 27 76 215 8600; e-mail [email protected];
website www.jewishoutlook.org.za
• The Jewish Women’s Benevolent Society (JWBS) Sandringham Gardens, 85 George Avenue Sandringham 2192. Contact Carolyn Sabbagh. (011) 485-5232.
• The Simcha Friendship and Cultural Circle (SFCC),
Johannesburg - Sandton Shul. Contact Sylvia Shull,
(011) 783-5600. Meetings on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd
Wednesday of every month at Sandton Shul at 10:00
unless stated otherwise.
• The United Sisterhood, 38 Oxford Road Parktown.
Contact Marian (011) 646-2409. website:
www.unitedsisterhood.co.za
• Tiyulim (Jewish Outdoor Club) - Contact Martin 082965-7419 or Greg 082-959-9026
• Union of Jewish Women (UJW), Johannesburg - 1 Oak
Street Houghton. Contact (011) 648-1053. Cost R15 for
the Friendship Luncheon Club and a R20 donation for
lectures unless otherwise stated.
• Union of Jewish Women (UJW), Cape Town - (021)
434-9555, e-mail: [email protected].
• UJW Cape Town AED Programme - Venue: Stonehaven,
Albany Road, Sea Point. Time: 10:00 for 10:30.
Entrance: R15.00 (incl refreshments).
• United Zionist Luncheon Club (UZLC), Johannesburg Our Parents Home. Contact Gloria, (011) 485-4851 or
072-127-9421.
• UOS- Union of Orthodox Synagogues (011) 485-4865.
E-mail: [email protected]. Fax 086-610-3442
• WIZO Johannesburg - Beyachad, 2 Elray Street Raedene. Contact Joyce Chodos (011) 645-2548 or Sandy
Kramer (011) 645-2515. wizopublicrelations
@beyachad.co.za
• UJW Johannesburg presents Ian Sher on “Rescue
Mission in Haiti” at 09:30.
Today Friday (April 23)
• JWB’s book sale at Benmore Gardens Shopping
Centre starts at 09:30. Contact (011) 485-5232.
• UZLC presents Ilan Solomons, national liaison officer, SAUJS, on “The State of Student Activism in
2010”.
Sunday (April 25)
• WIZO SA launches “Campaign 2010” with WIZO India
President Yael Jhirad in Port Elizabeth.
• Second Innings Tea n Talk is hosting Ros Lamont who
will talk on “Humour in Literature”.
• RCHCC is screening the documentary ‘Sketches of
Frank Gehry’ by Sydney Pollack at 19:30.
Monday (April 26)
• WIZO SA launches “Campaign 2010” with WIZO India
President Yael Jhirad in Durban.
Sudoku Puzzle 8
4
6
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5
2
4
6
5
3
4
7
5
1
8
7
6
1
3
3
2
9
8
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* Answer to follow
with next puzzle
Note to readers: Our bridge
column and our new Sudoku
puzzle will henceforth alternate week by week.
4
Answer - Puzzle 7
7
6
• UJW Johannesburg House and Garden meeting at
9:30 for 10:00. Call (011) 648-1053 for details.
Wednesday (April 28)
• Balfour Park Parkinson’s Disease Support
Group is meeting in the board room at Randjes
Estate at 10:00. A member of the St John Ambulance Foundation will speak on and demonstrate
basic first aid and how to deal with choking, falls
and other emergencies. Contact Rosemary Burke,
(011) 640-3919.
• UJW Cape Town presents David Davidson on
“South Africa at the Chelsea Flower Show 2009”.
• UJW Johannesburg presents Dr Lorraine
Chaskalson on “Unlocking Paradise Lost” at 09:30.
Friday (April 30)
• UJW Cape Town presents Rolene Sher on “If You
Change the Way You Look at Things, the Things You
Look at Change”.
Sunday (May 9)
• Second Innings Tea n Talk presents Alan Swerdlow
on “Don’t Bump into the Furniture - What Direction
do Directors Take?”
• FFHS presents Mona Berman on ‘The Silence in the
Written Work of Elie Wiesel’ at 14:30.
Monday (May 10)
• UJW Johannesburg presents Hilary Joffe on
“Nationalisation and Other Policies of the ANC” at
09:30.
• The Great Park Synagogue invites you to a parenting workshop presented by Dr Ronel Duchen starting at 19:30. Cost R60. Book with Goldie Hazdan on
072-832-2001 or [email protected]
Wednesday (May 12)
• UZLC presents Lyonell Fliss on Chinese ‘Judaica’.
Sunday (May 2)
• Second Innings Tea n Talk presents Rufina
Mussenbaum on “Celebrating our PortugueseJewish Heritage”.
• Drum Café at JAFFA at 14:30.
• UJW Johannesburg presents Dr Lorraine
Chaskalson on “Unlocking Paradise Lost” at 09:30.
• WIZO Fortnightly Forum invites you to join them for
breakfast with Israeli Deputy Chief of Mission
Ya’akov Finkelstein. Entrance R80. Booking essential. Contact Sandy (011) 645-2515.
Monday (May 3)
Thursday (May 13)
• UJW Johannesburg presents Clem Sunter on “The
World and South Africa Beyond 2010” at 09:30.
Tuesday (May 4)
• UJW Johannesburg will host Estelle Sher on
Beethoven’s 9th Symphony (Choral) Part II. Venue:
301 Eton Place, Kernick Ave, Melrose North. Time:
09:45 to 12:00. Donation R30.
• WIZO Tuesday Movie Club is screening “Turn Left
at the End of the World” at 09:30 at Beyachad.
Wednesday (May 5)
• UJW Johannesburg presents Dr Lorraine
Chaskalson on “Unlocking Paradise Lost” at 09:30.
• RCHCC is opening the ‘Surviving History - Portraits
from Vilna’ exhibition at 18:30. This exhibition on
the Lithuanian Jews who survived the Holocaust will
run until May 16. Admission is free.
• Limmud SA hosts “A Taste of Limmud” at Beyachad
from 18:30. R70 for adults, R40 for students/pensioners. To book email [email protected]
or call 072 553-0164
Sunday (May 16)
• Second Innings Tea n Talk presents Claudia Davimes on “Using the Understanding of Dreams to
Enhance our Daily Lives”
Monday (May 17)
• UJW Johannesburg presents Errol Braithwaite on
“The Gautrain Project - an Overview” at 09:30.
Sunday (May 23)
• Second Innings Tea n Talk presents “Off the Page:
Piano, Poetry and Prose, with Tony Bentel, Gail
Dendy and Selwyn Klass in a homage to Theodor
Herzl and the birth of Israel. Tickets are R40 per person.
Monday (May 24)
• RCHCC is screening two documentaries linked to
the exhibition at 19:30, Shivaun Woolfson’s ‘Surviving History’ and Zapiro’s ‘Journey to Lithuania’.
Donation R50.
• UJW Johannesburg presents Pat Sidley on “Looking at National Health Insurance” at 09:30.
• SFCC presents Dr Dora Wynchank on ‘Ritual or
Shackle? - Observant Behaviour Among Observant
Jews’.
• UJW AGM at 09:30 with guest speaker Ilan
Ossendryver who will present his film on the airlift
of Ethiopian Jews to Israel.
Tuesday (May 25)
CROSSWORD NO 159
(Medium, difficulty rating 0.50)
1
Barry Bilewitz [email protected]
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6
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1
7
5
BY LEAH SIMON
ACROSS
1. Story for a wag, we hear (4)
3. Gary left the confusion, with no energy (8)
8. Am in the middle of the pound, with a young sheep
(4)
9. Begin, with guide - but frightened (8)
11. They’re unlikely to produce literature of any substance! (5, 7)
13. Root pulled up, incidentally, by army formations
(6)
14. Lads in uproar on waterlocked ground (6)
17. Tree-fellers coming to an agreement? (7, 1, 4)
20. Have Ruth lean awkwardly on 1
2
Protestant (8)
21. Put on airs, somehow, for Indian
garment (4)
22. Lets slob rest in order - and props
8
up (8)
23. She’s possessive in the east - or in
this place (4)
DOWN
1. Use it to pay your way (4, 4)
2. Lacking firmness, surgical procedure comes to nothing in SA
province (7)
4. One comes between the French, on
the whole (6)
5. They store a new order - and they
won’t be leaving (4, 2, 4)
6. Governor pretty straight down the
line (5)
7. Star Wars character (4)
10. Test poster badly, causing a halt in
the proceedings (4, 6)
12. Lie about a dead Australian city (8)
15. Champion in the art gallery gets
acidic salt (7)
16. Dark - and unjust, too! (6)
18. Up to the time that international body ignited it
(5)
19. Smoothly confident in describing liberation (4)
SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD NO 158
ACROSS: 1. Draw; 3. Stiffens; 8. Reek; 9. Road hogs;
11. Off his own bat; 13. Sancho; 14. Affair; 17. Causes
a scene; 20. Intruder; 21. Fang; 22. Bona fide; 23. Veto.
DOWN: 1. Dormouse; 2. Aberfan; 4. Two ton; 5. Fading
fast; 6. Enola; 7. So so; 10. Right stuff; 12. Arpeggio; 15.
Average; 16. Ascend; 18. Aston; 19. Limb.
3
4
5
6
7
9
10
11
12
13
15
14
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
Focus on Hutton Court
23 - 30 April 2010
SA JEWISH REPORT
21
A supplement compiled by Manuela Bernstein. Cell 082-951-3838, (011) 023-8160 or e-mail: [email protected]
A taste and feel of Italy comes to Hutton Court
The RVV Group have established three boutique operations in Hutton Court
The Snaidero Italian Kitchen
Boutique
The il Tartufo Fine
Italian Restaurant
The Snaidero brand has
arrived in South Africa
Il Tartufo - for good
food and wine
THE BEAUTY and elegance of
Snaidero’s kitchens, find space
for expression in their new, exclusive shop in Johannesburg.
Snaidero, the world-leading
Italian brand for “Made in Italy”
design for kitchens, is in a market most sensitive to its values
of quality, research, and uniqueness. It has now opened an
exclusive single-brand concept
store in Johannesburg.
Snaidero’s craft and skill have
deep roots. The company was
founded in 1946 and over time
has been an outlet for the biggest
names of “Made in Italy” design.
Certainly the most famous contributor is the Pininfarina Group.
Snaidero is proud of this historic
alliance which started at the beginning of the 1990s and which
has led to timeless icons of style,
symbols of elegance and class.
The most recent design, the
Venus kitchen, is a perfect example, with its extraordinary
strength of colour and expression that melds with light, soft
symmetrical lines and curves,
never betraying the commitment
to providing rational, functional
space. This design is bringing
unique projects to life. This is
significant and valuable, always
aimed at improving the quality of
home life.
• Contact Snaidero Italian Kitchen Boutique on Tel (011) 4420969.
NK
If you talk tiles, you
have to talk RVV
Il Tartufo is the brainchild of two
Italian businessmen who have
transformed their hobby - a love of
good food and wine - into a business.
WE SPECIALISE in authentic Italian cuisine from the
various regions of Italy.
Every dish has been created with traditional Italian
flair, using only the freshest
The RVV Tile Gallery
and highest quality ingredients.
We are open Tuesday to
Saturday lunch and dinner
and Sunday lunch.
• il Tartufo (011) 788-8948
NK
RVV IS THE largest supplier
and installer of tiles in Africa.
RVV is a company of commercial tilers and contractors
operating internationally and
covering Africa as far north as
Lagos. We are also marble and
granite fabricators and deliver
first-class vanities, staircases,
cladding and kitchen tops.
We are open market granite, marble, porcelain and
sanitary ware suppliers and
offer an all-in-one turnkey
service.
• Supply
• Fabrication
• Installation
We have also recently included homeowners and private businesses in our client
list.
han
We are easily able to handle projects as large as OR
Tambo, Durban Airport, Melrose Arch, Sun International,
Legacy Corner and Absa
Towers, to name but a few.
RVV supplies a wide variety
of high-quality imported and
local ceramic, porcelain and
natural stone tiles to both the
commercial and private retail
market.
• RVV Tile Gallery number is
(011) 442-2313
23 - 30 April 2010
22 SA JEWISH REPORT
LIFTS
Classifieds
IMPORTANT NOTICE
THE JEWISH REPORT RUNS ADVERTS IN THE
CLASSIFIED SECTION IN GOOD FAITH, HOWEVER WE
WOULD LIKE OUR READERS TO KNOW WE CANNOT
BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE QUALITY OF SERVICES
OFFERED AND CLAIMS MADE.
Experienced, reliable driver
available to lift you
anywhere/anytime. 24 hrs.
Call Paul 083-542-6480
To book your classified notice or advert contact: Tel (011) 023-8160, Fax (086) 634-7935, email: [email protected]
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 Randburg, Account Number: 1984 514 865, Branch Code: 198405
NOTICES
BEAUTY & HEALTH
CONSECRATIONS
LIFTS
SERVICES
CHIROPODY TREATMENT
R120
Call Ruth now
(011) 616-4305
RAYMOND K'S LIFTS
A reliable lift service.
Specialising in lifts to & from airports, shops, appointments,
companion.
Call Raymond
076-481-1495
SMILE-LEE'S LIFTS
A reliable lift service.
Specialising in lifts to and from
airports, shops, appointments,
casinos and courier.
Call Charna 083-391-6612
PERSONAL
BEAUTY & HEALTH
LIFTS AVAILABLE
For all age groups and to all
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Airport.
Contact Johnny
082-328-3070 or
082-876-9042
AIRPORT SHUTTLE
----- R150 ---From Glenhazel / Senderwood /
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rates from all other areas.
SAM (011) 728-5219
083-627-8516
A-TAXI SERVICE
Let Warren Pogorelsky chauffeur
you to your destination in Jo’burg
and back only R100 round trip.
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RESULTS; 181 COUPLES
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blonde teacher 24yr; beautiful
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grad (Shomrei) 31yr; handsome
grad (owner large co) 55yr;
handsome advocate 69yr; pretty
psychologist 26yr; pretty estate
agent (own bus) 43yr, beautiful
model 49yr; good-looking 6ft
pharmacist 55yr; elegant slim
singer 52yr; handsome widower
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model 35yr; good-looking vet
48yr; pretty psychologist 36yr;
beautiful blonde attorneys 33,
49, 53yr; pretty bookkeeper
45yr, handsome attorney 65yr,
pretty chic pharmacist 32yr;
advocates 31, 45, 58yrs; goodlooking engineer 46yr; handsome pilots 62, 36yr, handsome
surgeon 59yr; pretty hairdressers 26, 34, 58yr; handsome estate agent (own bus)
60yr; pretty financial consultant
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IRENE'S SCHLEP
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I will take you anywhere:
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and Airport. Honest and
Trustworthy
Schlepped by Irene
072-356-0282
Not on Shabbat
HOME SERVICES
CLEANING
CHILD
TUTOR
Qualified Teacher with 7 yrs
experience avail to tutor
your child.
Call Loren: 072-601-9026.
BRIAN K LIFT
SERVICE & COURIER
“AIRPORT SPECIAL R140”
Secure, comfortable & safe.
Anywhere 24/7. (JHB – PTA)
Call Brian on
072-366-4262
LEGAL
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AIRPORT SERVICE
JHB
Reliable,
Reasonable Rates!
Contact Arnold,
082-447-0185
011-454-1193
CAPE TOWN
SHUTTLE
COMING TO
CAPE TOWN?
AFFORDABLE
RATES.
AIRPORT
TRANSFERS
FROM R180
NEW
COMFORTABLE
VEHICLE
PHONE ANDY
082-336-9780
CHELSEA EXECUTIVE
CHAUFFEUR.
Legal, with permit from the
transportation board. Let me
chauffeur you safely.
Reasonable rates.
FOR A QUOTE CALL
ABE 082-574-9010
EX ISRAELI SERVICEMAN
offers safe and secure lifts. 24hrs. Airport lifts, malls, courier
etc. Also student lifts available
from schools.
Call Neil 072-050-9927
REPAINT
Specialists in:
Painting, tiling, maintenance,
plumbing & gutters.
Industrial and domestic.
Michael Fehler
083-700-3025 or
(011) 648-0375
www.repaint.co.za
23 - 30 April 2010
PLUMBER
SA JEWISH REPORT 23
Drastic measures needed
to combat obesity scourge
the thyroid gland to manufacture sufficient metabolic hormones.
OBESITY, ONE of South Africa’s
“Correction of these two disornational problems, should be
ders will have positive results in
addressed through taxation, in the
overcoming the scourge of obesiopinion of endocrinologist Proty.”
fessor Tessa van der Merwe, who
People like Charmaine (135kg)
heads the Centre for Obesity
and Pieter (212kg) might disResearch and Education, and
agree. In 2006, they were interPretoria’s first specialist obesity
viewed by the investigative Carte
clinic.
Blanche programme on TV on
“Tax on hamburgers, chips,
how their weight has impacted
chocolates and other unhealthy
their lives.
foods, should be introduced to help
“They are at a stage doctors
overcome South Africa’s evercall ‘morbid obesity’,” the trangrowing obesity problem. And if
script comments. This condition
junk food adverts aren’t banned,
indicates life-threatening illness:
they should carry health warncardiac failure, type 2 diabetes,
ings.
hypertension, sleep apnoea,
“Ten years ago, HIV/Aids was
stroke, asthma and certain canin the same position,” she said five
cers.
years ago, at a gastro-enterology
Statistics reveal that 53 per
conference. Last January, Netcare Weighty issues are not as simple as they may
cent of women and 29 per cent of
Clinton Hospital in Alberton
seem. PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY HTTP://MEDIAmen are overweight; there’s
received bariatric surgery accredi2.WEB.BRITANNICA.COM
overweight and overweight. In
tation. This gives them the ability
2002,
the
World
Health
to perform what is colloquially
While this surgery serves a need,
known as stomach bypass surgery, the according to industry professionals, it Organisation declared obesity a dismost effective known way so far to dra- is becoming “fashionable”. In a letter to ease. The message relayed by Carte
matically lose weight.
the media last year, Dr A M Levin from Blanche is that diet and exercise “will
At the beginning of 2010 Discovery Bryanston, commented on obesity work for only five per cent of seriously
Health started covering bariatric sur- being the result of a lifestyle problem obese people”.
Bariatric surgery, developed from
gery under the “Specialised Medicine stemming from a “failure to appreciate
and Technology Benefit”.
what constitutes proper diet” and bal- the mid 1980s, aims to restrict food conAccording to Alain Peddle, head of ancing the “metabolic” or thyroid hor- sumption by bypassing parts of the
digestive system. There are two
research and development at Dis- mones.
covery Health, “this surgery is only
“Unfortunately lifestyle stress is not approaches to it-the Roux-Y in which
available to patients where there is a easily removed; a cardinal principle of the structure of the digestive system is
clinical reason to access the surgery. medicine - to remove the cause of a irreversibly altered and the Gastric
Band Procedure which in effect places
Members need to demonstrate morbid given problem - cannot be satisfied.”
obesity and meet other clinical criteHe explains how palliative treatment a restrictive elastic band around the
ria.”
can address hormone imbalance. stomach, a procedure which is
Because it has been so recently intro- “Obesity in a significant number of reversible. Bariatric surgery has been
duced, the medical aid is at this point patients is due to a failure to give ade- popularised by celebrities like comediunable to comment on its rising popu- quate attention to an appropriate diet enne Roseanne Barr, Wilson Phillips
larity in the community at large.
programme, coupled with the failure of singer Carnie Wilson, footballer Diego
ROBYN SASSEN
PROPERTY TO LET
ACCOMMODATION TO LET/SHARE
RICHMAR GARDENS
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Walking distance to Sydenham
shul.R5 200pm + Elec.
Contact Derek
082-371-9602 neg
SEA POINT
BEACHFRONT
Ocean views. 2-level apartment
on top floor. Unfurnished,
kitchen appliances optional. 3
bed, 2 bath (mes), guest toilet,
domestic room/ storeroom. 24hr security. Dedicated basement
parking, communal pool.
Automatic communal generator
power during blackouts. 5 minutes walk to promenade, shopping centres. Long lease.
Occupation 1 June.
Contact owners
David 082-550-4559 or
Hazel 082-451-4280.
FLATSHARE
SEA POINT
Double bedroom avail in a 2 bed
apt to share. Females only.
Wooden Floors, beautiful views ,
just off Beach Rd. Incl Parking.
Avail 1 May, 2010
Contact: Loren
072-601-902
SEA POINT - CAPE TOWN
Fully-furnished, kosher apartment. 2 bedrooms, on Beach
Rd, sea facing, within walking
distance to Shuls, shops & stadium. Avail May to Nov, 2010.
Rent R11 000 pm.
Alma 083-267-6796
REMBRANDT PARK
Lovely large 2 bedroom flatlet
cottage, bathroom en suite, separate toilet, big kitchen, lounge,
dining room. Full security
DSTV, MNET, W/L included.
Own Garage.
Available immediately.
Contact Alan on
083-701-2596
BRUMA
1-bed unit @
Knightsbridge.
R3800 + elec.
Available Immed.
Contact Stella :
(011) 786-1119
LONEHILL
New bachelor flat.
R3700 + e & w.
Available immed.
Contact Marian :
(011) 786-1119
EMPLOYMENT
EMPLOYMENT AVAILABLE
ADMIN/PRACTICE
MANAGER FOR
MEDICAL PRACTICE.
Full day position for unencumbered lady. Experience and
computer literacy.
082-652-7544
Maradonna. But is it irresponsible?
While not exactly a “quick fix”, it does
give the patient a “head start” and
irrevocably changes the way their bodies work.
Obesity in South Africa has risen,
van der Merwe explains, due to demographics. Rural people have moved to
cities and adopted western habits.
People eat more energy-dense food and
drink liquid-based sugar, in the form of
fast food; people are less physically
active in their day-to-day lives: sitting
all day at a computer is common practice for most. Says local dietitian, Lila
Bruk, “the Jewish community is certainly weight-aware, but it is hard to
give an exact figure as to obesity statistics. Often people are not actually
obese; they just need to drop a couple of
kilos.”
The relevance of eating disorders
cannot be overlooked. Indeed, the producers of local sit-com Isidingo recently
worked a scenario into the script
engaging with eating disorders.
“People tend to think that overweight
people are lazy and undisciplined,”
Karin van der Laag, who plays Maggie
Webster, commented “... in my 20s, an
emotionally and physically abusive
relationship made me want to hide
from all men and comfort-eat... being
overweight in my opinion, is an emotional problem.”
Bruk concurs: “There is obviously
an emotional component to eating and
many people who suffer from an eating
disorder are responding to a trauma
suffered, possibly in childhood. There
is a belief that fat protects them from
enabling people to get too close to
them.”
She commented on the danger of an
obese person receiving the gastric
bypass surgery, which she added, was
not yet prevalent in this community.
She said that not only was an obese
person more vulnerable when it came
to surgery, but if the surgery was
implemented without counselling, the
patient might resort to binge behaviour with something else, such as alcohol, drugs or promiscuity.
Heb University, US scientists discover genetic
key to raise yields of hybrid tomatoes
JERUSALEM - Spectacularly increased yields and improved taste have
been achieved with hybrid tomato
plants by researchers at the Robert H
Smith Faculty of Agriculture, Food
and Environment, at the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem and the Cold
Spring Harbour Laboratory (CSHL),
New York.
The researchers have discovered the
yield-boosting power of a single gene,
which controls when plants make flowers and that works in different varieties of tomato and, crucially, across a
range of environmental conditions.
The discovery was patented by
Yissum, the technology transfer arm of
the Hebrew University, which is seeking potential partners for further
development and commercialisation.
“This discovery has tremendous
potential to transform both the billiondollar tomato industry, as well as agricultural practices designed to get the
most yield from other flowering crops,”
says CSHL’s Dr Zach Lippman, one of
the three authors of the study, which
appears in the magazine Nature
Genetics online. The study is coauthored by Dr Uri Krieger and Prof
Dani Zamir of the Hebrew University.
The team made the discovery while
hunting for genes that boost hybrid
vigour, a revolutionary breeding principle that spurred the production of
outstanding hybrid crops like maize
and rice a century ago. Hybrid vigour,
also known as heterosis, is the phenomenon by which intercrossing two
varieties of plants produces more vigorous hybrid offspring with higher
yields.
First observed by Charles Darwin in
1876, heterosis was rediscovered by
CSHL maize geneticist George Shull 30
years later, but how heterosis works
has remained a mystery.
Plants carry two copies of each
gene, and Shull’s studies suggested
that harmful, vigor-killing mutations
that accumulate naturally in every
generation are exposed by inbreeding,
but hidden by crossbreeding. But
there is still no consensus as to what
causes heterosis. A theory for heterosis, supported by this new Hebrew
University-Cold Spring discovery, postulates that improved vigor stems
from only a single gene - an effect
called “superdominance” or “overdominance”.
To find such overdominant genes,
the US-Israeli team developed a novel
approach by turning to a vast tomato
“mutant library” - a collection of 5 000
plants, each of which has a single
mutation in a single gene that causes
defects in various aspects of tomato
growth, such as fruit size, leaf shape,
etc.
Selecting 33 mutant plants, most of
which produced low yield, the team
crossed each mutant with its normal
counterpart and searched for hybrids
with improved yield. Among several
cases, the most dramatic example
increased yield by a whopping 60 per
cent.
This hybrid, the team found, produced greater yields because there was
one normal copy and one mutated copy
of only a single gene that produces a
protein called florigen. This protein,
touted as the breakthrough discovery
of the year in 2004 in Science magazine,
instructs plants when to stop making
leaves and start making flowers, which
in turn produce fruit.
In plants such as tomatoes, flowering
(and therefore yield) is controlled by a
delicate balance between the florigen
protein, which promotes flowering,
Dr Uri Krieger of the Hebrew University and some of his hybrid cherry
tomato plants. (HEBREW UNIVERSITY PHOTOGRAPH: ZAK LIPMAN)
and another related protein that delays
flowering.
A mutation in only one copy of the
florigen gene causes the hybrid to produce more flowers in less time - the
key to improved yield. What the researchers found is that to maximize
yield, there can’t be too much or too little florigen. A mutation in one copy of
the gene results in the exact dose of
florigen required to cause heterosis.
The scientists have observed the
gene’s heterosis effect in different varieties of tomatoes and in plants grown
in different climate and soil conditions,
both in Israel and in New York at CSHL
and the Cornell Horticultural Experiment Station at Riverhead, NY.
In addition to superior yield, the
hybrids also display another, perhaps
equally important quality - taste.
Tomato plants only produce a finite
amount of sugar, which they distribute
equally among their fruits. So higher
yields usually result in each fruit having a lower sugar content. But, remarkably, the florigen gene also boosted
sugar content and sweetness of the
individual fruits.
This study marks the first example
of a single gene that consistently causes heterosis. The scientists are now
looking to team up with agricultural
companies to develop the hybrids for
commercial use. The concept that
mutations in one copy of a single gene
can improve yield has broad implications for breeders.
Mutant plants are usually thrown
away because of the notion that mutations would have negative effects on
growth, but this study suggests that
hybrid mutations might lead the next
revolution of improved crops.
24
SA JEWISH REPORT
23 - 30 April 2010
Jewish duo could produce a ‘smart banker’
JACK MILNER
COMBINE A Jewish owner with a Jewish
jockey and you must have a recipe for success. That is exactly what has happened to
Norman Isaacs, Anton Marcus and a horse
aptly named Smart Banker.
Everybody dreams of owning a champion
and while he may not have the reputation of
Pocket Power or Pierre Jourdan, Smart
Banker is an exceptional horse. He has run
20 times for 11 wins and three places and has
earned in excess of R3,5-million for his four
owners - Norman Isaacs, Lionel Lindsay,
Markus Jooste and Chris von Solms.
He has already captured three Grade 1
races, including the HF Oppenheimer Horse
Chestnut Stakes over 1600m at Turffontein,
which he won for the second consecutive
time last month.
It was an emotional victory for Norman
and his fellow owners. The trophy was presented by Bridget Oppenheimer and the connection between Smart Banker, the
Oppenheimers and that race is quite
extraordinary.
They owned Horse Chestnut, after whom
the race is named but they also owned a
horse called Strike Smartly, who is the sire
of Smart Banker. The sad thing, though, was
just as Strike Smartly’s runners were starting to make their mark on South African
horseracing, he had a heart attack and died
in September last year.
Manager of the Oppenheimer’s stud farm,
Gavin Schafer said: “I’d seen him only three
minutes before it happened. He was bouncing up and down, and standing on his hind
legs, as he was getting excited about mares
coming close to his enclosure.
“One of the men said Come quick, the
horse is staggering.’ He hit the ground and
that was it. His heart had stopped but what
caused that we don’t know. His death is a
great loss to the industry.”
If winning the Horse Chestnut Stakes for
the second time was emotional for Smart
Banker’s owners, this weekend could be
even more so when he attempts to win the
R2-million Champions Challenge for the second successive year.
I have little doubt that Smart Banker is the
best miler in South Africa and I was sorry
when trainer Charles Laird decided not to
run him against Pocket Power in the Queen’s
Plate at Kenilworth in January.
At this stage of his career Smart Banker
has won all six of his starts over 1600m (mile)
and his only outing over 1700m. However,
while he did win last year’s race over 2000m,
the distance is probably just that touch too
far.
Last year he beat an outsider called
Aluminium by a short head, and he is no
superstar. This time Anton Marcus will need
to get him past the likes of Rudra, trained by
South Africa’s international success, Mike
de Kock.
Rudra and Smart Banker have met four
times with the honours evenly split between
the pair. But in the only time they met over
2000m at Turffontein, it was Rudra who won
easily by three lengths.
Jockey Kevin Shea will return to ride
Rudra in the Champions Challenge. Shea
was in the irons when Rudra won the
Summer Cup over his course and distance
and it comes as no surprise that De Kock has
engaged him once again.
But many pundits feel that Smart Banker
has got older and could be better suited to a
little further this year. One of those is trainer Geoff Woodruff, who trained Aluminium
last year. “He has beaten some of the best
horses in the country over a mile and I see no
reason why he shouldn’t stay. He won this
race last year so in my view he has shown he
will see out the distance.”
Under the weight-for-age plus penalties
conditions, he carries the same weight as last
year. He is beautifully drawn at No 3 and of
course, has Anton Marcus up.
Marcus virtually has the jockeys’ championship all tied up this year. He has already
ridden 153 winners this season and is 49 clear
of his closest rival, Anthony Delpech. The
season ends on July 31, which coincides with
the running of the Vodacom Durban July.
For the first time in 113 years, the race has
been moved from the first Saturday in July to
the last, to avoid a clash with the Soccer
World Cup.
JWBS Golf Day on May 12
JACK MILNER
FOR THE past 38 years the Gresswold
branch of the Jewish Women’s Benevolent
has organised a golf day, with the proceeds
going towards sponsoring needy Jewish
students and families in the community.
This year’s tournament will be held at
the Killarney Country Club on May 12.
The tournament is looking for sponsors,
prize-givers and, of course, players.
• For further information please contact
Belle Katz on (011) 440-4297 or Carolyn on
(011) 485-5232.
Promotion for Israel’s
national rugby team
ISRAEL’S national rugby team has
advanced to the FIRA-AER Division 3B for
the first time in its history, thrashing
Greece 39-0 in Netanya last weekend.
Some 1 000 fans attended the match at
Wingate Institute and saw Israel take the
lead in the 15th minute thanks to captain
Nimrod Kaplan’s try.
The hosts continued to pull ahead in the
remainder of the first half, leading 22-0 at
the break. The Greeks, guided by French
legend Olivier Magne, had no answer to
Israel’s superiority in the second half as
well, and the hosts cruised to a memorable
victory.
FIRA-AER is the European branch of
the International Rugby Association.
Israel has been a long-time competitor in
the sport and has been playing in Division
3C for quite a number of years.
“We made history,” said Israel coach
Ra’anan Pen, whose team secured its
place in Division 3B with two games to
play.
“I didn’t think it would be so easy, but
we must have been ready. I will let my
young players take part in the remaining
qualifiers so they can gain experience.”
Israel, which is ranked number 79 in the
world, will wrap-up its qualifying campaign with road matches against
Luxembourg and Finland.
“The fans were amazing and it was a
pleasure,” Kaplan said. “We were ready
and the final result shows we were the far
better team. The sky is now the limit and
we are planning on progressing another
division next year.”
Owner Norman
Isaacs (left) has a
chat to Bridget
Oppenheimer
while partner
Lionel Lindsay
holds up the winning trophy after
Smart Banker
won the HF
Oppenheimer
Horse Chestnut
Stakes for the
second successive year.
While Norman Isaacs will be cheering for
Smart Banker, owner Greg Blank has two
chances of winning the R1,2 million winner’s cheque. He has a share in Captain
Scott, trained by Alec Laird, son of the legendary Syd Laird, as well as Regal Ransom,
trained by Sean Tarry.
While Regal Ransom would probably do
well to run a place here, there are many who
believe Captain Scott has a big chance of collecting cash. He was beaten by less than halfa-length in last year’s Summer Cup and has
probably matured since then.
He definitely will see out the 2000m but is
not all that well weighted under the conditions of the race.
Bernard Kantor also has some interest in
this race as he is a part owner of Strategic
News, winner of the 2007 Summer Cup.
However, he is now nearly seven years old
and could be past his best.
For the record Smart Banker is 3-1
favourite while Captain Scott is at 7-1, Regal
Ransom at 10-1 and Strategic News at 33-1.
Personally, I believe they will all have to
run to beat Rudra but I will be quite happy to
see Smart Banker score yet another Grade 1
victory.