1. religion and spirituality
2. judaism

January 23 2015 / 3 Shevet 5775
Volume 19 – Number 2
BDS-SA
unrepentant over
Khaled invite.
Jewish community
lambasts decision
to invite Leila
Khaled
Page 2, 4, 12
Jewish Report
south african
www.sajr.co.za
Aftermath of
Tel Aviv bus terror
A 23-year-old knife-wielding Palestinian ran amok on a Tel Aviv bus early Wednesday morning, randomly stabbing the driver and commuters. Seventeen people
were wounded, some seriously. The hero was the bus driver, 55-year-old Herzl Biton, who fought with the assailant, despite suffering two deep chest wounds.
The attacker tried to flee but was shot in the leg and apprehended by a member of Israel’s Prison Service who was taking a prisoner to court. Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu said the attack was the “direct result of the poisonous incitement spread by the Palestinian Authority towards Jews”.
See page 4
17 injured in Tel Aviv bus
terror
Tension mounts on Israel’s
northern border
Nisman death: ‘Suicide’
suggestion discounted
Muslims themselves must
deal with monster
Maccabi SA honours
90-year-old Isaac Joffe
23-year-old Palestinian goes on
stabbing frenzy.
Attack on Hezbollah: Israel blisters
its defences.
Alberto Nisman’s death no suicide,
says ADL’s Foxman.
Murder of innocents not a ticket to
Paradise.
For cheerful Isaac Joffe the glass
is always full.
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2 SA JEWISH REPORT
23 – 30 January 2015
BDS-SA remains unrepentant over Khaled invitation
OWN CORRESPONDENT
BDS-SA is cocking a snook at the
outrage over its invitation to plane
hijacker Leila Khaled (pictured) to
come on a “fundraising tour” to South
Africa - at R500 a ticket. The SA Jewish Board of Deputies in particular,
has expressed its fury at the invitation. But a defiant BDS-SA issued a
media release “on the forthcoming
visit of Palestine liberation struggle
icon, comrade Leila Khaled”, stating
that “a significant number of South
African anti-apartheid activists,
church leaders, government officials,
trade unions, political parties, as well
as civil society organisations have
expressed their support for the visit from February 6 - 16.
Wendy Kahn, national director
of the SAJBD, pointed out: “In their
desperation to retain some form of
credibility BDS-SA tries to misappropriate the image of Nelson Mandela
by comparing him to Khaled, as well
as drawing comparisons with Umkhonto we Sizwe. This ignores the fact
that neither MK nor Mandela set out
to target innocent civilians as a matter
of strategy.
“Towards the end of the apartheid
era, there were a limited number of
terrorist attacks, but overwhelmingly
the story of the struggle against apartheid was one of peaceful resistance.”
She added: “The Popular Front for
the Liberation of Palestine, unlike the
ANC, systematically targeted civilians.
“Poor BDS-SA. Once again they
are running for cover now that their
intention to host convicted terrorist Leila Khaled... has exposed their
true motives. Finding themselves in
a corner, they are grasping at every
possible straw to get out of it.”
She pointed out that Khaled was
being positioned by BDS-SA as “the
Mother Teresa of hijackers”. But “what
they fail to share is that when she was
arrested she was carrying two grenades, one of which she had already
pulled the pin out of.”
SA Jewish Board of Deputies
National Chairman Mary Kluk also
strongly denounced the invitation.
saying that in its pre-publicity campaign BDS-SA “depicts Khaled holding
an AK-47 and represents her past
hijacking of a US airline... and an attempted hijacking of an Israeli airliner,
as something to be admired.
“Terrorism, whether carried out for
political, religious or any other reasons, is both a crime against humanity
and a deadly threat to world peace,”
she emphasised.
By depicting Leila Khaled as a heroic
figure whom South Africans should
look up to and identify with, BDS
was sending out the worst possible
message at a time when South Africa
needed to stand with the global community in confronting the scourge of
terrorism, she said.
But a defiant BDS-SA said the Board
“not unexpectedly” had been trying to
discredit Khaled’s forthcoming tour.
“We do not expect pro-Israeli supporters to understand the reason for
hosting someone like Nelson Mandela, the South African Struggle icon
and former commander in chief of the
MK, or Leila Khaled, the Palestinian
struggle icon.
“Back in the 1980s the SAJBD and
Israel were proud supporters of the
apartheid regime that killed our people and today they are proud supporters of the Israeli regime that is killing
innocent Palestinians (of which the
most recent example was the Israeli
killing of over 500 children in Gaza
between July and August 2014).
“We remind them that Nelson Mandela and South Africa’s ruling party,
the ANC, both remained on the US
terrorism watch list until as recently
as 2008.”
Cosas (The Congress of South
African Students) echoed BDS’ sentiments and welcomed the invitation to
Khaled, “one of our own, a Palestine
freedom fighter, against the racist
regime of Israel”.
Added Cosas: “Through her visit
to our country we will show more
solidarity with the oppressed people
of Palestine in their struggle for selfdetermination and the right of return
to their country from refugee camps.
“We hope comrade Leila will talk to
us about the recent Israeli bombing of
Palestinian schools in Gaza and how
we as young South African schoolchildren can make a difference to ensure
that the Israeli killing of Palestinian
children stops.
“When comrade Leila is in South
Africa, we will also share with her
our own support for the Palestinian
people and our participation in the
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions
against Israel campaign.”
Kluk pointed out that “BDS-SA was
notorious for activities that fostered
hatred and division between South
Africans so as to further its vendetta
against anyone and anything associated with the State of Israel.”
The Umkhonto we Sizwe Military
Veterans Association, through its
chairman, Kebby Maphatsoe, also got
on the bandwagon saying in trying to
whitewash Khaled’s terrorist past that
“no Israeli or a single passenger was
killed in the two airplanes that were
hijacked.
“This visit by Cde Leila Khaled
would further contribute to serve
the purpose to bolster solidarity with
the Palestine people’s struggle for
their birthright, in their country, and
expose the wanton murder of Palestinians by the terrorist Israel Defence
Forces.”
• With Israel Apartheid Week planned in
SA for mid-March, a Zionist organiser
who asked not to be named told Jewish
Report Online: “BDS is filling up its
war-chest. They got thrashed last year
and need to put on a big performance
for 2015.”
Gate is always open for the worst of sinners
Parshat Bo
Rabbi Yossi Baumgarten
Principal Rabbinical
Supervisor
At the start of this week’s Torah portion, Bo, the
Torah tells us of the eighth plague, the plague of
locusts. G-d commands Moses to warn Pharaoh
of the impending plague. However, G-d states
that Pharaoh will not heed the warning: “For I
have hardened his heart... in order that you tell
in the ears of your child and your child’s child
that which I have wrought in Egypt.”
If the locusts were a punishment for Pharaoh’s
refusal to heed G-d’s warning, when his heart
had been hardened and he was unable to free the
Jews, it would appear to be unjust. How could
he be punished for not letting the Jews go if G-d
Jewish Report
South African
removed his free choice to do so?
Some commentators say that Pharaoh did
have free will during the first five plagues. Had
he so chosen, he could have indeed freed the
Jewish people from their bitter slavery. However, when Pharaoh brazenly uttered his rebellion
by saying: “Who is G-d that I should listen to His
voice?” his free will was taken away by G-d.
The commentators say this justified the punishment. Pharaoh had strongly questioned G-d’s
authority and boasted of his own might, and was
therefore shown that he was powerless, and even
unable to make his own decisions. Pharaoh was
fully subjugated to the will of G-d.
This was underscored during the plague of
locusts. His servants had had enough, and
pleaded with him to free the Jewish people.
Pharaoh immediately agreed and declared to
Moses and Aaron: “Go worship your G-d.” But
at that very instant G-d hardened his heart and
Pharaoh changed his mind, and his impotence
was revealed to all.
But, if Pharaoh did not have a choice, and G-d
was completely asserting his will over Pharaoh’s
decision making, why would Moses and Aaron
bother issuing a warning or requesting the Jews’
freedom? The outcome was predetermined!
There are certain transgressions for which
Jewish tradition states the transgressor is “not
given a means to repent”. There are unforgiveable sins. However, Rabbi Schneur Zalman, the
first Chabad Rebbe, explains in his Chassidic
work, the Tanya, that even such transgressors
can return to G-d. The gate is always open for
the worst of sinners to express true regret and
return to G-d.
Thus even Pharaoh had that opportunity,
had he truly desired to repent and do good in
the eyes of G-d. If this was true of the wicked
Pharaoh, each and every one of us is most
certainly able to overcome any and all of our
negative character traits.
Each Jew has a soul which is a part of G-d.
It always remains a part of G-d no matter
what transgression we commit. It is merely
our external bodies which are transgressing
against G-d, but our innermost soul allows us
the power to return and become close with
G-d once again.
Shabbat Times
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Parshat Bo
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News
23 – 30 January 2015
SA JEWISH REPORT 3
Kids are split between mom and dad in messy divorce
OWN CORRESPONDENT
A long-running custody battle
between two haredi Israeli parents,
ended earlier this month when the
Johannesburg High Court ordered
that the family be split, with the father being allowed to take two of the
family’s four children to Israel, while
the mother retained custody of their
two younger children
The order was granted in time to
enable the 12-year-old son to celebrate his barmitzvah in Israel next
month. He has gone to Israel with his
sister (14).
The couple, who cannot be named
to protect the children, were married
in 1998. They came to South Africa
in 2007 to take up teaching posts in
a religious school. Their four children
arrived in this country with them.
They were divorced by Jewish law
in 2010, the same year the father
went back to Israel when his teaching
contract ended.
He stated in court papers that he
had expected the rest of his family,
including his former wife, also to
return to live there. The mother, who
had obtained permanent residence in
South Africa, remained here with the
four children.
The father came back to South Africa in 2012. In court papers he said
the two older children told him then
that they did not want to go on living
with their mother, accusing her of not
looking after them properly.
The mother denied these allegations.
After the father returned to this
country, the two older children spent
lengthy periods with him.
The father returned to Israel in
2013, alleging he was forced to leave
because his life had been threatened.
these were not children one expected
to find in a children’s home.
While the father claimed the two
older children had told him they
would rather run away than return
to their mother, she said the father
had become hostile after she had
requested him to sign documents to
allow her and the children to stay in
South Africa.
She alleged that he “poisoned the
children against me and told them
he would take them to Israel”. She
said he painted an unrealistic utopian
picture of that country.
She added that the children had
forgotten much of their Hebrew and
that it was not in their interests to go
back to Israel.
Justice Ruth Mokgoatlheng ordered that the two older children be
allowed to travel to Israel this month,
but added they should be placed in
the care of social services until it
could be determined whether their
father was fit and capable of looking
after them.
He did not elaborate on the threats or
their source.
In her court papers, the mother
said his departure amounted to abandoning the children. She said he had
also abandoned them on a previous
occasion.
In the meantime, after his second
departure for Israel, the two elder
children were placed in the care of
the Arcadia Jewish Children’s Home,
where they remained until their departure for Israel earlier this month.
The court appointed a social worker
to take care of the interests of the
children. She reported that the father
had broken down the relationship
between the mother and the two
older children, who did not wish to
stay with the mother.
Photographs of all the children
taken on an outing three years ago
showed that “none of the children
looked at all unhappy”, the social
worker said. The photographs showed
“a very happy family unit”.
According to the social worker,
‘Diversion on main thrust of news’
HELP OUR
ARCADIA
CHILDREN
GET READY FOR
SCHOOL
Fedler’s cartoon which appeared in The Star newspaper drew no ire from the Jewish community.
SUZANNE BELLING
“I would like to see all of France marching in
Paris with armbands sporting yellow stars and
carrying placards saying ‘Je Suis Juif’ [I am a
Jew] - coming out against anti-Semitism,” said
veteran South African cartoonist Dov Fedler,
following the terrorist attacks in Paris on the
satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo and a Jewish
kosher supermarket.
Fedler said he, personally, adhered to the rule
that one was not allowed to draw the prophet
Muhammad in any shape or form. While being
upset about the Charlie Hebdo attack and the
killing of its staff and two policemen, Fedler
told Jewish Report: “I feel more upset about the
[five] killed in the kosher grocery store - they
were innocent people. He added: “I am not that
kind of cartoonist,” - to poke fun at religion.
If one were, however, to draw a cartoon of
Moses holding up iPhones (tablets), “Jews are
not going to storm in with machine-guns”.
Cartoonists, in Fedler’s opinion, “have no
political significance; we are merely a diversion
on the main thrust of the news” and had no
bearing on the doorstep of history.
“I do what I do because change is possible,”
but the shapers of history would be the leaders,
the people featured in the cartoons, not the
cartoons themselves.”
Leaders like Robert Mugabe had brought
about change - “he is still in power and will still
be in power after he is dead”. Julius Malema
too - “heaven forbid” - could have a bearing on
history.
He quoted playwright David Mamet: “the
world needs something and we [the Jews] are
the approved target of hatred”.
“But then, it states in the Torah that in every
generation an Amalek would rise to destroy us.”
Referring to Paris, Fedler said: “It was a horrible, horrible event, but that is the world in
which we live.”
Fedler has written a book “Out of Line - A
Memoir” which will be on sale from the middle
of February.
If you’re a parent, you’ll know what it takes to get your child ready
for the first day of school. Filled with excitement and preparation
for the year ahead, we’d like our Arcadia children to experience the
same ‘back to school’ feeling as those of their classmates.
Your donations will go towards
Stationery
and books
Uniforms and
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School
bags
Lunch boxes and
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Sports
equipment
Donate now
Online at www.jhbchev.co.za
SMS Arcadia to 37613 and we will call you back
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fax 0867515353 - Donations are tax deductible
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Costs for extra
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News
4 SA JEWISH REPORT
23 – 30 January 2015
17 injured, four critically, in Tel Aviv terror attack
OWN CORRESPONDENT
TEL AVIV
Seventeen people were wounded, some seriously, when a Palestinian terrorist boarded
a bus in Begin Road near the Beit Maariv
Bridge in Tel Aviv and stabbed the bus driver
and a number of passengers before fleeing.
Four victims, including the driver, remained in serious condition following the
Wednesday morning attack. Three were
“moderately” injured, six “lightly” and the
rest suffered from anxiety.
According to a preliminary investigation,
the assailant boarded the bus at the Old
Central Bus Station, a short distance from
the scene of the attack. After the bus passed
two stops and more passengers got on, the
attacker took out a knife and started stabbing people.
The assailant, a 23-year-old Palestinian
man from the West Bank city of Tulkarem,
who had entered Israel illegally, was shot in
the leg by a member of Israel’s Prison Service
who was at the scene of the attack. He was
apprehended by police.
Given that the perpetrator bought the
knife in the West Bank, he will be brought
before a military court in Ariel. As he is still
in hospital with the wound to his leg, he
wasn’t taken to court on Wednesday. His
detention will be extended by 96 hours.
The attack occurred at approximately
07:00 while it stopped at a major intersection. It is the first terror attack in Tel Aviv
since an assailant killed a soldier in a stabbing attack at a train station last October.
Bus driver Herzl Biton, 55, a bus driver
for more than 23 years, fought with the assailant and sprayed him with pepper spray
as he was being stabbed twice in the chest.
He is in a moderate condition in Tel Aviv’s
Ichilov Hospital. Other injured were taken to
the Sheba Medical Centre at Tel Hashomer
where seven were admitted for treatment
and undergoing surgery.
Biton reportedly called a friend right after
the attack and said: “A terrorist attacked me,
I feel like I’m going to die. Please, look after
my kids.”
Tel Aviv Police Commander Bentzi Sau
called the attack a “nationalist incident” and
praised Biton for having an “excellent reaction” to the stabbing.
“The attack in Tel Aviv is the direct result
of the poisonous incitement spread by the
Palestinian Authority toward the Jews and
their state. The same terror tries to harm us
in Paris, Brussels, and everywhere,” Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in
a statement following the attack.
The Palestinian man continued to stab
other passengers after hurting the driver.
He then fled the bus and was chased by a
group of Israel Prison Service (IPS) guards
who were in the area taking a prisoner to a
local court.
Benny Butershvilli, the commander of the
forces from the IPS Nachshon Unit, said the
guards noticed something was wrong after
they saw the bus standing at a green light.
Shortly afterwards, the terrorist got out of
the bus on foot and attempted to flee and
the prison guards began to chase him.
“At Beit Maariv Bridge we saw people
crowding and others calling for help; we immediately understood that something was
wrong,” Butershvilli said.
“A team of three fighters from the
Nachshon unit and I jumped out of our car,
spotted the terrorist and began chasing him.
We fired at his feet and he collapsed. We
then cuffed him and waited for the police to
come.
“The Nachshon unit fighters operated with
professionalism and determination just as is
expected of them and of any security officer
in uniform,” said Lt Gen Aharon Franco,
chief commissioner of the IPS.
Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharo-
novich praised the driver and forces’ quick
and effective response: This is exactly the
way people should respond when a terrorist
is running rampant and attempting to harm
innocent passengers.”
Hamas praised the attack as a “heroic and
courageous act”.
The attack comes amid growing tensions
between Israelis and Palestinians which has
seen violence escalate in recent months.
Opinion and Analysis
Khaled - a real person or a poster?
TAKING ISSUE
Geoff Sifrin
Political posters like the famous one of Che
Guevara, familiar to every leftwing activist in
the 1960s and printed on millions of T-shirts
worn by hippies and politicos alike, are powerful
images to inspire people, but also reduce their
subjects to simplistic cardboard cutouts who
don’t change over time.
Such is the iconic black and white picture of
Leila Khaled who has been dubbed “the poster
girl of the Palestinian struggle”. Forty-six
years ago, 25-year-old Khaled became a “World
Revolutionary Heroine” when she hijacked TWA
Flight 840 en route from Rome to Athens. She
was the first woman to hijack an airplane. It
was the same era when women’s libbers were
burning their bras in America protesting against
gender discrimination.
Together with her fellow-hijacker Salim
Issawi, Khaled forced the Boeing 707 to fly to
Damascus. The passengers were exchanged
in Damascus for the release of 13 Palestinian
prisoners in Israeli jails.
The subsequent worldwide publication of that
photo of Khaled - portrayed as a sexy, resolute
young woman with a checkered keffiyah, holding an AK-47 - defined her era as much as the
Che Guevara poster.
In recent years this “heroine” or “villain”,
depending on who you ask, has visited South
Africa to draw attention to the Palestinian
people’s suffering, and demand the severing
of diplomatic ties between South Africa and
Israel. Cosatu and the South African Council of
Churches have hosted her. Now BDS is hosting
her next month to help raise funds.
Amidst all the fuss about BDS bringing her
out, it is interesting to note a comment Khaled
made in 2006 before coming here for a documentary film festival which included a film
about her. Speaking to the Mail & Guardian
ahead of her visit, she drew a clear distinction
between the political objectives of her actions in
1969 and what she described as today’s “culture
of death”. She reportedly said: “We were given
very strict instructions not to hurt anyone.”
What does Khaled have to say about the
jihadist culture of death now sweeping the
world? The recent terror attacks in France; the
Islamist suicide bombers who regularly blow up
whole groups of innocent people in different
countries, together with themselves, in acts of
“martyrdom”; Syria at war with itself having
killed some 200 000 people since 2011.
Or the murderous Islamic State proudly
broadcasting the beheading of journalists - just
this week threatening the beheading of two
Japanese journalists if Japan does not pay a
ransom of $200m for supporting the Western
fight against IS.
And what would she say of the Palestinian
struggle? Is the sad situation of the Palestinians
only the fault of Israel? Or are they themselves
to blame? Since 1969, South Africa has got rid
of apartheid, which many people thought would
never happen without a bloodbath. What qualities did we have that the Palestinians don’t?
Surely something must have changed in her
thinking.
When one meets a famous person, he or she
always turns out to be shorter, or fatter, or less
intelligent, or somehow less of a hero than the
public image suggests. And if someone’s views
remain exactly as they were four decades ago,
the person’s integrity is immediately suspect,
as if the poster image has replaced the real-life
person.
Is BDS inviting only the poster girl? Or a real
person who can reflect honestly on history and
her role in it? Would Khaled openly endorse
BDS’ oft-touted “non-violent” approach today?
If so, she should be asked to say it publicly. If
not, why is she their guest?
Nearly five decades after her famous 1969
hijacking, Khaled now lives in Jordan, which
has a peace treaty with Israel. She says: “I no
longer think it’s necessary to prove ourselves as
women by imitating men. I have learned that
a woman can be a fighter, a freedom fighter, a
political activist, and that she can fall in love,
and be loved, she can be married, have children,
be a mother.”
Perhaps she has also learnt that the answer to
the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is not as simplistic as her poster.
Geoff Sifrin is former editor of the SAJR. He writes
this column in his personal capacity.
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23 – 30 January 2015
News
SA JEWISH REPORT 5
The library is alive and well and living at Beyachad
SUZANNE BELLING
A three-year-old letter, bristling with indignation and sarcasm, made a reappearance on
Jewish Report’s letters page last week, leaving
Lionel Slier rather bewildered, perplexed and,
may we say so, a bit sheepish.
Slier, a regular user of the library at Beyachad, three years ago wrote a very indignant
letter to the paper, bemoaning the “imminent
closure” of the facility and castigated the powers-that-be. But of course, the library didn’t
close down and is still functioning, albeit in a
new guise.
The SA Zionist Federation, custodian of
the library, was rather perplexed about Slier’s
broadside, “out of the blue”. But so was Slier.
Slier wrote this week: “I was amazed to
see a letter written by me to the SAJR about
three years ago about the Beyachad Library
closing down, in the current paper. It appeared then as a matter of fact.
“I believe that when the letter re-appeared
in the paper last week, it caused some disquiet in the library as it had not closed down
and, in fact, it is thriving in its new form.
“Now it seems that my antique computer
took it upon itself to send off this letter some
time in December (when the Jewish Report
was closed for the festive season) and it was
printed now (in the paper’s first edition of
2015).
“I was amazed and then embarrassed by
this and I have no idea how this could have
happened. Perhaps some computer geek in
our community can explain this. I certainly
cannot. In any case I apologise to everyone
who was discommoded by this incident.”
Isla Feldman, director of the SAZF,
promptly replied to Slier. (Her letter refuting his allegations, appears this week on our
letters page).
A visit this week Tuesday to the revamped
library, was a pleasant surprise. It has been
taken over by the Zionist Fed and is now primarily a reference library, although, according
to volunteer Marcia Parness, who singlehandedly raised money to contribute towards
the ongoing functioning of this important
public facility, she would like to see books on
loan too. This echoes Feldman’s sentiments.
“There is no budget for reading, but we
would welcome ongoing donations, books
from book clubs and other contributions new or from private collections,” Parness said
in an appeal to the community.
“There is a perception that the Jewish community can afford to buy books and download
Kindles, but people still want to borrow and
read books - but there is no budget.”
The library is now open from 08:30 to 16:30
from Monday to Thursday and on Fridays
from 08:30 till 14:00.
There is a fulltime librarian, Maxine Fine,
the technical fundi, Eric Mathobo and Leon
Lever, former principal of King David Victory
Park Primary School, who converted videos to
DVDs - a mammoth task which he undertook
with dedication and purely on a voluntary
basis. This exercise was completed by the end
of last year.
Said Lever: “There are Jewish and antiJewish themes, Christian material, documentaries on the history and lifestyle of Israel and
Read the South
African Jewish
Report online
www.sajr.co.za
the music of Israel. There are also features on
countries where the Jewish people live and
the history of Jewish communities around
the world.
“Where Jews no longer live in these places,
there are stories of the destruction of these
communities during the Second World War
and what happened to them. It is very important that this information is transferred to
both parents and children. You cannot teach
children just from paper clips - you need a
little more.”
There are also musicals with a Jewish
theme, classic films and films featuring the
Jewish actors and singers of yesteryear.
Marcia Parness,
Leon Lever and
Eric Mathobo in
the revamped
library at
Beyachad.
‫ב׳׳ה‬
ITS TIME TO
GO KOSHER
Opinion and Analysis
6 SA JEWISH REPORT
23 – 30 January 2015
Jewish Report
south african
Many versions of Islam’s
religious authority
Two Sundays ago more than 1,5 million people and 44 heads of state marched in the streets of
Paris to express their support and commitment in the fight against terrorism. And last Sunday
Israeli security forces arrested seven Arab citizens accused of plotting terror attacks in Israel and
of planning to join the Salafist jihadi group Islamic State in Syria.
What is dawning on us as the threat of radical Islam grows like a tentacled monster, making
every Western democracy and every Jewish community vulnerable to the havoc, is that we need
to understand it better.
The terror of Nazism, rooted in a more sane National Socialism, its leadership, strategies and
ultimate goals are now familiar and well understood. But Muslim extremism, with its roots in a
more peace loving Islam, is altogether more mysterious. And also mysteriously, while the Western
world has stood up to condemn Islamic jihadism and terrorism, the Muslim world has been relatively silent, failing to show the world a united front against terror.
Islam itself has no single source of religious authority and there are many versions of it today.
Extreme subsets like the Islamic State, al Qaida or Hezbollah are violent and scary but represent
only a small minority of the world’s Muslim demographic.
While this piece won’t explore all extremist factions, it explores the spread of Wahhabi Islam considered the inspiration for the Islamic State and viewed as the main source of global terrorism
today. British historian and commentator Karen Armstrong recently published a very worthwhile
history of Wahhabism whose main points follow below.
Wahhabism or Salafist Islam - which writer and New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman
calls “the most puritanical, anti-pluralistic and anti-women version of that faith” was actually
born out of a very non-belligerent form of Islam practised in Saudi Arabia in the 18th century.
Revivalist scholar Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703 - 91) believed that if the Saudis were
to recoup some of the power and prestige they had lost at that time, they needed to return to the
fundamentals of their faith. This meant ensuring that G-d and the study of the Qur’an - rather
than idolatry and materialism - dominated the political order.
According to Armstrong: “There was nothing militant about this fundamentalism.” Killing civilians and prisoners of war, or destroying property was not allowed.
After Ibn Abd al-Wahhab’s death, Wahhabism became increasingly violent and an instrument
of state terror. But by the 1930s the official Wahhabism of the Saudi kingdom had abandoned
militant jihad and had once again become a religiously conservative movement.
With vast wealth created by soaring oil prices in the 70s, the Saudi kingdom had all the petrodollars it needed to export its doctrines. The Saudi-based Muslim World League opened offices
wherever Muslims lived across the globe.
The Saudi ministry of religion printed and distributed Wahhabi translations of the Qur’ an,
Wahhabi doctrinal texts and the writings of modern Wahhabi thinkers. They funded Saudi-style
mosques with Wahhabi preachers and provided free education for the poor.
According to Armstrong, the Saudis insisted on religious conformity in return for their generosity. Unfortunately the rejection of all other forms of Islam and other faiths undermined Islam’s
traditional pluralism.
“A whole generation of Muslims, therefore, has grown up with a maverick form of Islam that has
given them a negative view of other faiths and an intolerantly sectarian understanding of their
own,” she states. “While not extremist per se, this is an outlook in which radicalism can develop.”
And although the Saudi government has opposed the jihadists, it’s not a big jump from Wahhabi
Islam to the violent jihadism practised by the Islamic State.
And interestingly, because Wahhabis focused on the oppression of Muslims worldwide in their
teachings and through TV images and other media, many of those Saudis who fought in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Chechnya or trained in al-Qaida camps, were inspired by a desire to help their
fellow Muslim brothers and sisters.
They are also not always religious fanatics. Research by MI5 in 2008 found that a significant
number of those convicted of terrorism offences since the 9/11 attacks, have been non-observant,
or are self-taught. The shooter in last year’s attack on the Canadian parliament was a convert to
Islam.
What is another commonality among these jihadists is that they are usually born into tough,
impoverished, and violent circumstances. France, home to Europe’s biggest Muslim minority, provides a major source of jihadists to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. Chérif and Saïd Kouachi,
who murdered 12 people at Charlie Hebdo, were orphaned and grew up in foster homes. Amédy
Coulibaly, who held up the kosher supermarket was brought up on one of Paris’ worst housing
estates and had been in prison for robbery before becoming drawn to radical Islam.
According to a piece in the Economist this week, “If there is a common thread among those who
become jihadists, it seems to be the quest to transform small, angry lives into powerful ones”.
And what does this mean for South African Jewry? Our own Muslim population, estimated at
over one million, but growing in the face of refugees arriving from neighbouring countries, has
mostly been non-violent. In fact a number of significant South African Islamic organisations have
come out in criticism of IS.
While we had local groups like Pagad who were responsible for an urban terror campaign in
Cape Town in the 1990s and now some reports of South African Muslims being recruited to fight
overseas in Iraq and Syria, we are still problem free in comparison.
Research conducted by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political
Violence at King’s College in London, found that sub-Saharan African countries have not figured
significantly in sending fighters to Syria.
Nonetheless, in the same week as the Paris tragedy, Boko Haram massacred thousands of people in next door Nigeria. While our own Muslim community has stood up in protest against what
they consider Israel’s aggression in the territories, they have been relatively silent on France and
Nigeria.
In assessing what role we as South African Jews have, it is obvious that we should never be quiet
and accepting in the event of injustice or terror. Luckily our own community and its leadership
have shown us that they will stand up to incidents they believe threaten our well-being and safety.
– Vanessa Valkin, Editor
A file photo of Israel’s vaunted Iron Dome anti-missile system.
Tensions mount on Israel’s
northern border
WIRE SERVICES AND
JEWISH REPORT STAFF
with Lebanon and Syria.
“Hezbollah’s leadership cannot accept
the blow it received from the Israeli strike
Israel has reportedly deployed Iron Dome and the killing of [Hezbollah] officials,”
anti-missile defence systems in the coun- a Hezbollah official said, according to Istry’s north out of fear of retaliation fol- rael Hayom. “Hezbollah’s leadership will
lowing the alleged Israeli Airforce helicop- choose how and when to respond to this
ter strike on Syria on Sunday.
criminal Israeli attack.”
An Iranian general and at least five HezHezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah
bollah members were killed in the strike recently said that his Shi’a Muslim teron a convoy of several cars near the Syr- ror group had more weapons than Israel
ian border village of Quneitra. Iran an- could imagine. The organisation reportnounced on Monday that among those edly possesses a large arsenal of rockets,
killed in the attack was Mohammad Ali unmanned aerial vehicles, and specialAllahdadi, a general in its Revolutionary ised units, known as the Radawan Force,
Guard. Allahdadi was known to be one trained specifically to carry out raids deep
of powerful al-Quds Force commander inside Israel.
Qasem Soleimani’s closest confidantes.
“Hezbollah has weapons that the enemy
Allahdadi was in Syria to advise its army can expect and we have ones that they
in the country’s nearly
aren’t expecting. Our
four-year civil war, acresistance has not been
cording to Iran’s semidamaged, and Israel is
official Fars news agency.
mistaken if it thinks it
“Hezbollah has
Jihad Mughniyeh, son
has,” Nasrallah told the
of Imad Mughniyeh, a
Arabic TV station Alweapons that the
top Hezbollah operative
Mayadeen.
enemy... aren’t
assassinated in 2008, was
He added: “If Israel
expecting. Our
also among those killed
attacks Lebanon, our
resistance has not
in the Sunday attack. The
resistance is strong and
been damaged.”
others included Mohamour ability to win is
med Issa, the commandgreat.”
er of Hezbollah forces in
While the Israel-LebIraq and Syria, and Abbas
anon border has been
Hijazi, whose father Karelatively quiet since the
mal was one of Hezbollah’s founders.
last war there in 2007, Hezbollah planted
Quneitra, near the border with Leba- two bombs along that border last October,
non, has been the site of heavy fighting injuring two Israeli soldiers who were on
between government forces and rebels patrol.
during Syria’s ongoing civil war.
Israel Defence Forces’ Chief of Staff
Although the Israel Defence Forces has Benny Gantz said on Monday the army
neither confirmed nor denied the strikes, was prepared and monitoring security
Israel was, according to reports, unaware developments in the region. “The IDF is
an Iranian general was travelling in the prepared, tracking all developments, and
Hezbollah convoy it targeted. The claim ready to act as needed. This statement is
- made by an unnamed senior Israeli se- not simply a speech - it’s a matter of real
curity source in an interview with Reuters operational preparedness.”
on Tuesday - came as both Hezbollah and
In the north, several IDF units deployed
Iran threatened to retaliate for the killing along the border that were set to go on
and amid growing concern about the secu- leave, were ordered to stay put, Haaretz
rity situation on Israel’s northern border reported.
More news on our website www.sajr.co.za
23 – 30 January 2015
News
SA JEWISH REPORT 7
Nisman death: Hezbollah,
Argentine govt fingered
URIEL HEILMAN
BUENOS AIRES
The mysterious death of Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman (pictured) seems ripped
straight out of a crime thriller.
Nisman - the indefatigable prosecutor
collecting evidence of culpability in the 1994
bombing of the AMIA Jewish centre in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people - was found
dead in his apartment just hours before he
was to present evidence to Argentina’s congress that he said implicated his country’s
president and foreign minister in a nefarious cover-up scheme.
The charge? That the two agreed to whitewash Tehran’s role in the AMIA bombing
in exchange for oil shipments to energyhungry Argentina.
Nisman’s body was discovered late Sunday
in his 13th-floor apartment with a single
gunshot wound to the head.
Officials connected to President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, quickly said
evidence pointed to suicide, noting that a
.22-calibre pistol and spent cartridge were
found near Nisman’s body.
But the suicide theory was dismissed out
of hand on the streets of Buenos Aires and
among people around the world familiar
with Nisman and his work investigating the
AMIA attack. Instead, they said Nisman,
51, was the victim of foul play. The suicide
theory lost more ground on Tuesday with
the revelation by the prosecutor investigating Nisman’s death, Viviana Fein, that no
traces of gunpowder were found on Nisman’s hand. There also was no suicide note.
“The idea of suicide I think is nonsense,”
Abraham Foxman, national director of the
Anti-Defamation League, told JTA.
“The Jewish community has lost a stalwart hero, and Argentina and all people who
pursue the truth and justice with a passionate zeal have lost a great fighter,” Foxman
said. “Throughout the years, all kinds of forces have tried to put him down, to destroy
him. Every time he uncovered new stuff or
exposed some interests that weren’t happy,
they set the courts against him or they set
the police against him. And every time they
tried to put him down, he fought it, he got
up and beat them.”
The investigation of the 1994 bombing the deadliest terrorist attack in Argentine
history and one of the worst incidents of
anti-Jewish violence in the Diaspora since
the Second World War - was seen as hopelessly inept and corrupt until Nisman took
over the case in 2005.
There were no significant arrests for
years after the AMIA bombing, which was
preceded by the deadly 1992 bombing of the
Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires that killed
29. After 20 local men, including 19 police
officers, were put on trial in 2001 on charges
of involvement in the Jewish centre attack,
the investigating judge, Juan Jose Galeano,
was caught on video offering one of the
men a bribe in return for evidence. The case
collapsed, the police were acquitted, and
Galeano eventually was removed from the
case and impeached.
Appointed to take over the case by thenPresident Nestor Kirchner, the late husband
of the current Argentine leader who had
called the handling of the case a “national
disgrace”, Nisman launched a more professional investigation. He traced the links
from the Iranian leaders who ordered the
attack to the Hezbollah operatives who
planned its execution, formally charging
Iran and Hezbollah in 2006.
Interpol eventually issued arrest warrants
for six Iranian officials in connection with
the bombing, including Iran’s defence minister at the time, Ahmad Vahidi. The Islamic
Republic denied any connection and refused
to hand over the suspects.
In 2013, when Argentina and Iran signed
a joint memorandum of understanding
to investigate the bombing, Nisman and
Jewish community leaders in Argentina
and abroad decried the deal as a farce. Many
were particularly incensed that the deal was
negotiated by Argentine Foreign Minister
Hector Timerman, a prominent Argentine
Jew whose father, Jacobo Timerman, had
been a well-respected Argentine-Israeli human rights activist. The Israeli governments
and the US also denounced the deal.
Nisman challenged the arrangement in
court as “wrongful interference” by the
president in judicial affairs and the probe
was never implemented.
All the while, Nisman and his investigating team continued to press forward with
their effort to bring those responsible
to justice. Last week, he filed a 300-page
complaint alleging that Kirchner, Timerman
and others were seeking to “erase” Iran’s
role in the AMIA bombing in exchange for
establishing stronger trade relations, including oil sales to Argentina. He was slated to
present his evidence on Monday to Argentina’s congress.
Among Argentina’s 200 000 Jews - the
largest Jewish community in Latin America
- Nisman, who also was Jewish, was seen as
a crusading hero.
So who could have wanted him dead?
Many Argentines are pointing the finger at
President Kirchner. By Sunday night, thousands had gathered outside the presidential
palace to protest Nisman’s death, with some
holding aloft signs reading “Cristina murderer”. The hashtag #CFKAsesina - Kirchner’s
initials and the Spanish word assassin - was
one of the top topics trending on Twitter in
Argentina on Monday.
In Jewish and Israeli circles, some analysts
speculated that Nisman might have been
killed by Hezbollah, whose operatives were
fingered for carrying out the AMIA bombing
on behalf of Iran.
Could Hezbollah have pulled off Nisman’s
killing so quickly after the airstrike in Syria?
It would be uncharacteristic for the Lebanon-based group, which typically has carried
out its well-planned reprisals months or
years after Israeli attacks. Nisman had been
under police protection, including the positioning of police guards outside the luxury
high-rise where he was found dead.
Nisman had made several prescient
references to the possibility of his untimely
demise, saying as recently as last Saturday:
“I might get out of this dead.” (JTA)
(A JTA correspondent in Buenos Aires contributed to this report.)
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23 – 30 January 2015
News
SA JEWISH REPORT 9
Generations of yesteryear still remember Betty Misheiker
STAFF REPORTER
Former South African writer of children’s
stories and songs, Betty Misheiker (pictured)
died in Jerusalem recently at the age of 96.
Born in Pretoria and the youngest of four
children, she spent her primary school years
in Brits in the present Northwest Province
and Johannesburg. When the family moved
to a small town in the Bushveld, she remained
at home, as unlike her siblings, she was too
young to go to school in the nearest main
town.
Her imaginary companions filled the void
in her life, leading to her story writing.
When she moved back to Johannesburg,
she tried several careers until, many years
later, she drew her first giraffe cartoon and
developed her writing talent.
At the start of the Second World War, she
was a volunteer, working part-time as an
ambulance driver for the mines.
She was married to Ronnie, a former newspaper editor, raising their own family and the
children of her sister, who passed away at an
early age.
Betty sent in her stories for publication,
including “Handsome Piggy Wig” and “The
Bear who wanted the Mostest”.
A very special couple
People came from all over the world to meet
at Michelstadt.
Herman Rothenberg
The mediaeval town of Michelstadt, in the
Odenwald, about one hour south of Frankfurt in
Germany, is certainly no sleepy town when it
comes to Otto and Heidi Haag.
The Haags live in this town, Otto being a
translator with a diploma from Heidelberg University, of a variety of languages, including English
and Russian and also a Fulbright scholar from the
University of Chicago.
Heidi was active in church affairs and also
became a local journalist in the Odenwald area.
They became interested in the missing part
of the history of Michelstadt, namely the Jewish
population that had to flee the Nazi regime.
Otto was the catalyst for placing “stolpersteine” (remembrance stones or stumbling
stones) in front of 59 homes of former Jewish
residents of Michelstad. Many of these former
residents perished in the Holocaust and others
were forced to emigrate to various parts of the
world.
Otto researched the history and ancestry of
these former residents, where they lived, what
their professions were and their ultimate fate or
future. He and Heidi spent endless hours searching for clues of these people’s whereabouts after
they left, where they emigrated to or where they
were forced to go to.
Otto wrote a book called,” Ich gebe Ihnen einen
Namen” (I give them a name).
After publishing it, the Haags began to campaign for inviting the close relatives of former
residents to a reunion in Michelstadt. This was a
very difficult task but with the assistance of the
present mayor of the town, it came to fruition in
March last year. All 17 of the guests were second
generation family members, all of whom had their
own stories to tell.
Eventually she produced educational material for a children’s programme - radio, TV,
children’s theatre and puppet shows. At the
end of every year, she produced an hourlong Christmas special. She also produced
numerous radio plays, radio musicals and
“The Old Kabboly” was commissioned by the
Marionette Theatre of the Johannesburg
Civic Theatre to celebrate the 80th birthday of
Johannesburg .
Her stories and songs cover a wide range
of topics, especially animals, all dealing with
educational subjects pertaining to children’s
daily lives.
She used to say:”It was an enormous challenge, each week, to make a new song and
story about these animals. The songs would
rise out of the story and they had to carry the
story. The music would just start singing to
me. “
She won the coveted Japanese Minister
of Education’s prize in a contest in which 69
countries competed.
She and Ronnie went on aliyah to Jerusalem in 1979, where she continued her work
even as a mother and grandmother, working
with Israel TV.
The popularity and recognition of Betty’s
stories and songs increased over many
years and even today has a following among
ensuing generations.
She was described as “a woman of integrity, strength and a passionate love for
Israel”.
Letters
10 SA JEWISH REPORT
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.
23 – 30 January 2015
Guidelines for letters
Letters up to 400 words get preference. Provide your full name, place of residence, and daytime contact phone
number. We do not publish letters under noms de plume. Letters should preferably be e-mailed. Letters may be
edited or shortened.
The Editor, PO Box 84650, Greenside, 2034 email: [email protected]
Woolworths protests: It seems history is repeating itself
History repeats itself: first time as
tragedy, second time as dangerous farce.
Compare the attached old photo
of 1933, with resent photographs of
protests against Woolworths in South
Africa by BDS-SA, Cosatu, Cosas etc. As
the actions in 1933 by the Nazis against
a German Woolworths shop, the actions
of BDS-SA are no longer political, but
nakedly anti-Jewish. After all, it was
BDS-SA and Cosas who chanted “Shoot
the Jew” during a concert by an Israeli
jazz group at Wits University.
I’m not talking about ordinary
criticism of Israel; I’m speaking of a
hatred that permits itself no boundaries
in the lies and myths it pours out, thus
Israel being referred to as a “Nazi”
state. In what sense is this true, even
as a metaphor? Where are the Israeli
concentration camps, the Nuremberg
laws, the “Final Solution”? None of
these things nor anything remotely
resembling them, exist in Israel.
Likewise calling Israel an apartheid
state: For those who believe this, a
weekend in any part of Israel would be
enough to show them how ridiculous
the claim is.
Israeli hospitals not only treat
Jews and Arabs alike, they also treat
Palestinians from Gaza and the West
Bank - in the same wards, in the same
operating theatres.
Israel can only be democratic without Arabs and Muslims
Can one imagine what would happen if Jews were
I’m almost positive that the terrorist attack in Paris
responsible for these attacks?
recently, came as no surprise to the world. Anyone
Mind you, there have been reports of virulent antifollowing European politics will tell you that the
Semites suggesting that these attacks were by Jews,
rightwing parties in Europe are becoming increasingly
masquerading as Muslims!
vociferous and dare I say, powerful.
The fact of the matter is that despite these idiotic
The problem is immigration and the lack of jobs
suggestions by the lunatic fringe, Islam has spawned
available to citizens in European countries .The Muslim
these killers - Not only in France, but in Iraq, Gaza,
population also have not endeared themselves to the
Lebanon, Syria, Libya and many other countries.
Europeans.
How is it that the Qur’an can be interpreted by its
There is another issue and that is the rise of radical
followers in so many different ways?
Islam. The world is currently embroiled in a fight against
We, as Jews, are by nature a democratic people. Can
what was previously known as ISIS. The savagery of
Israel afford to be democratic?
radical Islamists has been well-documented.
The answer is yes, but without the Arabs and Muslims
In Israel, women (in contrast with
As much as the moderate Muslims condemn the
as citizens.
most Muslim countries) have the
attacks on innocent people by radical Islamists, it is not
It is clear that there is no democracy in the Islamic
same rights as men: there is no gender
enough. The radicals emanate from within a close-knit
world and therefore there can be no place in Israel for
apartheid. Gay men and women face no Muslim society.
them.
restrictions.
An example of this are the two brothers who carried
In any event, the Law of Return applies only to
Under Israeli law, Arab Israelis have
out the killings in Paris. It is not reasonably possible to
the same rights as Jews or Christians;
believe that their families were unaware of this. How can Jews and if you consider the events that took place in
Germany during the last century, the Land of Israel is
Baha’is, severely persecuted in Iran,
one have a rocket grenade launcher and conceal such a
the only haven where Jews can be safe.
flourish in Israel where they have their
huge weapon from anyone?
world centre; Ahmadi Muslims, severely
It can’t be done and therefore ordinary Muslims
Nathan Cheiman
persecuted in Pakistan and elsewhere,
cannot just pay lip service to these heinous acts by
Northcliff, Johannesburg
are kept safe by Israel; the holy places
condemning them.
of all religions are protected under a
specific Israeli law.
Remember that blood is Guilty Wits students get merely slap on a wrist
Arabs make up 20 per cent of the
thicker than ink
Israeli university population (an exact
investigation and disciplinary
Professor Adam Habib, vicedemographic echo of their percentage
meetings the miscreants were
chancellor of Wits, in a newspaper
Apropos Je suis Charlie: Blood
in the general population).
sentenced to community service
article and in a radio interview,
is thicker than ink. We have no
It seems bizarre to me that BDS
“of a nature to be determined”.
made many valid points especially
right to spill blood because of
groups call for a boycott of Israel but
The students involved treated his
when related to the quality of
the Qu’ran or any other creed.
say nothing about countries like Iran,
ruling with contempt and virtually
leadership in South Africa. How
How can any entity as sublime
where gay men are hanged or stoned to as the Creator be insulted by
ironic, however, coming from a man laughed in his face. I doubt that
death; Russia, which recently occupied mere mortals?
any of them did even a minute of
who could seemingly not enforce a
part of Ukraine; Syria, where hundreds
community service
ruling he made last year. This was
The very idea is an insult to
of thousands (including women and
Did he employ his leadership
in respect of Mohammed Desai
the Deity!
children) have already been killed.
qualities in allowing these students
of BDS-SA, members of the Wits
BDS groups are trying to trick
to totally disregard him without
Student Representative Council
Don Krausz
South Africans into anti-Semitism by
recourse as far as I am currently
and Muslim students who forcibly
Killarney, Johannesburg
punishing one country among all the
aware?
disrupted a musical recital by an
countries of the world - which happens
This is a magnificent exhibition of
Israeli pianist at Wits, threw an
Read the South African
to be the only Jewish state.
leadership.
elderly lady to the floor and who
Jewish Report online caused destruction of university
Val Schneiderman
Jack Miller
property.
www.sajr.co.za
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Letters
23 – 30 January 2015
SA JEWISH REPORT 11
Peace with treacherous Palestinians a big no
Kol hakavod to Chaim Hillel Myerson on his brilliant letter
of December 5 (Meeting with Abbas: Leadership has let us
down).
Personally, why should South African Jewry be persuaded
to participate in the dismantling of the settlements according
to the wants of Mahmoud Abbas for “so called peace”? How
many times have we lost our beloved men, women and
children, not forgetting our brave and courageous soldiers
who have fought too many wars for our young country?
Where will Abbas have peace with our people? How many
times has he openly announced that Israel and its people
must be destroyed? Whether we live in South Africa, New
York or Australia, we are part and parcel of these people; we
are Jews and our love should lie in the State of Israel.
A two-state solution in my book is definitely a no, as once
this takes place the Palestinians will want the whole of Israel,
the country Hashem gave to our forefathers Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob. This cannot be denied as it is written in the Torah.
I am shocked to know that the Jewish Board of Deputies
and the Zionist Federation shook hands with a terrorist who
has no humanity even to his own people as their education is
to “kill the Jew”.
Always remember: Hashem is watching.
Read the South African Jewish
Report online www.sajr.co.za
JEWISH ACCOMMODATION FOR FELLOW AGED
RETIRE TO PRETORIA
Noreen Merle Olshewsky
Cape Town
I’m waiting for Zapiro’s cartoon on French massacre
Our most famous cartoonist is never afraid to stand back
and use his satirical skills to press home his point in the
face of controversy, be it political, social, or whatever.
He has specialised in using his art form most effectively
to demonise Israel - and Israel is where the Jews are - so
he disguises his anti-Jewish sentiments using the façade
of Israel.
I draw your attention specifically to the cartoon
depicting the barmitzvah of Justice Richard Goldstone’s
grandson. See just how he caricatures the rabbi and other
shul officials!
Yet, I have never seen a Zapiro cartoon depicting any
Islam-related issue. I wonder why?
Is it okay to demonise the Jews because he himself is a
Jew? Perhaps he can well argue this point, namely that he
is mocking himself? But this is very questionable.
But let’s see those satirical skills he uses so effectively in
the aftermath of the murder of his 12 French colleagues in
Paris. There’s a test for his mettle!
Allan Wolman
Rosebank, Johannesburg
Shortened letter did not convey original intention
It was with deep dismay, disbelief and, yes, anger that I read the bowdlerised version of my letter
which you printed in last week’s Jewish Report (Who was the ‘real’ Nazis in this?). Your editing
managed to turn my letter on its head, conveying the opposite of what I intended to convey, namely
a dislike and aversion of organisations such as JVFP for the aid they are giving the people who wish
to destroy us in the same way those misguided souls of the Judenrat helped the Nazis. Even your
heading was misleading.
Leslie Hotz
Johannesburg
Due to space constraints, your letter unfortunately had to be cut - definitely not “bowdlerised”. We are
comfortable that your message, as you put in the above explanation, did come across in last week’s letter, but
we are more than happy to print your explanation for sake of clarity. Space was the only issue in shortening
your letter, which was very insightful. - Editor
Slier got it wrong on the Beyachad Library
I wish to correct certain inaccuracies in
the letter written by Lionel Slier in the SA
Jewish Report of January 16.
The South African Zionist Federation
library was housed at De Villiers Street
(in the Johannesburg CBD) for many
decades. When Beyachad, an administrative
organisation, was established and under
whose aegis all the Jewish organisations
were amalgamated, it was Beyachad that
took over the running of the library for the
community.
Inevitably, however, the library ceased to
be user-friendly and lost much of its patina,
as Beyachad lacked the capacity to promote
and successfully run it.
Members of a committee endeavoured
to raise funds for its upkeep, but were not
successful and in order to preserve the
historic documentation, books and South
African Zionist history, the SAZF was
requested to finance and run the library.
It was unanimously decided that the
SAZF library would become instead a
reference library, housing 115 years of local
Zionist material.
Without the involvement of the SAZF in
preserving the intellectual and historical
documentation, the library would be closed
and the documentation lost.
The SAZF has invested a considerable
amount of money in refitting the library.
A qualified librarian has been employed
and the library now superbly upgraded,
is available to the community and other
interested parties for research purposes.
While it is no longer a lending library,
it welcomes community members who
seek to research documents and books
on the premises. It also houses a very
comprehensive audiovisual section; and
there are a number of novels available for
lending purposes.
The SAZF takes exception to Slier’s
sarcastic comment about our becoming a
laughing stock and having no intellectual
standing. Almost all research today, both
locally and internationally, can be accessed
on the Internet. The SAZF Isie Maisels
Reference Library exists to preserve our rich
Zionist history for future generations.
Isla Feldman
Director
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Lorraine Srage new head of KDHL
The King David Community takes pride in the appointment of
Lorraine Srage as the new Principal of KDHL as of January 2015.
Lorraine has been a dedicated
member of staff for the past 32
years. During this time she proved
to be an excellent History teacher
and was appointed head of History
in 2002. The school recognised her
leadership and managerial ability
by appointing her to the position
of Vice Principal in 1995. In 2008
she was made Academic Head of the
school; in this capacity she led the
school to unprecidented academic
success.
She has been involved in every
conceivable aspect of school life,
and she is one of those rare leaders
who is as comfortable on the sports
field as in the classroom.
Lorraine is certainly a people’s
person; she communicates with
flare in both formal and informal
situations. She can defend
Manchester United with the same
passion and intensity with which
she can discuss intricate political
manoeuvrings in world politics.
Yet, her most impressive quality is
her unprecedented love, enthusiasm
and dedication to Israel, Jewish
education and to King David,
Linksfield. She is admired and liked
by the staff, parents and students
of the school who were thrilled at
her appointment. Past students
commented that Lorraine was the
ideal appointee and that the school
could only flourish and excel under
her leadership.
On the announcement of her
appointment, the new Head said “I
am grateful to have the opportunity
to lead a school of distinction and
for the energy that exudes from the
school. I am also grateful to be part
of a Community that places value on
Judaism, Zionism and the ideals of
integrity, belonging and unity.”
We wish Lorraine everything of the
best in this position.
12 SA JEWISH REPORT
Community Columns
A column of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies
Mind boggles over BDS-SA’s
‘poster girl’, Leila Khaled
Over the past week,
the Board continued
to be much involved in
responding to the imminent visit of Leila
Khaled to South Africa
as a guest of BDS-SA.
Above Board In a variety of media
forums (including NaMary Kluk tional Director Wendy
National Chairman
Kahn’s being interviewed by SABC TV news), we have consistently reiterated why we find the bringing
out of this individual to be so abhorrent,
and why South Africans as a whole should
share this view.
BDS has sought to promote Khaled as
a heroic freedom fighter in the mould of
Nelson Mandela whom South Africans
should admire and look up to. A substantial
part of what we have done is to systematically explode that obnoxious conception
by informing the public exactly who she is,
what she has done and what her affiliations
continue to be.
Khaled is a senior member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine
(PFLP). Over nearly five decades, this
organisation has systematically aimed at
harming civilians as a matter of strategy.
Recent atrocities carried out by the organisation include the murder of the Fogel
family in 2011 and last year’s hacking to
death of four rabbis in a Har Nof synagogue. Khaled herself is best known for
having hijacked a US airline and thereafter
attempting unsuccessfully to hijack an
Israeli one.
While it has been necessary to expose
the real Leila Khaled, our main concern has
been to deal with why BDS-SA invited her
in the first place. What does it say about
the motives of this group that it should not
only have selected such an individual to act
as the poster girl for its campaigns but have
overtly played up her terrorist affiliations
as a publicity tactic?
The Khaled invitation has simply reconfirmed our worst fears about what BDS is
all about. It is not a human rights lobby,
nor does it really wish to help to promote
peace between Israelis and Palestinians.
Instead, in furthering its extremist agenda,
it fosters hatred, division and confrontation in our society.
One hope that as a result of its latest
propaganda stunt, particularly in its having come at a time of heightened concerns
about terrorism the world over, the penny
will begin to drop even among those who
previously might have been inclined to support the organisation.
As South Africa’s representative on the
World Jewish Congress executive, I am
involved in ongoing discussions on current
security threats facing global Jewry. On the
local front, we likewise need to constantly
maintain a high level of vigilance.
Here, the CSO plays a crucial role, and
as always, its members - whether professionals or volunteers - carry out its mission
with unfailing dedication and professionalism.
We thank all those who devote so much
time and effort to ensuring our safety, and
urge community members to support them
in every way that they can.
New school term started
The new school term has resumed, which
with the great majority of Jewish schoolgoers means attending one or other of the
many Jewish day schools around the country. I cannot emphasise enough how crucial
it is to provide a sound Jewish education if
we are to continue to have a thriving community in the future.
Here, we can proudly say that the standard is not merely good, but excellent. Nor
does the provision of a strong Judaic component in the syllabus come at the expense
of secular learning. On the contrary, the
consistently outstanding matric results in
all our schools show that it is possible to
have the best of both worlds. I congratulate
our recent successful crop of matriculants
and wish our current learners all success in
the year ahead.
• Listen to Charisse Zeifert on Jewish Board
Talk, 101.9 ChaiFM every Friday 12:0013:00.
This column is paid for by SA Jewish Board of Deputies
News
23 – 30 January 2015
Gender equality a golden thread
in panel discussion
SACRED’s Chairman, Leah Livni, with Reeva Forman, deputy chairman of the South African
Zionist Federation; and Bet David’s Rabbi Julia Margolis.
ROBYN SASSEN
Women in religious leadership came under
the loupe in a panel discussion towards
the end of last year at Hillbrow’s historical
Women’s Jail, hosted by the SA Centre for
Religious Equality and Diversity (SACRED). Community stalwart and deputy
chairman of the SAZF Reeva Forman, was
MC. It featured Zaakirah Akram of Cape
Town’s Open Mosque; Reverend Lutz
Ackerman of the Lutheran Church of Peace
in Hillbrow; Rabbi Julia Margolis from Bet
David, Sandton; and Ba’hai representative
Khwezi Fudu Cenenda
Rabbi Margolis said: “Why do we need
women rabbis? What does it say about the
community in which a female is encouraged to hold such an office? If we ask such
a question, we need to ask why we need
women doctors - remembering that only a
hundred years ago in England, Parliament
considered it absolutely a breach of professionalism.
Cenenda, diplomatic liaison for the
Ba’hai community added: “G-d created all
of mankind with no distinction between
male and female. G-d judges human actions, not actions as they are performed by
a man or by a woman.
“When women are suppressed there is
injustice. Until the world realises this,
there will not be peace. I pray for the time
where it doesn’t matter whether you are a
man or a woman when you achieve things.
I pray for the time when it doesn’t matter
when you are ‘the first black’, ‘the first
woman’. I pray for the time when humanity can identify itself as humanity.”
Reverend Ackerman is proactive in
projects between his community and the
Union of Jewish Women. In South Africa
since 2001, he was ordained in Bavaria.
With affiliation credentials in Lutheran
and Anglican dogma, he said: “Transformation of theological thinking is nowhere
near complete.” He itemised the growing
number of women in Anglican and Lutheran church leadership as he interrogated
Roman Catholic canonical principles.
“What is religious leadership based on?
Education? A divine calling? And what’s
the laity’s role? Sometimes it’s not only
a question of legality but one of citizens
making decisions.”
Akram, a lawyer, said: “When you think
of a Muslim woman, what do you expect?
Someone like me?” Dressed in a tailored
suit, she grinned at the audience’s perplexity. “The current stereotype for Islam is
not about non-judging. It’s about terror.
We, at the Open Mosque officially celebrate our second month,” she alluded to
threats the establishment has weathered,
before proceeding to examine the Qur’an’s
exegesis regarding women.
“At the Open Mosque, women are
treated as equals to men and access the
mosque through the main entrance. We
pray in the same area as our fathers, sons
and brothers. We encourage women to
empower and educate themselves through
teachings in the Qur’an and by extension,
teaching their male and female offspring
they are equals.
“Women are actively involved in the
Open Mosque, where they are encouraged
to participate in a formerly male-dominated society. Gender equality cannot be
achieved without active participation. We
need to focus on not drawing attention to
ourselves,” she emphasised.
23 – 30 January 2015
Youth
SA JEWISH REPORT 13
VIVIENNE MOFSOWITZ
Bloemfontein celebrated Shabbat Channukah
in style when Adam Kroll, son of Debra Kroll,
from London, celebrated his barmitzvah in the
Bloemfontein Shul.
Some 50 guests from London, New York,
Melbourne, Cape Town and Johannesburg
spent the weekend with the Krolls and the
Bloemfontein community for this simcha.
Adam’s grandparents, Solly and Shirley are
prominent members of this vibrant yet small
community. Solly is the chairman of the
United Hebrew Institutions, while Shirley was
the founding member of the David Davidson
Nursery School.
The Bloemfontein Shul was packed to capacity, giving a taste of Bloem in its heyday! Not
having many kosher facilities in Bloemfontein,
Friday night supper was prepared in Johan-
nesburg by Solly’s sister Freda Meltz and niece
Nanette Lewinstein and delivered to the Krolls
in time for Shabbat.
Gary Lewinstein conducted the service and
being an old friend of the community his davening, sermons and wise words to Adam went
down exceptionally well. Debra and Adam’s
friends contributed to the leining.
The community plus guests were treated to a
delicious lunch catered for by Yvonne Wasserman and her daughter-in-law, Heidi Wasserman. Lauren Keir, also an old Bloemfonteiner,
did the décor.
Of course, in true Bloemfontein style, almost every member helped in some way to pull
off this amazing event.
In lieu of gifts, Adam had asked guests to
make donations to The Sunflower Children’s
Home, a hospice for mostly Aids-afflicted
children.
Photo: Dr Fred Barbakow
Small Bloem community shows how things are done
‘Israel Encounter’ boys return to SA
enriched by the experience
KDL Preprimary to rise this
year in a new guise
SHEVA MESSIAS
Photo supplied
Photo supplied
King David Linksfield Preprimary School is rebuilding this year, demolishing
the old school and building a magnificent, modern new one.
The school has moved into temporary classrooms and set up an entire
school on the high school hockey field.
SUZANNE BELLING
Grade 11 learners from Torah Academy Boys’ High School, Shaarei Torah, Hirsch Lyons, Yeshiva Maharsha, Yeshiva College
and King David Linksfield, led by TA Boys’ High principal, Rabbi Yossi Chaikin, recently returned to Johannesburg from their
“Encounter” tour to Israel, an annual event organised by the Israel Centre.
“It was an Israel Encounter but, more than that, they encountered the land and people of Israel and its history.
“The learners came away connected with Torah and their heritage. Most significant about the ‘Encounter’, was that 31
boys from different Jewish day schools came on the tour as strangers but left as friends,” Rabbi Chaikin said.
The boys visited the four holy sites - Jerusalem, Tiberias, Safed and Hebron.
“We went from north to south and east to west,” said Rabbi Chaikin. “The boys climbed Masada, swam in the Dead Sea,
were hosted by Bedouins in the south, shopped at a shuk, davened at the Kotel a number of times and visited the tunnels in
Jerusalem.”
The boys are pictured with Rabbi Chaikin at the Talmudic village of Kfar Kedem in the north, dressed in the garb of Talmud
students in historical times.
‘This is your land,’ Netanyahu tells
Birthright participants
Sandton Sinai Primary School starts with a bang
With an incredible growth
in numbers, Sandton Sinai
Primary School learners
started their school year
on Tuesday January 13.
The school was abuzz
with new and smiling
faces. From grade R to
grade 2, the school was a
hive of activity as learners
navigated their first day.
Pictured are the grade
Rs, grade 1s and grade
2s who are embarking
on their first day of the
school year.
Photo: Yael Benjamin
AMY JAFFE
The Taglit-Birthright Israel programme on Wednesday evening celebrated 15 years of
bringing young Jews (ages 18 - 26) on free 10-day trips to Israel.
Birthright has sent almost half a million Jewish youth from 66 countries to Israel.
The speakers and crowd at the event in Jerusalem, observed a moment of silence in
remembrance of the 17 people killed in three terrorist attacks in Paris last week.
One of the victims, Yoav Hattab, had visited Israel on a Birthright trip just two weeks
before he was killed.
“In Israel, every Jew can say: ‘I am a Jew, Je suis Juif,’ out loud and proudly, without
fear,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said at the Birthright event. He told the attendees: “Come to Israel. Come visit Israel. Come stay in Israel. Come make aliyah to
Israel. This is your land.” (JNS.org)
Opinion and Analysis
14 SA JEWISH REPORT
23 – 30 January 2015
Muslims themselves must deal with this monster
BARBARIC YAWP
David Saks
If there was a defining moment in the
escalating kulturkampf between secular
democracy and fundamentalist Islam in
Europe, it took place already 10 years
ago, when filmmaker Theo van Gogh was
gunned down and butchered in an Amsterdam street by a Dutch-Moroccan Muslim
Mohammed Bouveri.
Van Gogh was adjudged to have committed blasphemy on account of a documentary he had made on women in Islam. His
last words, before he was shot again and
decapitated were: “We can still talk about
it! Don’t do it!” Pathetically, in his final
moments Van Gogh invoked the principles
of dialogue and debate that underpin that
which nurtured him.
So far as Bouveri was concerned, there
was nothing to debate; Van Gogh had committed blasphemy and had to be punished.
The incident highlighted what would seem
to be an unbridgeable gulf between two
widely contrasting world views, the most
recent consequences of which was the massacre of Charlie Hebdo employees in Paris.
Millions of people took to the streets
in France to protest against the attacks,
which included the killing of four people
in a kosher supermarket. That was all well
and good, but curbing jihadi terrorism will
depend on what practical action is taken,
of attention these events had been accorded
not feel-good gestures.
in the international media.
Here, not only France but all democratic
Evidently, a dozen or so deaths in a
nations are confronted with what appears
Western white-majority country are more
to be an insoluble problem, which is: Can
newsworthy than the killing of thousands
democracy be defended without resorting
of black Africans. That we knew already, of
to methods that are fundamentally uncourse, as shown when hundreds of thoudemocratic?
sands of non-Muslims were dying in Sudan.
Faced with an enemy that recognises no
South Africa has hardly been unaffected,
law or boundaries, the West finds itself
as shown by the murders of Pierre Korkie
hamstrung by the multiple checks and baland of Pastor Werner Groenewald and his
ances that are necessary for maintaining a
two teenage children in Yemen and Affree society. It is a weakness that jihadists
ghanistan respectively. Like so many other
are exploiting to the hilt.
incidents (who remembers,
So frequent have terfor instance, the 60-plus
rorist atrocities become,
...the coldvictims of the Westgate
and so global, that it is
Mall, Kenya, attack in
becoming all but imposblooded murder
September 2013?), these
sible to keep up with them.
of innocents in
tragedies are now all but
No sooner has one outrage
the name of Islam
forgotten by the public.
been committed than
is not a ticket to
We ourselves are fortuanother occurs somewhere
Paradise but to an
nate that while there are
else. Thus, as people were
altogether different
strong pockets of extremist
getting to grips with the
sentiment in the Muslim
first terrorist attack on
place.
community, this has not for
Australian soil, the seizure
many years led to serious
of hostages in a Sidney deli
acts of violence against other South Afriby an Iranian immigrant and subsequent
cans. That anti-Israel hate groups threaten
death of two of them - news was received
to change that situation by inviting known
of 140 children murdered in a school in
terrorists to speak in this country, speaks
Pakistan.
volumes about their true motives.
Sometimes, incidents take place simulOne of the common responses to the
taneously, resulting in some being nojihadist threat that isn’t working, is that of
ticed and others not. Serious as the Paris
emphasising how moderate most Muslims
incidents were, they should have been
completely overshadowed by the concurrent are, and how the overwhelming majority
of them abhor the acts carried out in their
Boko Haram atrocities in Nigeria, where,
name by extremists every time a particularly
according to reports, over 2 000 people
appalling atrocity is committed by the latter.
were massacred. Quite rightly, Nigeria
Certainly, it is crucial to make this point,
complained bitterly about the relative lack
Reason says:
admire the
difference.
Instinct says:
cherish the
individual.
At Grant Thornton, we recruit people
with a passion for business, who
combine reason and instinct to give
the kind of advice that makes a real
difference to the organisations they
work with.
They know it’s about more than just
the numbers, it’s about enjoying
tough challenges, seeking out
opportunities and adding real value
to our clients by unlocking their
potential for growth.
News
Darren Sevitz to head up Hatzolah
Darren Sevitz (pictured) has been appointed Executive General Manager of
the Hatzolah Jewish Ambulance Service
as of February 1. Sevitz left the Union
of Orthodox Synagogues (UOS) in
December after serving as its executive
director for 14 years.
Hatzolah director Lance Abramson,
made the announcement at a breakfast
of Hatzolah staffers on Tuesday.
Sevitz told Jewish Report that Abramson had approached him in December.
He had a few preliminary discussions
with the Hatzolah board, they did some
e-mailing over the holidays and “signed
and sealed” everything last week.
Since the announcement, says Sevitz,
“I have had an outpouring of support.
People have been calling me and posting greetings and good wishes on social
media”.
• See full story on www.sajr.co.za
World News in Brief
South African Professional Services
Awards (SAPSA)
Grant Thornton awarded Best Accounting/
Auditing Firm of the year 2014
www.gt.co.za
2014 Grant Thornton South Africa. All rights reserved. Grant Thornton South Africa is a member firm of Grant Thornton
International Ltd (GTIL). GTIL and the member firms are not a worldwide partnership. Services are delivered by the
member firms. GTIl and its member firms are not agents of, and do not obligate, one another and are not liable for one
another’s acts or omissions. Please see www.gt.co.za for further details.
Jewish Report_SAPSA_award.indd 1
given the danger that innocent Muslims
might be targeted in random revenge attacks. Jews, for one, know only too well the
consequences can be once the pernicious
notion of collective guilt takes hold.
However, by continually qualifying any
condemnation of Islamic extremism with
careful assertions about the greatness of
Islamic civilisation and of how a few unrepresentative criminals should not be allowed
to besmirch its good name, is the so-called
“moderate majority” not, to some extent,
being let off the hook?
It remains undeniable that, however
unrepresentative they and their actions
may be of mainstream Islam, those committing murder and mayhem in its name are a
product of Muslim society as a whole.
Aberration it may be, but having produced this monster, is it not ultimately
up to Muslims themselves to deal with
it? Here, the broader religious leadership,
which, as regular assurances would have it,
is moderate and tolerant, have a decisive
role to play.
Jihadists believe that they are justified in
killing infidels, heretic and other enemies
of the “True Faith” and that they will
receive their reward in Paradise for doing
so. The message that mainstream imams,
educators and academics within the Muslim
world surely need to instil in their followers
- and from an early age - is that the coldblooded murder of innocents in the name
of Islam is not a ticket to Paradise but to an
altogether different place.
From what I can see, this is not happening, or at least, it is not happening nearly
enough.
2014/11/07 8:13 AM
ICC opens ‘war crimes’ inquiry at Palestinians’
request
THE HAGUE - The International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened a preliminary inquiry into possible Israeli
“war crimes” in the disputed territories following a request by the Palestinians.
According to ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda, the inquiry is not an investigation, but rather “a process of
examining the information available in order to reach a fully informed determination on whether there is a
reasonable basis to proceed with an investigation pursuant to the criteria established by the Rome Statute.”
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas recently signed the Rome Statute in order to join the
ICC after failing to get a UN Security Council resolution passed that called for Israel’s withdrawal from the
disputed territories.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said: “Hamas war criminals fired thousands of rockets at Israeli
citizens [during Operation Protective Edge]. Unfortunately, [this inquiry] renders [the ICC] part of the problem,
and not part of the solution.” (JNS.org)
More news on our website www.sajr.co.za
Classifieds
23 – 30 January 2015
What’s On
To book your classified notice or advert contact: Tel (011) 274-1400, Fax 086-634-7935,
email: [email protected]
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FOREIGN CITIZENSHIP
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Many South African Jews are
eligible for EU citizenship. If you
are interested, please contact
me. I specialise in obtaining
Lithuanian, Polish and German
citizenship. I am able to obtain the
required documents from archives
in Europe.
Rael Cynkin CA (SA)
[email protected]
083-346-4627
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(011) 640-5927
or
078-298-1531
All your old photos
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JEWISH REPORT
CLASSIFIEDS
To place your classified
advert here, call Susan
on (011) 430-1982
Today Friday (January 23)
SA JEWISH REPORT 15
Monday (January 26)
• UZLC hosts motivational speaker Judy Jaye on “Conflict is an Inevitable Part of Life”. Venue: Our Parents Home. Time: 12:45 – 14:00.
Contact: Gloria (011) 485-4851 or 072-127-9421.
Sunday (January 25)
• U JW hosts Stephen Sack, CEO of the Origins Centre at Wits, on
“Story of the Origins”. Venue: 1 Oak Street, Houghton. Time:
09:30. Cost: R35. Contact: (011) 648-1053.
Wednesday (January 28)
• RCHCC rescreens by public demand “The Jewish Cardinal”, based
on the true story of Jean-Marie Lustiger. Venue: Clive M Beck
Auditorium. Time: 19:30. Donation: R70 (incl refreshments).
Booking: Hazel or René (011) 728-8088/8378; after hours (011)
728-8378; e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected] or
www.greatpark.co.za
• Second Innings hosts Kate Turkington on “More Magical Journeys
With Kate”. Venue: Gerald Horwitz Lounge, Golden Acres. Time:
10:00 for 10:30. Cost: R20 members, visitors R30 (incl tea and
light refreshments). Contact: Hylton Marks: (011) 532-9616.
• U JW hosts Dr Lorraine Chaskalson, former lecturer in the Dept of
English at Wits, on “Contemporary Poetry”. Venue: 1 Oak Street,
Houghton. Time: 09:30. Cost: R35. Contact: (011) 648-1053.
• T emple Israel in PE hosts a “Bingo Evening” at 19:00. Cost: R60
(incl tea or coffee and cake). Information: Yolanda Yonah Blackman,
(041) 373-6642 (08:00 - 13:00).
Thursday (January 29)
• J H & GC and partners host a talk by Yiftach Ashkenazy (Yad
Vashem) on “Liberated But Not Free: 70 Years Since the Liberation
of Auschwitz”. Venue: Ditsong Museum of Military History, Saxonwold. Time: 19:30 (admission free). Contact: RSVP to shirley@
jhbholocaust.co.za or (011) 640-3100/2148.
Only on the web this week
BREAKING NEWS
Israel Awareness Week - all Israel supporters
can help students turn IAW on its head in
March. See what you can offer, wherever
you are in SA - or even overseas - all on our
website!
‘Blood Libel’ Hamas leader was keynote
speaker in Pretoria on Monday. He has made
some famously silly statements about Jews in
the past.
Leila Khaled - the stink around the visiting
terrorist to help BDS raise funds (at R500 a
ticket) just keeps growing. JR Online was the
first to break the story.
COMMUNITY NEWS
The SAZF’s national elective conference - all
the details of conference, speakers, bookings,
etc.
Israel Expo will blow you
away - with hundreds of
exhibitors and hundreds
of thousands in prizes
(car, air tickets, 5-star
holidays, etc) and much fun for the
kids.
Israeli consular services are coming to Cape
Town - read what the Embassy has planned.
CONTRIBUTORS
Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein: Jews are the
canary in the coal mine. “If France is not safe
for Jews, then the very future of Europe - and
indeed the civilised world - is in real danger…”
Bev Goldman’s back with her top Zionism
reads from around the globe.
See www.sajr.co.za - fresh content six days a
week, and all the user-chirps!
HOME SERVICES
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has a vacancy for a fulltime social worker.
The successful candidate requires skills in counselling, case management,
family services work, group work and community work.
Statutory work experience and supervisory experience would be an advantage.
It is an opportunity to contribute to a dynamic organisation,
and to work with a very committed and supportive team.
Registration with the SACSSP, knowledge of Jewish culture and religion,
and own transport, are essential requirements of this position.
Only short-listed applicants will be responded to.
Closing date January 30, 2015
Please submit applications in writing to: The Human Resources Department
email [email protected] • fax (011) 640-7069
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011 646 4657 | killarneymall.co.za | GPS: 26º09’57”S 28º03’11”E
Sport
Sport
16 SA
SA JEWISH
JEWISH REPORT
REPORT
16
523
– 12
December
2014
– 30
January 2015
Billie Jean
helps
Women’s
Benevolent
fundraiser
Isaac
Joffe,
tennis
player
of note and
mensch
JACK MILNER
JACK MILNER
One of the greatest tennis players of all time,
It is said that for some people the glass is
Billie Jean King, has donated memorabilia to
always half empty but for others, it is half
the Johannesburg Jewish Women’s Benevolent
full. When you meet someone like Isaac
Society to help them raise funds.
Joffe, you wonder whether the glass has
Marlene Bethlehem, herself a tennis player of
lost any water. Isaac turned 90 last month
note
has participated
international
and awho
brocha
was held at on
thethe
Greenside
Shul
platform,
used
her
contacts
to
ask
Billie Jean for
in his honour.
a signed
thatprior
theyto
could
e. MaccaI first racquet
met Isaac
theraffl
2005
“Billie-Jean
is wellofknown
for herteam
generosity
biah.
He was part
the tennis
which
and not only
did sheseniors
send us and
a racquet,
but also
contained
juniors,
masters.
a signed
edition
ofteam
her book
as well as
poster,”
That
year
the SA
chartered
anaSAA
said Marlene.
Jean and
was also
plane
to fly us“Billie
to Israel
I satinvolved
next to in a
concerttravelling
to raise funds
for an
Aids concert
with
Isaac,
in both
directions.
Those
Elton John.
two
flights
meposter
to getalong
to know
this
Both
haveenabled
signed the
with eight
interesting
man.
tennis players, including Grand Slam winners
When we arrived in Israel we all went
Andy Roddick, Steffi Graf, Martina Naratilova
off to our respective accommodation and
and Andre Agassi.
I heard the next day there had been a mix“We held a raffle and the winner was Rael
up into which hotels the tennis players
Berelowitz,” said Marlene.
were booked. While much of the tennis
Asplayed
the winner
lives in London,
the memorawas
in Jerusalem,
the older
crowd
bilia
were
handed
over
to
JJ
van
der
Linde
were slated to play in Tel Aviv. Isaac
andat
Capital,
thecountrymen
firm with which
Berelowitz
aGlobal
number
of his
arrived
at
is associated.
their
Jerusalem hotel only to discover they
Marlene,
of the in
organisation,
should
havepresident
been staying
Tel Aviv. and
her
vice-president,
Angel, have
donated
The
complaints Annette
were endless.
I heard
how
manyhad
years
their to
time
the Women’s
they
tooftravel
TeltoAviv
in the middle
Benevolent.
fact,
between
two ofthere
them
of
the nightIn
and
when
theythe
arrived
they have been active for 99 years. The organisathe
were old,
not having
ready. served
They were
forced
tionrooms
is 121 years
the Jewish
to
sleep
in
the
lobby
that
night
and
they
people of Johannesburg continuously.
could only get into their allocated rooms
Those who know Billie Jean cannot help but
the following day.
be affected by her determination and charm.
Isaac’s version of events was a lot differShe is outspoken and does not mince her
ent. “There was a bit of a mix-up, but they
words. In 2002 she was in South Africa for the
were quick to sort us out and everything
Nikefine.
Junior
Tourwasn’t
International
Masters
which
was
There
a problem.”
That
on
that
occasion
joined
forces
with
World
story epitomises Isaac Joffe.
TeamTennis,
by Billie
He went onthe
toorganisation
play in two owned
more Maccabi
Jean and
Ilana and
Kloss,
at Sun
City.
Games
(2009
2013)
and
won a bronze
Speaking
tomen’s
the youngsters
aged between
11
medal
in the
senior doubles
in 2009.
andhas
14, also
Billieplayed
Jean was
by howevents
many of
He
in amazed
senior tennis
theover
players
not know the names of some of
all
thedid
world.
the tennis greats from their respective countries. “If you don’t know where you come from,
Onknow
his 90th
how do you
where birthday,
you are going” she
Maccabi SA presented
asked them.
him
a special
Perhaps
mywith
favourite
quote from her best
puts Billie
Jean King into perspective. “A chamaward.
pion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of
winning.”
On December 17 last year, Maccabi SA
Vice-Chairman Desmond Hyman and
Sports Director Alain Nathan presented
Isaac with a special award on the occasion
Jewish Report’s website, www.sajr.co.za
of his 90th birthday, at his home in Victory
will be
throughout the holidays.
Park
in updated
Johannesburg.
The
print
edition
a break
for
“Isaac Joffe is a will
verytake
talented,
dedicated
four weeks over the holidays, but the
website will continue publishing
news throughout.
If you simply add your e-mail
address
on the right hand side
JACK
MILNER
of any page, you will receive
our weekly
newsletter
and ePaper
Who
was to blame
for Tokelo
Rantieon
pickWednesday
evenings.
It also
ing
up the ball
and deciding
to tells
take readers
the fatal
what’s popular
and
what’smatch
reported
at
penalty
in Bafana
Bafana’s
against
greaterin
length.
Thefirst
weekly
newsletters,
Algeria
Monday’s
round
match at the
sans the
will continue
be sent
Africa
CupePaper,
Of Nations?
It is cleartothere
was
outprescribed
throughout
the holidays.
no
penalty
taker, so did everybody
whoa are
and on
holiday
justUsers
breathe
sighatofleisure
relief when
Rantie
put away
from
his
hand
up.their busy everyday lives - spend
more
time
onSouth
the website
andleading
visit more
At the
time
Africa was
1-0
pages
during the
holidays.
Forhave
all of
and
a converted
penalty
would
allyou
but we
will run
to themissed
most popular
stories
sealed
it. links
But Rantie
spectacularly
and that
events
the year,
based wind
on what
and
gaveofAlgeria
a second
and our
they
readers
reading most.
went
on enjoyed
to win 3-1.
We will
beShakes
running
a regularfirst
series
This
was also
coach
Mashaba’s
deof articles
on how
toperhaps
get the his
bestlackadaisical
from the
feat
in 10 games,
but
JJ vanJoffe
der Linde
(centre) South
accepts
the Vice
Isaac
with Maccabi
Africa
Billie JeanDesmond
King memorabilia
from and
Jewish
Chairman
Hyman (right)
sports
Benevolent
Society
President Marlene
director
Alain
Nathan.
Bethlehem (left)
Vice-President
sportsman,
and and
to be
participatingAnnette
in the
Angel
on
behalf
of
winner
Rael
Maccabi Games at 88 years
oldBerelowitz.
is a truly
remarkable achievement,” said Maccabi SA
Chairman Cliff Garrun
at the function.
JR will be available throughout
holidays
“Isaac is a testament to sport and exercise
website
- and how
find things
prolonging and
increasing
yourtoquality
of
fast. Of course there is a
life.”
search
tab...
Isaac Joffe is truly
a mensch.
The most people on
the website in a single day:
12 241, 15 441 times: The
most read single story this
yearand
- average
read
time
over six
confident player
I’m sure
he’ll
be there
minutes.
It had
with his hand
up to take
the184
nextcomments
one.
over 15 000
“Listen,representing
these things happen.
We’re disapis completely
pointed words.
becauseSAJR.CO.ZA
that would have
put us 2-0
interactive
andgood
allows
users but
to comment
up,
into a very
position,
it wasn’t on
every
post.
to
be and
we have to keep our heads up. We
Over 100
unique
users
from 175
maintain
we 000
played
very well
tonight...
just
countries around
the world
(66 per
cent
disappointed
we didn’t
react when
they
got
fromfirst
SA, goal
followed
their
back.by Israel, US, Australia,
UK
and
Canada)
havethe
visited
overover
8 000
“We
played
against
top sides
the
content
itemsand
on we
thehave
website.
last
few years
to be Users
able tohave
comalso posted
thousands
of comments
and
pete;
one of the
things that
maybe changed
hundreds
blogs
on the
site.
the
game inoftheir
favour
was
when they
Overtothe
past 12 months users have
moved
a 4-4-2.
spent
1,5-millon
minutes
“Theyover
went
a little more
direct,on
upwww.sajr.
to the
co.za
pop inup
and
see why.
Sign
up something
for the
two
strikers
front.
I think
that’s
newsletter
and at
get
themaybe
real news,
first.a bit
we
have to look
and
deal with
Shakes must let Dean lead Bafana
For all your Kosher
needs this Shabbos
approach to the captain’s role could be part of better.”
On
Bafana’s next game is against Senegal and
the problem. Dean Furman, as expected,What’s
led
Dean
optimistic they can still pull off
the team, but perhaps if Mashaba took the
SUNDAY (DECEMBER remains
7)
a
win
and
progress
to the
stage.
captain’s
leadership
role
more
seriously
Dean
• JFilm at Bet Emanuel’s Slome Auditorium, shows the Israeli film, “Bethlehem”. Time: 18:00. Cost: R40 (incl
tea andquarter-finals
snacks).
“We
had
worked
hard
for
maximum
points,
could
have
been
in
a
position
to
make
that
Enquiries: (011) 646-6170.
so the next two games are very crucial for us.
decision.
• Majestic
Societyabout
and Radiothis
Todayside’s
present feelings
a matinee screening,
of atonews
documenting
to South
WeKlass,
have
liftreelour
heads “The
andFirst
goRoyal
forTour
a win
and
WhenFilm
asked
re- by Selwyn
Africa in 1947”, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of South Africa’s return
to theallCommonwealth.
Ditsong thing
Museum is
of Military
History
that’s
we need. Venue:
The good
that we
garding
Rantie’s penalty miss, the Doncaster
Auditorium, Saxonwold. Time: 14:30. Cost: R100. Bookings: (011) 486-3648 or [email protected]
played some outstanding football out there
Rovers midfielder said: “We won the pendid not
ourBay
chances,
alty,
TK
(Rantie)
picked
up
the
ball,
he’s
our
• Big Band Music Appreciation Society meets at St John’s College Auditorium,but
Houghton.
Harry convert
Fidler from Ballito
will presentsomething
a tribute to Glenn
we
will
have
to
rectify
before
next match.”
striker,
he
was
confident,
we
had
100
per
cent
Miller featuring previously unheard material and recordings. Time: 14:15 sharp. Enquiries: Marilyn, 072-243-7436 or Jack,our
082-450-7622.
The next two games are make or break for
confidence in him, he went for the top corner,
• Jaffa’sitmorning
market
takes
42 Mackie Street,
Baileys Muckleneuk
Pretoria.
be second-hand
clothing,
Bafana.
They have
to There
winwill
both
to remain
in
sadly
hit the
top
ofplace
thefrom
bar08:30
and- 12:00
wentataway.
tombola, a delicatessen, tea garden, books, personalised printing cards and much more.
the mix.
I’m sure if the next penalty arises, TK is a
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