February 13 2015 / 24 Shevet 5775 Volume 19 – Number 5 Jewish Report south african www.sajr.co.za Photo: Ilan Ossendryver Annabel Linder – You can’t keep a good entertainer down. Her new show opens Saturday night at Foxwood page 14 By the company you keep... Plane hijacker and terrorist Leila Khaled received a hero’s welcome when she arrived at Oliver Tambo Airport in Johannesburg last week Friday, as a fundraising speaker for BDS-SA. The ANC quickly took her to heart and Cabinet ministers and other dignitaries basked in the limelight with her. Pictured with Khaled (extreme left) is Winnie Ngwenya from the ANC Women’s League, with members of Umkhonto We Sizwe Military Veterans’ Association lending a “military flavour” to the occasion. Khaled has been féted as a Palestinian “struggle hero” by the ANC, with nary a word of her terrorist activities being mentioned. See story on page 4. India’s Jewish Community still going strong We are guardians of the flame of religion Netanyahu’s US speech exposes fault lines SA Student leadership on visit to Israel Golfers Richard and Warrick tee off The Jewish Community numbers just 5 000 out of a population of 1,2 billion. ‘Time and again in recent years we have been reminded that religion is a fire that warms and burns.’ Pres Obama says he will not meet with Netanyahu during his visit to congress. A group of student activists, in January, did a trip to Israel and a delegation of SA MPs is slated to follow suit. The pair have sought to create the best full-time golf school in Africa. 3 4 6 12 16 Your keY to success in Glenhazel, Highlands North, Waverley and Surrounds N1 LD i Ore beF Day D L W SO SHO 1St Day SO R2 500 000 OFFERS FROM R2 200 000 N D O ay SOL OWD H S 1St R1 700 000 For exceptional marketing, unparalleled service and positive results call Helen and Tammy Firzt! Helen rosin 083 325 6343 | [email protected] - tammy Wright 083 379 3484 | [email protected] 011 731 0300 www.firzt.co.za Community 2 SA JEWISH REPORT Photo: Ilan Ossendryver Symbiosis of the environment and Israel during Tu B’Shvat Amber Cummins, administrative director, Jewish National Fund of South Africa and Benji Shulman, JNF South Africa Deputy Director Local Projects, plant a tree during last Sunday’s Tu B’Shvat celebration at Huddle Park in Johannesburg. BENJI SHULMAN The Jewish National Fund of South Africa capped an energetic Tu B’Shvat celebration week with a family bike ride and fun day at Huddle Park on Sunday. Groups took advantage of the wonderful sunshine to walk, give dogs a fun run and dust off the mountain bikes. Afterwards many enjoyed the contents of the beer tent, then delicious food on offer and even the chance to sit with an anaconda! The previous seven days had been marked with members of the community helping to bring about a bit more of a “green” environment in different ways. In the Jewish primary schools the JNF worked with classes of children helping them to grow herbs in a specially-designed JNF cup. When the herbs are fully grown, they will be given away to those who are less fortunate. For the high schools, the same kind of cups were used to drink Fair Trade coffee from a roasting company. As well as learning about environmental advancements in Israel, the learners were able to literally taste first-hand how coffee can be grown in a more sustainable manner and how a simple act can make a big difference. For many years now the JNF has joined forces with Sean Hide from Grow-a-Tree who assisted at many schools doing tree plantings and learning about the environment. Sean has a dream to plant one million trees before he dies and with the JNF having planted 160 million trees in the last 114 years, it is certainly an excellent partnership. One special event he assisted with involved the wives of various ambassadors who came together to plant trees at the JNF Walter Sisulu Environmental Centre in Mamelodi near Pretoria. Ruth Lenk, wife of Israel’s Ambassador to South Africa Arthur Lenk, representing the State of Israel, explained the meaning of Tu B’Shvat, while the group got to experience first hand the good work that the JNF does for the youth of the area. Other countries represented at the event included Canada, Croatia, Seychelles, New Zealand, Trinidad, Fuji, Slovakia, Jordan, Georgia, Pakistan and Suriname. The group, led by Sean then planted a variety of indigenous trees that will be used in the future for the “Greening Mamelodi” programme, which will create a forest canopy for the area. Although this year is a shmita year in Israel where nothing is being planted by the JNF, in the Diaspora such enthusiastic initiatives help bring the message of the environment and Zionism to communities across the spectrum. More news on our website www.sajr.co.za 13 – 20 February 2015 Zayin Adar - honouring the Chevrah Kadisha RABBI JONATHAN FOX Thursday, the 7th of Adar (corresponding to February 26) marks the yahrtzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu. In communities throughout the world, the men and women of the Chevrah Kadisha commemorate Moshe’s yahrtzeit by fasting and repenting as they recognise the great responsibility that they have in dealing with the departed. It was Moshe himself who taught by example the importance of ensuring the honourable burial of the departed. When the Jewish people left Egypt, all of the Jews were busy gathering the riches from the Egyptians - except for Moshe, who was occupied with searching for the hidden coffin of Yosef in order to transport it to the Land of Israel for burial. Moshe sacrificed the opportunity for great wealth in order to ensure that Yosef would receive the burial he deserved. The people of the Chevrah Kadisha, many of whom are volunteers, follow the example of Moshe. With selflessness, they ensure that all the needs of the departed are taken care of. This includes collection of the body, arranging the funeral, washing of the body, purifying the body with water (taharah), dressing the body in shrouds and the burial itself. Immediately after the fast, the Chevrah Kadisha volunteers and workers are treated to a dinner, and are thanked by representatives of the community for their holy work. This coming together of the community and the Chevrah Kadisha symbolises our communal commemoration of the yahrtzeit of Moshe Rabbeinu. • If you would like to send a message of thanks to the people of the Chevrah Kadisha who are involved in the mitzvah of burial, please e-mail [email protected]. We will try to convey your message at the dinner. World News in Brief ‘We should put you all on freight wagons’ BRUSSELS - A Brussels high school teacher was summoned to appear before a local school board for telling a Jewish learner: “We should put you all on freight wagons.” The incident occurred at the Belgian capital’s Emile Jacqmain School and involved a 16-year-old female learner and her mathematics teacher, the La Derniere Heure magazine reported last week Friday. The teacher, who was not identified, was summoned to appear before the board following a complaint filed against him for inciting racism and anti-Semitic hatred. The learner, according to the report, told the teacher that “one does not joke about such subjects”. Tens of thousands of Belgian Jews, along with countless other Jews from across Europe, were transported by the Nazis to deaths in cattle and freight wagons. Moments earlier, the teacher reportedly told a pupil with a Polish-sounding last name to “go back to Poland” while imitating a German accent. Four days after the “freight wagons” incident, the teacher said publicly at school: “I did not mean to say it, and I apologised to anyone shocked by it.” But the pupil’s parents filed a complaint, which the school board processed promptly, earning praises from Joel Rubinfeld, president of the Belgian League Against Anti-Semitism, or LBCA. Rubinfeld told the RTL broadcaster that the school’s action was exemplary. “My feeling is that this teacher meant to say exactly what he said, and that this is yet another example of the anti-Semitism that is making life increasingly difficult for Belgian Jews here,” he told JTA on Monday. (JTA) Laws and laws Parshat Shekalim Mishpatim Rabbi Yossi Chaikin Oxford Synagogue We all learnt in school to avoid starting sentences with the word “and”. Yet this week’s Parsha begins with the words “Ve’ele Hamishpatim” - And these are the commandments that you shall set out before them. “Mishpatim”, as the portion is called, covers a wide range of financial laws. Topics include, just to name a few: fair treatment of slaves; laws of assault and kidnapping; negligence and theft; responsibility for another person’s possessions. In this case, however, the opening conjunction serves a very important role. It connects Jewish Report South African this Parsha with the previous one, Yitro, which we read last week. Yitro deals with the revelation at Sinai, the Giving of the Ten Commandments, which the entire Jewish nation heard directly from G-d. The word “and” links the two portions, Yitro and Mishpatim. Just as the Ten Commandments came directly from G-d, likewise all the laws we are about to read in this week’s portion also come from Sinai. The laws may seem to be rational. They may appear to come from the human mind. After all it is logical that a society must set up a system of rules, that govern the way people must act towards one another and that deal with those who hurt others in one way or another. The reason we observe the laws taught in Mishpatim, is not because they are logical, it is because they are Divine. In that way, the Torah’s laws are different from the laws established by countries around the world. Those are man-made and reflect the values of the place and of the time. The founding fathers of a nation sit down and draw up a constitution for their land. As time passes and circumstances change, so can the laws as long as the citizens of that country can agree on the new rules. A good illustration of this principle is our own country. A generation ago we lived under the apartheid regime. Two decades later, that same system, which was then accepted as the statute of the land, is considered abhorrent. A totally new constitution is now in place, giving equality to all, and in many cases granting special privilege to those who were previously disadvantaged. Man-made laws will change, because men will change. One of the foundations of our faith is that our Torah “lo tehe muchlefet”, cannot and will not change. Because it comes from Hashem, who does not change, its values will remain eternal. This applies not only to kashrut and Shabbat. It is also true of the civil and criminal laws. It applies even to the rules that govern neighbourly relations or damages caused by an ox who has gone on the rampage. Shabbat Shalom. Shabbat Times February 13 / 24 Shevat February 14 / 25 Shevat Parshat Shekalim Mishpatim 18:15 19:24 Johannesburg 18:18 20:15 Cape Town 18:15 19:11Durban 18:15 19:36Bloemfontein 18:15 19:47 Port Elizabeth 18:15 19:36 East London General Manager Karen Knowles - 082 855 2131 - [email protected] • Editor Vanessa Valkin - [email protected] • Sub-editor Paul Maree • Ed Co-ordinator Sharon Greenblatt - [email protected] • Advertising: Britt Landsman: 082-292-9520 - [email protected] • Classified sales: Susan Walunda: [email protected] • Distribution manager Britt Landsman • Design and layout: Bryan Maron/Design Bandits – [email protected] • Website: Anthony Katz • Subscription enquiries: Avusa Publishing (Pty) Ltd. Tel: 0860-13-2652. Board of Directors: Howard Feldman (Chairman), Bertie Lubner, Benjy Porter, Herby Rosenberg, Howard Sackstein. Advertisements and editorial copy from outside sources do not neccessarily reflect the views of the editors and staff. Tel: (011) 430-1980. 13 – 20 February 2015 Community SA JEWISH REPORT 3 India’s Jewish community: Not going down without a fight DAN BROTMAN India was always a country I wanted to visit, but I never seemed to find the right reason to go. This changed recently when I was able to participate on a first-ever trip to India for 15 Jewish young professionals from around the world, organised by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. The purpose of the trip was to spend a week learning about and engaging with the Indian Jewish community, which today numbers just 5 000 out of a country of 1,2 billion people. The Indian Jewish community was at its largest (about 30 000 members) around the time that India received independence and the State of Israel was founded. The vast majority of the community emigrated to Israel, North America, the UK and Australia over the next two decades. The Malabari were the first Jews to settle in India over 2 000 years ago and are descended from the seven families who arrived in Kerala following the destruction of the First Temple. The next Jews to arrive were the Pardesi, who were refugees fleeing the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal. The Bene Israel, who are the majority of the community, arrived 900 years ago, but lost most of their Jewish traditions and assimilated into Indian life, remembering only the Shema Israel prayer and basic kashrut. They were brought back to traditional Judaism in the 1700s after coming into contact with Cochin’s established Jewish community, and were fully recognised as Jews by the Israeli Rabbinate in 1964. The final Jews to arrive were the Baghdadis, who migrated from Iraq in the 1800s for commercial reasons. The illustrious and fabulously wealthy David Sassoon and his descendants belong to this last group of migrants, and the Sassoon dynasty has left an indelible mark on Mumbai’s cultural and historic landmarks. On Friday night our group attended services at Mumbai’s Knesset Eliyahoo Synagogue, which was built in 1885 by David Sassoon’s son, Jacob Elias. The synagogue was built during the height of the British Raj, and it was easy for me to conjure up an image of wealthy Baghdadi traders dressed in linen suits filling its pews at the turn of the 20th century. The 30 of us praying in its sanctuary, consisted of elderly local Jews, imported Chabad rabbis and a sprinkle of Western tourists. Services were followed by Shabbat dinner at the Chabad House, which today resembles a fortress following the 2008 terrorist attack that killed its rabbi and rebbetzen. In addition to post-army Israeli backpackers and Western tourists, at dinner were a number of Indian-born Jews living abroad on a roots trip with their children and grandchildren. While the Indian Jewish community is in decline due to emigration and diminishing demographics, I left sensing that despite all the odds against them, this small community will not go down without a fight. I was very impressed with the “cradle to grave” services the community offers, similar to our own, ranging from Jewish schools (albeit with few Jewish students), meals on wheels, aged homes and youth group activities. We spent our final day of the trip at Bayiti, Mumbai’s only Jewish aged home. The major- Visiting a local Jewish family in Mumbai. ity of the residents either have no children to care for them, were tragically duped out of their savings (sometimes by relatives) and were thus unable to look after themselves, or have children who emigrated and who do not provide for their parents. Prior to the establishment of Bayiti, some of its elderly Jewish residents were homeless or sleeping under stairwells. Our visit to Bayiti coincided with Republic Day, a national holiday commemorating when India’s constitution came into force. We celebrated this national holiday with Bayiti’s residents by singing our respective national anthems. Following renditions of Jana Gana Mana, The Star-Spangled Banner and God Save the Queen, as the only “South African” member of the delegation (I am a US citizen), I volunteered to sing a solo rendition of Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika. As I did, I could not help but feel sad that such an ancient Jewish community is doing everything in its power to carry on, but realistically may no longer exist in my lifetime. Dan Brotman is the Executive Director of the South Africa-Israel Forum and is based in Johannesburg. For more on JDC Entwine, visit www. jdcentwine.org. Community 4 SA JEWISH REPORT 13 – 20 February 2015 The fire of religion warms and burns TALI FEINBERG “Time and again in recent years we have been reminded that religion is not what the European Enlightenment thought it would become mute, marginal and mild. No, religion is a fire and like a fire it warms and also burns. And we are guardians of the flame.” These were the words of Mickey Glass, founding member of the Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum and former executive director of the United Orthodox Synagogues Cape Council, who was speaking at a panel discussion hosted by the Cape SA Jewish Board of Deputies during UN World Interfaith Harmony Week. This was the third year in a row that the Cape Board has created a function to encourage dialogue and create connections in South African society, and thus panelists were asked to address the topic. “The challenges of interfaith in a world of hate: Can we do more to promote ubuntu?” In the face of overwhelming challenges, “we do not have to redeem the world in one go”, continued Glass. “We do it one day at a time, one person at a time, one act at a time. A single life, our sages teach us is like a universe. “Change a life and you change the world. We call it tikkun olam, mending the world. After all, the Jewish prophets introduced mankind to the whole concept of human rights.” Mickey Glass (former director, UOS Synagogues; Catholic Archbishop Stephen Brislin of Cape Town; Berry Gargan (United Religious Initiative, SA); Muhittin Camlibel (Turquoise Harmony Institute); Rev Gordon Oliver (chairman, Cape Town Interfaith Initiative); Gwynne Robins and Lester Hoffman, (both Cape SA Jewish Board of Deputies). Catholic Archbishop of Cape Town Stephen Brislin agreed that much of the conflict worldwide was fuelled by faith, and he put forward three reasons why he thought this was so: fear, secularism and an unwillingness to speak out against injustice. He said that all of these bred a culture of mistrust and “othering”; for example, a rise of secularism led to the satirising of religion, which in turn has led to an unjustified backlash, as in the case of the Charlie Hebdo attack. He said it was crucial that religious communities “denounce extremists who breach the values of our faith”, and also emphasised that they must be courageous enough to critique government if needed - “a prophet or priest does not try to be king - our role is to guide those in power”, he said. Berry Gargan of the United Religions Initiative emphasised that faith communities needed to be creative in order to build bridges in today’s world. Her organisation brings people from different faith groups together to tackle a problem in their community. “People of faith often share a space, Hijacker Khaled feted by ANC on SA visit Considering a change? OWN CORRESPONDENT Join a dynamic sales team We are looking for dynamic and determined, self-starter sales people who are ready for a challenge. This is a full-time sales position, so you would need your own transport, do some cold-calling and work a full day. T: 011 430-1980 whether it is a home or city, and we need to start with what we have in common,” she said. Adding to Glass’ idea of religion as a flame, she said that she saw these ”co-operation circles” as “points of light, coming together and igniting more points of light in a dark world”. Muhittin Camlibel, regional director of the Turquoise Harmony Institute, described the complexities of working in faith communities in places like Turkey, where the society is both very religious and very secular. He commended the excellent inter- faith work in Cape Town, a feat not always repeated in other parts of the country. Emphasising that “dialogue is the goal”, he encouraged simple gestures, like people eating a meal together. Reverend Gordon Oliver, chairman of the Cape Town Interfaith Initiative, shared the words of the late John Oliver, who said the question should not be “am I my brother’s keeper?” but rather “am I my brother?” He discussed a version of interfaith that echoes the values of ubuntu, which is the idea of ”I am who I am because of you” and where “interfaith can be a new spiritual path in an anxious, insecure world on a threatened planet”. Quoting former UK Chief Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, he emphasised that the value we should uphold is the “dignity of difference”. The audience included members of the Ahmadi, Anglican, Baha’i, Brahma Kumaris, Catholic, Dutch Reformed Church, Jewish, Quaker, Shiite, Spiritualist, Sunni and the Turkish Muslim and Unitarian faith communities. Interfaith organisations present included the Western Cape Religious Leaders Forum, Cape Town Interfaith Initiative, United Religions Initiative, Hizmet (”Service”) Movement of Fethullah Gülen, the Korean Heavenly Culture, World Peace Restoration of Light and its International Women’s Peace Group and International Peace Youth Group. If you fit the above criteria, then e-mail your resumé to [email protected] and let’s get talking. Jewish Report south african Convicted plane hijacker and unrepentant terrorist Leila Khaled, “revered guest of honour of SA Cabinet ministers” and BDS-SA, has received red carpet treatment during her fundraising whistle-stop tour of the country. She will be in South Africa until this coming Monday. Khaled arrived at OR Tambo last Friday to a hero’s welcome, with ANC dignitaries - including ministers - prominent. Even Ronnie Kasrils vied for some of the action. With all eyes this week on President Jacob Zuma’s State of the Nation address, Khaled received a special invitation to the event. BDS-SA said in a media release: “The Palestinian freedom fighter and icon, Leila Khaled, will be attending the upcoming State of the Nation Address (Sona) delivered by President Jacob Zuma as a guest of the Presiding Officers.” It added: “Leila Khaled’s presence at Sona should be seen as a clear sign that South Africa is a friend of Palestine and that no pro-Israeli lobby or interest group can change this fact.” To recapture Khaled’s “glory” of her 60s firebrand years, is the BDS-SA invitation to announce her visit, showing a young Khaled defiantly brandishing an AK-47. But Khaled - now in her 70s - is so much “yesterday’s terrorist”, say some observers; what she has to offer to the complex Mideast problem, is anybody’s guess. The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) who have been vocal in its rejection of Khaled’s visit, have organised a demonstration against it on Friday February 13, at 6 Spin Street, Cape Town CBD at 08:30. Permission has been granted for 100 protesters. In a media release, Mary Kluk, chairman of the SAJBD, refuted claims that the BDS is “non-violent” and that Khaled and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) “are peace loving”. “We reject BDS’ attempts to import terrorism to South Africa; we reject BDS’ attempts to glorify terrorism, especially now, when global terrorism poses the greatest threat to freedom and peace the world over; we reject BDS’ attempts to glorify violence (best expressed by their use of Khaled lovingly wielding an AK-47 as their poster picture); following on from that, we reject the BDS claim that they stand for non-violence. Rather, we believe that by hosting Khaled (over and above many other possible spokespeople who believe in negotiations and peaceful co-existence between Israelis and Palestinians), BDS is sending a clear message to our country of what they stand for.” The SAJBD in its release explained that “the PFLP is a proscribed (banned) terror organisation in the US, the EU and Canada. It has been responsible for decades of terror activities.” Khaled was refused entry to the UK for her terrorist activities. She has repeatedly said that she rejects negotiations and prefers violence. In 1972 in 972 magazine, she wrote: “Resistance doesn’t only happen through violence but violence is the mainstream.” In a newspaper interview in Johannesburg last week she said: “I am in the politburo of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), responsible for refugees and the right of return, and this means I have to work on spreading and promoting the culture of the right of return. “Ask any Palestinian: ‘What’s your dream?’ And they will say: ‘To go back’,” says Khaled who herself lives in Jordan. She decried the lack of official support from Arab regimes for an independent Palestine. “They just don’t say it verbally, but practically, it’s only the masses who support the freedom of Palestinians.” Khaled, who confirmed that she was still a Marxist, said the PLO, which is part of the PFLP, “calls for achieving the rights of Palestinans even by armed struggle”. BDS-SA this week in a media release said Khaled “has had a wonderful South African trip thus far, with huge support from the liberation movement and ruling party, the ANC as well as from the thousands of supporters across the country... “South African leaders have not succumbed to pro-Israeli groups that have tried to influence leaders into rejecting comrade Leila Khaled.” j report quarter pg ad.ai 13 – 20 February 2015 Community SA JEWISH REPORT 5 Community Voices Darren Bergman, DA MP: “In our current climate of moral degeneration it is important that we speak out against corruption and we fight the values that allow for an acceptance of corruption. “Our country has leaders who openly embrace known global terrorists but then condemn Boko Haram. We find high-profile officials guilty of corruption but then see the images of celebration and support when walking into prison and then out of prison on pardons. This culture translates into everyday life and then has no meaning when politicians try and claw back on value degeneration. Marcelle Ravid, DA city councillor: “Jackie Selebi turned out to be a really rotten tomato. The Chief Rabbi must have felt deeply betrayed by the promises made by President Thabo Mbeki at the time and, seeing we still have a free press, by all means, let the Chief stand up for what he believes.” Steven Kruger, DA city councillor: “I agree with the Chief Rabbi. We need moral leadership and he has a right to comment when there are any contraventions of the law. Jewish Report south african 19 – 26 February Thursday 19 Feb, 7:45pm Leaders need to be held to the highest standards, displaying ethics and morality, otherwise how can we expect ordinary citizens to do so when there is corruption?” C M Y CM Victor Gordon, immediate past chairman of the Pretoria Council of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies: “I unequivocally agree and support the Chief Rabbi in what he says. He has my unqualified admiration, being the only leader with the courage and moral fortitude to say what so obviously should have been said by other leaders as well.” MY CY CMY K Joy Coplan, ANC PR councillor for Ward 90. “I trust Rabbi Goldstein’s judgment, but in talking to Comrades who were contemporaries of Selebi in the liberation struggle and who were with him in Lusaka in 1967, I have learnt that they had great regard and respect for him as a leader, and in their view, he made an enormous contribution to end the apartheid regime.” February 10, 2006 What made the news Kiev synagogue attacked in act of anti-Semitism KIEV - With Ukraine at present riven by civil war, seemingly instigated by Russia’s territorial ambitions, it is interesting to look at a news item which appeared in Jewish Report some nine years ago: Jewish leaders in Ukraine have blamed Ukrainian authorities, law enforcement and societal attitudes for an attempted attack on Kiev’s central synagogue last Friday night. A man stormed into a Kiev synagogue and disturbed the Sabbath service by shouting antiSemitic threats. The incident took place when the Central Brodsky Synagogue in downtown Kiev was full of worshippers. The man, whom police later identified as Georgy Dobryansky, 53, burst into the synagogue and demanded he be brought to a rabbi. The guard stopped him at the entrance. 7:57 PM LEARNING LAUNCH 2015 Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein recently came out strongly - both in an article in The Star and other Independent newspapers and in an e-mail - against convicted former Police Commissioner Jackie Selebi being elevated to hero status by the ANC, after his death. Rabbi Goldstein contended that Selebi had betrayed our democracy and that he didn’t deserve acclaim. The SA Jewish Report asked several leaders in the community the following questions: “Do you agree with Rabbi Goldstein’s stance?” And: “Should he have commented on the issue at all?” “I support Rabbi Goldstein and his fight against corruption and standing up against wrong. There is always a measure that one must take in accommodating how much risk one takes in terms of how much benefit one can derive from such a letter or statement. Knowing that Selebi had a productive past in the Struggle can be celebrated by the ANC, but erasing a huge pimple and trying to hide it can have ripple effects in future fights against corruption.” 2015/02/02 CAJE ANNUAL Chief Rabbi’s Selebi article Michael Bagraim, DA MP: “It is the Chief Rabbi’s right to comment. In fact, we expect him to have his say as the voice and the morality of the Jewish community. “We praise Rabbi Goldstein for what he did. I think we, as fully-fledged members of our democracy, need to be more vocal when we see wrongdoings such as this.” 4 The attacker shouted that he came to desecrate the synagogue and that he hated Jews and wanted to act on their holy day of the week. Some witnesses reported that a large knife was found on the floor near the entrance. The man is now in police custody. Jewish leaders said authorities had not responded properly to previous anti-Semitic and hate incidents. “We won’t be silent,” Eduard Dolinsky, executive director of the United Jewish Community in Ukraine, said minutes after the attack. “The lack of fight against xenophobia and anti-Semitism, in particular against MAUP propaganda, has resulted in what we had today,” he told JTA, referring to a Kiev-based university, the Interregional Academy of Personnel Management, or MAUP, whose leadership has a long history of anti-Semitism. (JTA IS IT ‘LIGHTS OUT’ FOR SA?! Darkness and Doom, or a Brighter Destiny? A Symposium on the Future of South Africa Featuring Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein, David Shapiro, Sasfin, Market Commentator Howard Sackstein, Entrepreneur & Political Activist Moderator: Rabbi Yossy Goldman Sydenham Community Centre, Seeff Hall, 24 Main Street, Rouxville | Info/ Bookings 011 640 5021 | R50 each APRIl – JUNE SPECIAL Book between 12 February and 12 March 2015 Johannesburg / Tel-Aviv / Johannesburg From ZAR 8150 (INCLUDES fuel surcharge AND airport taxes) Subject to change due rate of exchange Economy Class Valid for departures 18 April – 18 June 2015 SUBJECT TO AVAILABILITY Airfare subject to change and/or withdrawal without prior notice Terms & conditions apply E & OE WE NEED YOUR DONATIONS TO HELP US CONTINUE PROVIDING YOUR COMMUNITY PAPER Banking details: SA Jewish Report, | Nedbank, Randburg | Account No: 1984514865 | Branch Code: 198405 | Swift Code: NEDSZAJJ1984514865 For more information contact your travel agent or ELAL direct on (011) 620-2525 or visit our website at www.elal.co.il Join us on Opinion and Analysis Jewish Report south african Living in dark times South Africa’s current energy crisis looms large over all of us. As I write this editorial, I have been interrupted by Stage II load shedding twice, and Jewish Report’s staff are plagued by the anxiety of not having the paper print ready before threatened power cuts. These are a miniscule tear in the giant crack of chaos this electricity crisis is causing and we have no idea how long it will continue. electricity grids. Also, the government says it is securing the national grid by buying an additional 1 000 megawatts from private power producers which will come on stream within 18 months, yet last week the ANC decided to scrap the Independent System Market Operator Bill which would have symbolised the beginnings of really breaking Eskom’s monopoly. Reasons for the crisis Eskom blames the current load shedding on failures at three of its generators which, says Eskom CEO Tshediso Matona, “is a result of running our plant hard and delaying critical maintenance in our past efforts to keep the lights on…” President Jacob Zuma and other government representatives attribute the underlying problem to the legacy of apartheid - our infrastructure was never geared to supply power to such a vast population. Over the last 20 years electricity has been provided to 5,8 mil households, reducing the number of households without electricity from 50 per cent in 1994 to a current 14 per cent. Critics of government policy, particularly within the DA, say apartheid cannot be government’s main excuse. Reforms that were called for in the 1998 energy white paper, when warning signs of an ailing power system were already evident, should have been implemented. The white paper had called for breaking Eskom’s monopoly which would have allowed thousands of watts of independent energy to come onto the national electricity grid. For a period, from 2001, government prohibited Eskom from building new generators, to allow independent power generation companies to compete. But conditions were not attractive enough (a difficult regulatory environment and power prices that were too low) for independent producers to enter the market, and so there were years where neither Eskom nor the private sector built the needed generating capacity. Other issues Electricity aside, other resource crises are lurking in the shadows. We urgently need better waste management practices as we reach a point where are our landfill sites are at capacity. Our water supplies are under threat, with 37 per cent of our drinkable water being wasted through leakages. A 2014 government report states that an estimated R293bn needs to be spent over the next five years on water management and infrastructure to avoid a major shortage. This is 100 times more than the R2,9bn budgeted. South Africans use 235 litres of water a day on average, compared to the international average of 173 litres, pushing the country into a water crisis that will, within a decade, rival the electricity catastrophe, according to a report by the Institute of Security Studies. Government’s fix Government, led by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, is now involved in trying to manage the current crisis and the group is confident its solutions will bring relief. The plan is to utilise diesel-powered open cycle gas turbines to bridge the gap between supply and demand, and work has begun to reduce maintenance backlogs. But there are problems with these solutions: the diesel turbines are costly to operate; and there is an estimated R40bn maintenance backlog in the municipal Our role In Judaism, the halachah prohibits wasteful consumption. When we waste resources we are violating the mitzvah of Bal Tashchit (“Do not destroy”) based on Deuteronomy 20:19-20. There is also a midrash Kohelet Rabbah, 1 on Ecclesiastes 7:13. “When G-d created the first human beings, G-d led them around the Garden of Eden and said: ‘Look at my works! See how beautiful they are - how excellent! For your sake I created them all. See to it that you do not spoil and destroy My world; for if you do, there will be no one else to repair it’.” As South Africans, we tend to focus on Third World, immediate problems but preserving our environment and energy resources is fast becoming as urgent. The SA Jewish community needs to leads by example, as we do in other areas of civic responsibility. Let’s further educate both ourselves and our youth, who are tomorrow’s leaders, about protecting the environment. Let’s switch off the lights when we leave a room, conserve energy in our businesses, recycle, have quicker showers… these tiny drops in the ocean may have a momentum all its own… – Vanessa Valkin, Editor 13– 20 February 2015 Photo: Abir Sultan-Pool/Getty Images 6 SA JEWISH REPORT Some Democrats are worried that the tensions surrounding Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s speech to Congress could affect Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election. Netanyahu and Clinton appear here in a file photo. Netanyahu’s US speech exposes partisan fault lines on Israel RON KAMPEAS WASHINGTON The controversy over whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s should speak to Congress next month is worrying pro-Israel Democrats about its possible impact on the 2016 elections. Even more worrisome, some Democrats say, are the voter trends underpinning the current tensions. The invitation to Netanyahu made by John Boehner, the Republican House Speaker, without consulting Democrats or the White House, and its fallout, have exposed partisan fault lines on Israel. President Barack Obama says he will not meet with Netanyahu during the visit and some top Democrats are saying they will not attend the speech. But shrinking attention spans mean bad feelings over the speech will be ancient history by 2016, despite GOP promises to keep it alive, said Ann Lewis, the senior adviser to Hillary Clinton’s 2008 presidential campaign on Jewish and women’s issues. “I do not think this is a long-lasting one,” said Lewis, who is widely expected to advise the former secretary of state, US senator from New York and first lady, in a 2016 presidential run. Of greater concern to Lewis, she said, was the increasing number of “don’t knows” in surveys of younger Democrats that include questions about support for Israel. “As I’ve looked at those numbers, I see support among Republicans has gone up, support among Democrats has stayed the same, with a higher number in the ‘don’t know’ column. That says to me we’ve got a lot more work to do.” Obama cited the dangers of a partisan divide on Israel when he was asked on Monday at a news conference about the speech. “This isn’t a relationship founded on affinity between the Labour Party and the Democratic Party or the Likud and the Republican Party,” he said. “This is the US-Israeli relationship that extends beyond parties and has to do with that unbreakable bond we feel and our commitment to Israel’s security. The way to preserve that is to make sure that it doesn’t get clouded with what could be perceived as partisan politics.” The bad feelings are becoming somewhat of a partisan matter, with Democratic leaders in Congress saying the speech was a bad idea. Some top Democrats, including Vice President Joe Biden, Senator Patrick Leahy (Democrat Vermont), the top Democrat on the Judiciary Committee, and Representative James Clyburne (Democrat South Carolina), the third-ranked Democrat in the House, as well as prominent members of the Congressional Black and Hispanic Caucuses, are vowing not attend. At the same time, Republicans are gearing up to count heads at the speech and campaign against Democrats who don’t show. “If these Democrats would rather put partisan politics ahead of principle and walk out on the prime minister of Israel, then we have an obligation to make that known,” Matt Brooks, who directs the Republican Jewish Coalition, told Politico last week. Boehner invited Netanyahu to address Congress - a reprisal, in part, for Obama’s support for nuclear talks with Iran - without consulting the White House, a breach of protocol, or Democrats, a departure from tradition. Tamara Coffman Wittes, director of the Centre of Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, said support for Israel was increasingly contingent on worldviews that divided along party lines. “You do see an increasing partisan gap on that issue that’s rooted in populations in the United States, those that tend to vote more heavily Republican evangelicals - and those that tend to vote more heavily Democrat - blacks and Hispanics,” said Wittes, who was deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern affairs in Obama’s first term. The evangelical community tends to take a more hawkish approach to Israel policy. Meanwhile, said Wittes, citing Brookings polls, “blacks and Hispanics, who are an increasingly important base for the Democratic Party, tend to look at the Israeli-Palestinian conflict more through a human rights lens and that tends to make them more interested in seeing the United States look for a compromise.” But she noted that it would take “some time” for the trends to manifest into electoral politics. Representative Steve Cohen (Democrat Tennessee), a Jewish congressman from a Memphis district that is majority black, said the adversarial and partisan cast of the speech to Congress obscured its message and stoked feelings that the Israeli prime minister and majority leaders in Congress had disrespected Obama. Mara Rudman, who had served as a senior national security official in the Clinton and Obama administrations, argued that support for Israel should be defined more broadly than support for Netanyahu’s specific agenda. “This is a question of one individual’s bad judgement call,” said Rudman, who is now a consultant. “This day, this moment will pass.” David Makovsky, who until late last year worked at the State Department on Israeli-Palestinian peace talks, said he was concerned that the fallout from Netanyahu’s speech could reverberate well into the future, in part because it could reinforce trends showing tapering support for Israel among Democrats. In Makovsky’s view, Netanyahu by agreeing to speak to Congress is undermining the urgency of his case against the emerging deal between Iran and the nuclear powers. “If you think it’s an existential threat, you should do it in a context that is not politicising it,” he said. Meanwhile, Lewis refused comment on how any GOP attacks citing the speech might play in 2016. But another Democratic operative with ties in the Jewish community said Jewish voters would be able to handily distinguish Hillary Clinton from Obama. “She has to find ways to distance herself from the Obama administration of which she was a huge part” because of Obama-Netanyahu tensions that proIsrael groups blame on both leaders, said the operative, who spoke on condition of not being identified because Clinton has yet to declare her intention to seek the presidency. (JTA) More news on our website www.sajr.co.za Opinion and News 13 – 20 February 2015 SA JEWISH REPORT 7 On jihadists and smartphones Read the South African Jewish TAKING ISSUE Geoff Sifrin Whatever one’s take is on the diplomatic catastrophe Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu caused by proposing to address the US Congress next month on the Iran nuclear issue without bringing US President Barack Obama into the loop, the importance of Netanyahu’s topic is enormous. That is, the need for a firmer Western hand against Iran and by implication the terrorism infecting the world today - much of it funded by Iran. Unfortunately, Netanyahu upsetting US-Israeli relations fudges the Iranian and terrorist question in political fog rather than clarifying it. People in the West need a serious wakeup call. Many are so infatuated today with their smartphones, social media, games and techno-gadgets, that they just won’t face the extent to which forces of plain evil are gaining ground, particularly in the Middle East, with tentacles embracing the whole world. If this continues, no-one will get away free. Try to make sense of the fact that in this digital era, with its amazing human advances and connectivity of people from every corner of the planet, there are jihadists chopping off journalists’ and others’ heads, burning them alive and proudly broadcasting videos of their atrocities to the whole world - and fighting to impose their fanatical worldview on everyone. The digital age lets us imagine we control a lot. We’re “empowered”. Buy Microsoft Word for your computer and you are instantly a “writer”. Establish a blog and you are a “political commentator”. Take a video clip of something that happens in your town and you are a “journalist”. But it’s an illusion. We are seduced by a virtual world divorced from the real one. We must heed the message of the real professionals in the field taking the risks entailed by being there, such as the brave journalists who go right into the eye of the storm - the areas controlled by the terrorist group ISIS to bring news of the actual barbarities going on. Many journalists have been captured and executed. This week two of them, murdered newsmen James Foley and Steven Sotloff, were posthumously honoured with an award in memory of Jewish journalist Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal reporter abducted and beheaded in Pakistan in 2002 while following a story about international terrorism. The Anti Defamation League’s Daniel Pearl Award was presented to Foley’s mother and Sotloff’s parents in Palm Beach, Florida last Friday. Foley was killed in Syria in August 2014 by ISIS after being held hostage for nearly two years. He was captured while reporting near the Turkish border. He had worked in northern Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya. Sotloff was kidnapped by ISIS in August 2013 while working in Syria. In a desperate attempt to save him, his friends and family tried to remove references on the Internet to the fact that he was Jewish and had studied in Israel and held dual US-Israel citizenship. Japanese journalist Kenji Goto was another. He was beheaded by ISIS last week. In Tokyo, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper ran an extra on the saga, and a Facebook page set up immediately after the first ISIS video of him was released last month, drew tens of thousands of “likes”. Photo postings showed people, not only from Japan but worldwide, holding up handwritten signs saying: “I am Kenji.” It echoed the reaction in France early last month when the French people declared en masse “I am Charlie”, after cartoonists of the Charlie Hebdo satirical journal were gunned down by jihadists in Paris for depicting the Prophet Muhammad. But mouthing these slogans is not enough. People in the West still confront each new ISIS video with dangerous denialism, as if it doesn’t really concern them personally. Many Western media still refuse to use the word “terrorist” for the jihadists, instead calling them by the neutral term “militant”. Netanyahu may have embarrassed Israel and caused diplomatic damage with his arrogance - for which he should pay a political price at the upcoming Israeli elections. But the saga might at least serve some useful purpose if people will look up from their smartphones and realise that the West has to stand up to the jihadist madness permeating the world. Otherwise, all our technological advances will mean nothing. Geoff Sifrin is former editor of the SAJR. He writes this column in his personal capacity. Historian Martin Gilbert dies at age 78 LONDON - British-Jewish historian Martin Gilbert, the official biographer of United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill, has died from cancer at 78. Gilbert wrote more than 80 books during a career spanning several decades, with most focused on the life of Churchill as well as dozens of others on the Holocaust, Jewish history, and the Arab-Israeli conflict. Some of his most recent works included “In Ishmael’s House: A History of the Jews in Muslim Lands”, “Churchill and the Jews”, and “The Story of Israel: From Theodor Herzl to the Roadmap for Peace”. In 1995, Gilbert was awarded a knighthood for his “services to British history and international relations.” In a tweet, Britain’s Holocaust Education Trust said: “Very sad to hear of the passing of Sir Martin Gilbert, leading Holocaust historian and our great friend. Our thoughts are with his family.” (JNS.org) Design Bandits Report online www.sajr.co.za An exciting position exists for a dynamic, hardworking and enthusiastic individual in the role of: Executive Director Beit Mordechai Campus Kollel on the Yeshiva College campus Competencies must include: •P assion for Torah education •E xcellent communication skills • Initiative •S ound administration and project management skills Interested applicants are to please send their CVs to: [email protected] The Israelitische Gemeinde Basel IGB is a traditional Ashkenazi, diverse Jewish Community (Einheitsgemeinde) with a very active communal life, existing since 1805. The IGB is lead in a modern orthodox way while respecting and appreciating every Jew irrespective of their level of Jewish observance. Since our highly esteemed Rabbi Y. Nisenholz will be returning to Israel with his family we are seeking a Communal Rabbi / Gemeinderabbiner You provide the following qualifications: • Orthodox semicha Yoreh Yoreh • In-depth Jewish knowledge and general academic education • Professional experience • Excellent pedagogic, didactic and rhetoric faculties • Knowledge of German or willingness to learn this language Your Profile: • You are a modern, open-minded and outgoing personality with an interest in contemporary issues • You are willing to lead our “Einheitsgemeinde” true to Halachah and to Jewish tradition in a contemporary manner • You are willing and capable of cultivating contacts with persons of all Jewish backgrounds and will reach out to engaged and unengaged members of our community • You have the ability to provide pastoral counselling and spiritual guidance This is a full time position with a competitive salary and an excellent benefit package. Interested applicants should please send • A cover letter outlining their motivation and relevant experience. • A resume or CV, documentation of the semicha, a recent publication or article, credentials, relevant diplomas and a recent picture to the president of the Rabbinical search committee Dr. Ronald Fried ([email protected]). Your application shall be treated with absolute confidentiality. Special ra tes for SAJR rea ders Specialist designers and layout artists of... Business Cards | Magazines | Brochures | Adverts | T-shirts | Flyers | Websites Billboards | Logos | Ezines | Bookmarks | Posters | Invitations | Emailers Since 1995 T: 083 460 3633 E: [email protected] W: www.designbandits.co.za HEALTH & BEAUTY FEATURE 8 SA JEWISH REPORT 13– 20 February 2015 Compiled by Shereen Miller Health & Beauty Feature Tim Noakes’s fat diet: truth or fiction Prof Tim Noakes of the Sports Science Institute in Cape Town believes that the overconsumption of refined carbohydrates could be toxic for the body and suggests a new highprotein, low-carbs approach is best. “Everything we have been taught about nutrition is wrong,” Noakes maintains. He says we should be loading on protein and fat and NOT carbohydrates. Eating to lose weight and staying healthy has become much more complex than eating fruit and vegetables and drinking water. Nutritional advice is now being dished out from all directions that first tell us one thing and then another! His new found theory states that not only athletes but the general public would benefit more from low-carb, high-protein diets. He has backed this theory by the fact that obesity, chronic and degenerative diseases due to poor lifestyle choices, have not lessened but soared alarmingly. He blames not only the old nutritional recommendations but also the drug companies for fuelling the fire by cashing in on the rise of illness and disease and the food technologists responsible for producing such foods in the first place. He supports his theory by highlighting the eating habits of previous generations when, before the Second World War, people lived mainly on a protein diet and were shown to be healthier because of it. “Since the adoption of the ‘prudent diet’ which restricts fat intake with an increased intake of carbohydrates, the prevalence of adult-onset diabetes and obesity has in- creased explosively,” says Noakes. His low-carb theory can be traced back to the Harvey/Banting diet in the ‘60s and then the Atkins diet in the ‘70s. Noakes has come to the understanding that not everyone is able to metabolise refined carbohydrates efficiently, which his findings suggest can give rise to progressive weight gain and cause some to be pre-disposed to developing diabetes. If there is anything you can take away from Noakes’ high protein/fat diet, it is that it challenges what we think we know to be “true” about nutrition and that we should always look to our own bodies before deciding what is good for us. He claims that by removing carbohydrates completely from one’s diet and opting for high protein/fat foods instead, better physical performance, weight loss and overall better health can be achieved. He believes that everyone would benefit from this diet and concludes that people who are carbohydrateresistant or pre-diabetic or with a family history of diabetes, would benefit most from this eating plan. The following are foods Noakes believes should be completely removed from one’s diet: Sugar (must be completely removed from your diet); all sugary drinks including cola drinks and sweetened fruit juices; bread; rice; pasta; potatoes; porridge; breakfast cereals; some high energy fruits like bananas; all confectionary - cakes and sweets; desserts; artificial sweeteners and products containing these products (like “diet” sodas). He says one should also be wary of so-called “low fat” options, yoghurt especially, since these are laden with sugar and so are less healthy than the full fat options. In fact you need to check all the foods that you eat. You will be astonished in the number that contain hidden sugar. Noakes suggest we eat eggs; fish; meat organic or grass fed, not processed; dairy products - milk, cheese and yoghurt - all full cream; vegetables - mainly leafy, low carbohydrate sources; nuts - macadamia and almonds especially but no peanuts or cashew nuts as these are high in carbohydrates; fruits - very occasionally and then only those which have a lower carbohydrate content like apples and berries; water, tea and coffee (all unsweetened!). While Noaks’ statement that older generations lived mainly on protein diets to their benefit is controversial (many lived off a vegetarian diet as meat was considered more of a luxury than an everyday staple). His claim that removing refined (and addictive) carbohydrates from our diet such as breads, cereals, rice and pasta and stocking up on lean meats, fresh fish, vegetables and fats as well as nuts instead, could be a healthier alternative for athletes and the general public, in particular those who are CR, is not all that “out of the box”. It is the refined carbohydrates you want to watch out for (as these are addictive to the same extent that smoking or alcohol is), while complex carbohydrates are widely considered to be good carbohydrates and should remain as part of any diet plan. Complex carbohydrates include foods such as vegetables and To keep your zip up, slide a keychain ring onto the loop of your zipper and then loop it around your button. The ring stays concealed under the denim and ensures you don’t get caught with your zip down. Lawrence John Valentine’s weekend specials Tint OR half head of highlites, cut, blow wave and treatment R900 • All blow waves include a free treatment Shop 111, Balfour Park Shopping Centre Contact Amanda (011) 440-8613 or 072-564-0077 Valid 13 - 15 February 2015 dairy products. Noakes recommends to stay away from whole grain products because although they are considered healthy in general, he claims that you will be hard put to find whole grain cereals that have not been heavily refined. M many of the taboo foods make sense in that they are loaded with sugar and refined carbohydrates. It is important to note that discarding these foods from one’s diet is of most benefit to those who are carbohydrate resistant (CR), as stated by Noakes. Not everyone will benefit from such a drastic change in diet, which is why consulting with a reputable dietician should always be your first port of call. This has been emphasised by Noakes repeatedly in many recorded interviews. 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. 13 – 20 February 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] Beyachad library: Parness is taken aback by Fine’s reaction It was with amazement that I read Maxine Fine’s letter in the Jewish Report (on the Beyachad library). It’s a pity that Maxine did not take the trouble to learn the background to the library before putting pen to paper. It has been a problematic journey over many years. I don’t believe that her reading of Suzanne Belling’s article was correct. At no stage did either of us say that I was currently raising funds for the Isie Maisels Reference Library, or that I volunteered for it. I have been a member of the library committee since my student days and had the privilege of learning from the greats, such as the late Joe Green, Solly Yellin, Moshe Natas etc. This story goes back five years when the SAZF and the SAJBD withdrew all funding from the libraries and there was an intention to close it down and bring tenants into the space; dispose of its contents, our history and our gems of knowledge (which by the way, are not found on the internet). To many of us the thought was abhorrent, and we fought to stop this happening. However, as there were no funds available, money had to be raised to keep the doors open, pay rent and a librarian. We condensed the area used by 50 per cent. (Lionel Slier need not be embarrassed by the reprint of his [threeyear-old] letter, because it was true at the time.) The other task that had to be undertaken was moving into the 21st century and converting the Joe Green Audio-Video Library to a DVD facility. Leon Lever volunteered his expert services and today, with Eric Mathobo’s technical skills, can boast a library of 3 000 titles for the community to borrow and enjoy. We continue to purchase and upgrade the contents on a regular basis. To keep up to date we need funding. Without the generous financial support of certain individuals, and the membership fees, the libraries would have closed. The Jewish Report, Geoff Sifrin and Robyn Sassen alerted the community to our plight. It was not easy, but we managed to keep the doors open. Since December 2013 the SAZF made the decision to take over the funding once again; however, the commitment is to the Reference Library, and the now well-established Joe Green Audio-Visual Library. In this technological era, a computer and Internet availability is a must. The audiovisual library needs a computer urgently. The fiction library is currently housed together with the audiovisual library, but in need of new titles. We should appreciate donations of novels, in good condition, with a Jewish theme for the public to borrow. With the new opening hours of the libraries, I hope that every one reading this will have many happy hours enjoying and learning from what is available. Marcia Parness Joe Green Audio-Visual Library (volunteer) Honorary Life President SAZF In interest of historical accuracy, relook biblical figures Rabbi Pesach Fishman comments on Rashi’s observation to “describe the act of millions of people” namely the Jews at Mount Sinai. Elsewhere the Torah refers to the Jews having 600 000 men under arms. This is of course palpable nonsense in view of the scientific estimation of world populations in biblical times as Egypt, a most populated country at the time, having a total population of little more than a million. Even today the Sinai Peninsula is as barren as it was in biblical times and is able to support no more than a few thousand Bedouin tribes due to lack of water and fertile land. Biblical scholars estimate that the Jews who left Egypt at the time of the Exodus, could not have exceeded some 10 000 men, women and children. Rabbi Fishman’s observations and Rashi’s as well, need to be corrected in the interests of historical accuracy. “Millions of people” traipsing through the desert for 40 years, is really stretching things too far. Martin Frack Fairvale, Johannesburg Khaled, BDS’ hypocrisy astounds Leila Khaled’s claim to infamy is that she was a terrorist who hijacked an aircraft full of innocent civilians. And for this act of terror she gained notoriety. Her poster figure displays her holding an AK 47 - the same weapon that we see Boko Haram, Al Shabaab and ISIL brandishing our Cabinet ministers were at OR Tambo Airport on Friday to welcome this woman who sides with the regime in Syria, a regime that has to date murdered more than 200 000 people and which our country maintains diplomatic relations with. Addressing a forum in Turkey in 2013 Khaled is reported as saying: “I am screaming with the top of my voice: We stand by the Syrian Army”. The BDS movement, well known for its cries of “Kill the Jew” will no doubt echo that call together with this demented terrorist who supports the carnage in Syria. With its stock in trade being hatred, terrorism and anarchy, surely decent people need to voice their disgust at BDS, who through their actions, seem to condone terrorism and spit in the face of recent events in Sydney and Paris where people of goodwill marched in their millions in outrage at the acts that these people seemingly support. Xenophobia recently raised its ugly head in our townships; hatred of other people or religion is what BDS seems to be preaching in the guise of fighting the cause of the Palestinian peoples - but not all Palestinians - not the thousands killed by the Syrian army that Khaled supports. But who cares? It seems not Khaled or BDS - and this is where BDS unmasks itself and lays bare its dishonesty and hypocrisy. Allan Wolman Rosebank, Johannesburg Invitation to former OstrowiaK School of Reading students The Rebecca Ostrowiak School of Reading operated in Germiston on the East Rand from 1969 to 1991. When the school closed, I retained the files of all the children and adults to whom we had taught reading. Those files moved with us when we sold the school property in Selkirk Street, Germiston South, and were given the generous donation of rent-free offices for the Readucate Trust, (an NGO that continues to upgrade literacy) in a building in President Street, Germiston. This building has now been sold and we have to vacate the offices in March. I am writing a book of case histories, to give hope to parents whose children suffer from various reading problems such as dyslexia, etc, as well as to adults with reading difficulties. I intend to draw on our records. Confidentiality will be respected. If, however, the parents and their now grown-up children themselves and our adult students would like to share their subsequent experiences in education and careers once they mastered reading at our school, it would give great hope and encouragement to untold thousands. They can contact me at [email protected] to share their achievements and stories of overcoming their difficulties, disproving the dire predictions by specialists at the time regarding their future. I look forward to documenting these stories and encourage our past pupils to contact me as soon as possible. Edna Freinkel Johannesburg Jew and Israel cannot and should never be separated I take issue with Darren Bergman on a comment he made in his letter in last week’s Jewish Report. He writes: “Within our continent there are people that cannot distinguish between Israel and Jew and that calculated mistake can bring about unwanted issues to our nation.” That is exactly the distinction we should NOT be making! I can best make my point by quoting worldwide bestselling mystery writer Jonathan Kellerman who exposes the lie that tries to delink Zionism from Judaism and anti-Zionism from Jew-hatred, reminding us that “any attempt to split Israel from Judaism is either deliberate racist mischief or the product of sheer ignorance” and he concludes by declaring to the world: “I am a Jew. Israel is a part of me, and I am a part of Israel.” I do not think we should be attempting to defend Jews or Jewish communities by calling for a distinction between Jews and Israel. This is in effect - even if it is not intentional on Bergman’s part - distancing ourselves from the Jewish state; Israel is the state of the Jews and the largest Jewish community in the world. It needs to be central to our Jewish identity and our defence of Judaism, and Yiddishkeit should be part and parcel of our defence of Israel. Israel is the phoenix that rose out of the ashes of the Holocaust and the continuation of the Jewish life and civilisation that was so brutally destroyed in Europe by the Nazis and by the Arabs when the Jews of the Middle East and North Africa were savagely expelled from these lands and fled to Israel with nothing other than the clothes on their backs. It is up to all decent people around the world to fight against this ghastly spectre, and ensure that Israel survives safe, strong and free. Gary Selikow Johnnesburg Bongani Masuku’s case has not been abandoned at all In her editorial of February 6, Vanessa Valkin addresses the challenges both of confronting instances of anti-Jewish hate speech in the media, and of the responsibility that the Jewish media has to ensure that it does not likewise become guilty of crossing the line. In one instance, however, she is incorrect, namely regarding the SAJBD’s case against Cosatu’s International Relations spokesperson Bongani Masuku. She writes that when Masuku refused to comply with the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC) ruling that he apologise for offensive comments made against the Jewish community, neither it nor the SAJBD pursued the matter further, with the result that “the case, like others, withered away”. To the contrary the matter, along with all the other complaints that the Board has lodged with the SAHRC, is ongoing, and the Board continues to be involved in it. To recap: The Board lodged a complaint of antiSemitic hate speech against Masuku in March 2009. In December of that year, the SAHRC upheld the complaint and directed Masuku to apologise. This he refused to do, supported in that regard by Cosatu. Since then, the matter has gone through various stages, including an abortive attempt by Cosatu to formally appeal against the decision. It should be clarified that as the matter stands today, the case is not between the SAJBD and Cosatu, but between Cosatu and the SAHRC. Because Masuku refused to comply with its ruling, the SAHRC instituted proceedings against him in the Equality Court with a view to getting its ruling enforced. The current state of play is that the case will come before the Equality Court in the first half of this year, during which the SAHRC will demonstrate why it ruled the way it did and Cosatu will present argument against its decision. The Board is involved to the extent of assisting the SAHRC’s counsel in preparing their case by providing the necessary information and expert witness testimony. Pursuing a hate speech complaint from the time of its being lodged through to a final settlement can, and often does, take years. As Valkin correctly points out, nearly a quarter of the matters before the SAHRC now relate to hate speech and freedom of expression. These are complicated matters, and the SAHRC is dealing with them as best it can with the limited resources at its disposal. Sometimes, a settlement is reached fairly quickly. Last year, for instance, a complaint by the SAJBD against one Ziyaad Kayat for offensive and threatening comments posted on Facebook was resolved in just under three months. Others, unfortunately, take much longer to address, either because of their being inherently more complex or, more likely, because the SAHRC has a huge backlog of other cases to deal with. One thing the Jewish community can be assured of, is that once action has been initiated to address cases of unacceptable anti-Semitic behaviour, the SAJBD will pursue the matter for as long as it takes and do whatever is within its power to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion. It will be remembered how the Board, over 15 years of complex legal wrangling, multiple court appearances and technical and administrative obstacles, refused to abandon its case against Radio 786, but instead persisted with it until achieving what it had essentially set out to achieve when it first instituted proceedings against the station. Mary Kluk National Chairman, SAJBD 13 – 20 February 2015 Community SA JEWISH REPORT 11 ‘Appropriation’ billboard makes Johannesburg Jews see red OWN CORRESPONDENT Jewish motorists driving on the Oliver Tambo Airport road were furious to be assailed by Nelson Mandela quoted out of context on a giant billboard on the side of the freeway, saying: “We know too well that our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.” No one has any idea of who put up the misleading billboard, according to Ben Swartz, vice-chairman of the SA Zionist Federation, which put up other billboards in the Sandton area, quoting the late former president as saying: “We recognise the legitimacy of Zionism as a Jewish nationalism” and “We insist on the right of the State of Israel to exist within secure borders”. Swartz, comments on both billboards in a statement. “In an effort by the anti-Israel lobby to rewrite history to suit their ‘narrative’ - a campaign has been driven for the last six months showing the late Nelson Mandela held a very one-sided view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict - by only having strong views supporting the Palestinian cause. Nothing could be further from the truth. “Nelson Mandela regarded both Palestinian nationalism and Jewish nationalism (ie Zionism) as being legitimate movements, and believed in a solution that would allow them to co-exist peacefully alongside one another in their own separate states. “At a speech he made in August 1993, he clearly stated...we recognise the legitimacy of Zionism as a Jewish nationalism’. “Mandela continued by explicitly recognising the importance of addressing Israel’s security requirements as an inseparable part of any peace agreement between Israelis and Palestinians by stating: ‘We insist on the right of the State of Israel to exist within secure borders’. “To the end of his life, in his speeches and writings, Mandela consistently paid tribute to the disproportionate contributions made by South African Jews in the struggle for freedom and democracy in South Africa where he stated: ‘South Africans of Jewish descent have historically been disproportionately represented among our white compatriots in the liberation struggle.’ “In 1999, Mandela visited Israel, accompanied by a delegation from the SA Jewish Board of Deputies. During his visit, he met with President Ezer Weizman and senior Cabinet ministers and visited the grave of former President Yitzhak Rabin, whose peace-making efforts he greatly admired. “By pursuing this campaign, The South African Zionist Federation is not claiming that Nelson Mandela only supported Israel as the national Jewish homeland and its right to exist in safety and security, but that he had deep understanding of a very complex conflict that all sides need to resolve in a peaceful, balanced and sustainable manner.” Magic ring for lotto and casino – bring back lost love, quick sale of property – financial problem – Marital problems – Divorce & Court cases – Pregnancy problems & Miscarriages – Protection from tokolosh and business cleansing, home & property – Business boosting and work promotion – Man hood problems size and strength, quit smoking and drinking or drugs, bad luck and curse – unfinished job, business boosting and protection. Man hood problem, curse removal. Call or WhatsApp 071 021 2388 Community Columns 12 SA JEWISH REPORT A column of WIZO South Africa A column of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies All eyes on President Zuma’s address this week Thursday WIZO in an era of change Chaverot from WIZO federations all around the world gathered in Tel Aviv in January for the annual “Meeting of Representatives”. This event provides an excellent opportunity to share ideas and celebrate being WIZO women. This year’s theme was “WIZO in an Era of Change”. Discussions centred on how we take our movement forward at a time when world Jewry is experiencing uncertainty, change, and where the mindsets around membership are challenged. But it wasn’t all meetings and discussions. We spent a day visiting WIZO projects in Sderot and met with the Sderot Media Centre who briefed us on what the community has had to live through over the past decade. Sderot is blooming and flourishing with many new developments that include a completely rocket-proof train station. We also had a glimpse of how close this town, the most “bunkered” in the world, is to the Gaza Strip and we heard about the intolerable conditions they have endured living under incessant rocket fire. During Operation Protective Edge, WIZO opened its boarding schools in order to give safe haven to many of the residents of the south. WIZO was thanked profusely for all we did to ensure that vulnerable civilians felt safe. It was extremely sobering to hear our chaverot from around the world describe the situation for Jewish communities in their countries. They were given tools and advice on how to make the case for Israel… WIZO women make excellent ambassadors! The voice of Jewish women has never been more important or needed and we encourage as many women as possible to sign up as members today. Seeing the WIZO SA projects in Israel is always the highlight of the visit as all money raised has been invested in making a better future. Inez Bernstein Day Care Centre in Tel Aviv and Chorlie Day Care Centre in Kfar Saba, both have child-friendly, renovated bomb shelters. The Neve WIZO 5th Cottage is now furnished and the new foster parents in the home are welcoming one child at a time. Running parallel to the Meeting of Representatives, was the Leadership Empowerment Seminar aimed at encouraging and training future leaders. Participants were enthralled and enthused by the sessions that included many of the crème de la crème of female Israeli leaders. Participants Andrea Wainer, vice chairman WIZO Johannesburg, and Felicity Isserow, co-chairman, WIZO Cape Town, represented South Africa proudly, proving once again that we are vocal about our Zionism and dedicated future leaders. South Africa is very well represented within the ranks of World WIZO. Laurienne Baitz, our dynamo from Durban is the World WIZO Aviv representative to the World Executive and we congratulate Rolene Marks whose loss to WIZO South Africa was World WIZO’s gain as she has now been appointed to the World WIZO Executive as vice chairperson of the Organisation and Tourism division. We all returned re-energised, enthused and filled with motivation for a productive WIZO year ahead. 13 – 20 February 2015 The leading topic in the media this week is President Jacob Zuma’s upcoming State of the Nation Address, to take place in Parliament this Thursday evening. This takes the form of an Above Board address to a joint sitting of the National AssemMary Kluk bly and the National National Chairman Council of Provinces on the current political and socio-economic state of the country, and marks the annual opening of Parliament. It is also, however, widely regarded as being an address to the nation as a whole by its highest elected leader. Few will dispute that this year there are a formidable range of pressing issues that one would expect to be touched on by the president. The Eskom crisis, violent service delivery protests and a resurgence of xenophobic attacks would be three of the most recent problems to have arisen, alongside the continued imperatives of job creation, poverty alleviation, education and training and fostering of economic growth. Criticism, of course, is easy, as is coming up with theories as to what needs to be done. For those entrusted with actually dealing with the issues on a practical, day-to-day basis, confronting the multiple challenges this poses is a daunting task. While this is no excuse for corruption, wastage or wanton inefficiency on the part of public servants and elected officials, it needs always to be borne in mind. Ideally, confronting and overcoming the challenges our country faces, together with seizing the many opportunities for growth and development, has to be approached as a partnership between government and governed. This means that the private sector, civil society and indeed all individual citizens to some degree or another have a responsibility to This column paid for by WIZO SA contribute in whatever way they can. In recent years, the Board has documented some of the ways in which Jewish organisations and private individuals have been involved in a range of upliftment initiatives on behalf of underprivileged South Africans, including in the fields of education, entrepreneurship, job creation, health and human rights. Hopefully, this will continue and indeed be extended upon, so that we, as a community, can participate in building the kind of a just, prosperous society that we know South Africa can become if its people have a unity of vision and work together. Following the barbarous murder of a captured Jordanian pilot by IS last week, the government issued a strong statement unequivocally “condemning all forms and manner of terrorism”. That being the case, one wonders why representatives of government and the ruling party were among those who gave so rapturous a welcome to unrepentant terrorist Leila Khaled, and why the presiding officers in Parliament extended an invitation to her to attend the State of the Nation address. BDS-SA, as we know, says one thing and does exactly the opposite. It claims to be a body devoted to peace, yet brings to South Africa as its special guest someone who has devoted her life to violence - primarily against civilians. While doublespeak is par for the course for BDS, we expect greater consistency from our government. If terrorism is wrong when perpetrated against innocent victims in Syria, Iraq, Nigeria or Paris, then it is wrong when perpetrated against Israelis as well. We cannot afford mixed messages from our elected leaders, and especially on so fraught and sensitive a matter as this. •L isten to Charisse Zeifert on Jewish Board Talk, 101.9 ChaiFM every Friday 12:00-13:00. This column paid for by the SA Jewish Board of Deputies SA student leadership visit Israel The SRC delegates at the airport VANESSA VALKIN Since the South African government made it de facto policy for senior government members to refrain from visiting Israel, South African political leadership has not been willing to risk the ostracism. But this tide may be turning. A high ranking delegation of MPs is scheduled to tour Israel and the Palestinian territories later this month; and in January, a group of student activists under the auspices of the South AfricaIsrael Forum and the South African Union of Jewish Students, did a similar trip. These 16 SRC members - from Wits, University of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Stellenbosch and Rhodes, as well as two young Parliamentarians and a law clerk at the Constitutional Court - had the opportunity to visit Israel, Ramallah and Bethlehem. They also met with politicians, soldiers, Palestinian human rights activists and residents of the territories to hear first-hand about the realities of life for Israelis and Palestinians. A welcome back reception was held this week for the group where some of the student leaders reported back on their experiences and how it has impacted their ideas and future plans. Adrian Eckard, secretary general of the University of Pretoria SRC, is planning an Israeli Palestinian Awareness Day as part of Israel Apartheid Week on his campus, which has over 60 000 students. “We are going to have people come to speak who are from both sides - Israelis and Palestinians,” says Eckard. The 2014 SRC president of the University of Johannesburg, Nikkie Mboweni, says the trip was a real eye-opener for her and that she had been so misinformed. “We were being fed information from TV, radio and social media about what was happening.” She is hoping to use some of the material that was taught on her trip to do workshops for groups as well. Many of the students have strong ties to groups like the ANC Youth League and Sasco who are very critical of Israel, and they faced pressure in deciding to make the trip. The idea for this trip evolved from the distress that SAUJS leaders were feeling on campuses nationally with the growing importation of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to South Africa. Jewish students were feeling unsafe and alienated, particularly after certain resolutions were taken by SRCs to sever ties with Israel. “You just have to come to the campus during Israel Apartheid Week, it’s really an ugly place to be,” says SAUJS National Chairman Natan Pollack, who helped organise the trip. “The trip was significant in that it opened up the platform again for SAUJS members to engage with South African student leaders and South African politics,” says Pollack Says MP Michael Bagraim, who is involved with the upcoming trip of MPs to Israel: “It gets people to make up their own minds… this is the real McCoy.” Youth 13 – 20 February 2015 SA JEWISH REPORT 13 OWN CORRESPONDENT The children at Minnie Bersohn Nursery School in Johannesburg last week celebrated Tu B’Shvat by wearing T-shirts with their own artistic trees painted on them. They also had a brocha party and planted seeds in their JNF cups. Pictured are Matt Suchard; Alex Berman; Rephael Burgins; Jayce Greenblatt; and Mila Frank. Photo: Michelle Vinokur Tu B’shvat awareness comes in small packages Read the South African Jewish Report online www.sajr.co.za FINE ART & COLLECTABLES A U C T I O N Bright sunflower to remind them of Tu B’Shvat Photo: Elaine Cohen SHEVA MESSIAS Tu B’ Shvat was celebrated with much variety and enjoyment at King David Linksfield Pre-Primary School in Johannesburg last week. Discussions were held, songs were sung, art and baking activities were completed and a walk to the biblical garden in the high school was an interesting and meaningful experience. The children drew the trees and also enjoyed eating fruits from the seven species. The senior group children also went on an outing to see a family’s vegetable patch and a mobile zoo was invited to enhance the outing. JNF provided the children with newly designed coffee cups and tzedakah tins. The children planted sunflower seeds in the cups. These will be kept at school and it is hoped the flowers will grace the Pesach sedPictured are Raffi Rosin; Lior Fish; Li’ohn Shapiro; Jayden Winterstein; Tyler Saltz ers. The children donated R10 each and proudly placed their money (partly obscured); Matthew Mallach; Daniel Suntup; Kelley Utian; Matan Tenzer; in the tins, knowing it was going to a good environmental cause. and Ariel Saltzman. The Great Cellar | Alphen Estate Alphen Drive | Constantia | 7806 Tu B’Shvat is the one day of the year when we take time out of our busy lives to celebrate the trees - the trees that give us oxygen, paper, fruit and many other things. The trees are part of Hashem’s creation, one of the creations that we would not be able to live without. To celebrate Tu B’Shvat the entire King David Linksfield High came together wearing green and brown civvies. As per tradition the grade 8s all planted a tree. It was a great day celebrating a great creation. Photo supplied Aryeh shines in Sandton Sinai Primary School goes green Midmar swim 17 & 18 February 2015 Viewing 11-15 February For further info contact: 021 794 6461 JODI BENJAMIN Rabbi Ovadia Sofer getting his hands dirty while planting a carob tree. CAPE TOWN Books | Maps | Paintings | Sculptures | Collectable Cars Carpets | Clocks | Furniture | Ceramics | Glass | Jewellery Silver | Watches | Vintage Fashion | Tribal Art | Photography www.stephanwelzandco.co.za r e : t h e l at e DA N I E L CO PA N S The family of the Late Daniel Copans would like to express their grateful thanks and appreciation to all persons who graciously donated funds towards the considerable medical costs incurred as a consequence of Daniel’s condition. The funds were paid into an account administered under our control, and were utilised and applied as and when required. As a consequence of Daniel’s premature death, it became unnecessary to utilise all the funds, and we are in a position to refund donors with a pro-rata share of the balance. A suggestion has been made by certain donors that the funds be donated to either a cancer-related charity, or apply the funds to establish a Foundation in memory of Daniel. This Foundation would assist desperately ill children with medical costs in the case of life threatening conditions. SUZANNE BELLING Aryeh Lieb Berkowitz, a grade 6 learner at Torah Academy, recently returned from KwaZulu-Natal, where he completed the gruelling Midmar Mile Swim - the world’s largest open swim - in 45 minutes, 54 seconds in the 13 and under section. Aryeh’s parents, Joffie and Kari Berkowitz, also competed the swim in 48 minutes and 51 minutes respectively. “Yes, I did beat them,” Aryeh admits. He is pictured sporting his medal and certificate. “We are proud of his achievement,” said TA Primary School Principal Rabbi Motti Hadar. Pictured are, standing anti-clockwise: Josh Serman; Jesse Bregman; Teegan Friedman; Noa Sher; and Jaden Cohen. AMY JAFFE Sandton Sinai Primary school celebrated Tu B’Shvat by planting their very own vegetable patch on the school grounds. The aim of the patch is to encourage the kids to look after their garden by watering it daily and watching and observing how the vegetables grow. The kids are excited at this wonderful opportunity to explore nature. As certain of the donations were made anonymously, we appeal to all persons or institutions who made donations, to contact us, in confidence, with instructions as to how you would prefer your share of the refund to be applied. All queries can be directed to Lucille Liebowitz c/o Tuffias Sandberg KSi E-mail: [email protected] Telephone: 087 940 9080 SW964 Photo: Tamryn Bentel KDL High pays tribute to ‘birthday of the trees’ Pieter Hugo Naudé (South African 1868-1941) WASHDAY BESIDE THE HEX RIVER (detail) R 600 000 - R 900 000 Community Parly report: Britain must act to halt antiSemitism LONDON - Instituting measures to deal with hate crimes on social media and a government fund to protect synagogues, are among 35 recommendations offered by a British parliamentary inquiry into rising anti-Semitism. Britain must take immediate action to quash the rise in anti-Semitism in the country, the All-Party Parliamentary Inquiry said in its report, which was released on Monday. “While the Jewish community is diverse and multi-faceted, there is a palpable concern, insecurity, loneliness and fear following the summer’s rise in incidents and subsequent world events,” the report said. “A more sophisticated understanding of anti-Semitism is needed, together with better defined boundaries of acceptable discourse.” In response to the report’s recommendations, Prime Minister David Cameron said: “This is a hugely important cross-party report. Tackling antiSemitism goes right to the heart of what we stand for as a country. “This report has a vital role to play. There can be no excuses. No disagreements over foreign policy or politics can ever be allowed to justify anti-Semitism or any other form of racism, prejudice or extremism.” The Community Security Trust, Britain’s Jewish security watchdog group, reported last week that it had recorded 1 168 anti-Semitic incidents for 2014, the highest annual total ever and more than double the previous year. A poll conducted in conjunction with the inquiry, also released on Monday, found that 55 per cent of Britons felt that they would be able to explain to someone else what anti-Semitism was, but only 37 per cent of those aged 18 to 24 felt that they could. Some 80 per cent believed the murder of four Jews at a kosher supermarket in Paris was anti-Semitic. The survey of 1 001 British adults in the third week of January, also showed that Britons believed there were about 2,7 million Jews living in Britain, though the real number is about 250 000, and that 15 per cent felt Jews “talk too much about what happened to them in the Holocaust”. (JTA) More Americans support than oppose Netanyahu’s speech WASHINGTON - More Americans support than oppose Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s March 3 speech before a joint session of Congress on the Iranian nuclear threat and radical Islam, a new poll released by Rasmussen Reports revealed. Forty-two per cent of respondents agreed that Netanyahu “should accept Republican congressional leaders’ invitation to address Congress about Iran even if President Barack Obama does not want him to come”, while 35 per cent disagreed and 23 per cent remained undecided. “I can assure you that millions of Americans will be paying close attention to the prime minister’s words,” US Senator John McCain (Republican Arizona) told Israel Hayom. (JNS.org) More news on our website www.sajr.co.za Will the 2015 Budget make l ght work? Given the impact of South Africa’s power crisis on our country’s economic growth, the question is... how much tax will you have to fork out to keep the lights on? For answers to this question and insights into the budget’s impact on you and your business, read our online budget review and analysis. Just go to www.gt.co.za www.gt.co.za 2015 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_Budget.indd 1 2015/02/09 2:16 PM Annabel Linder - you just can’t keep a good entertainer down SUZANNE BELLING Theatre stalwart Annabel Linder’s show “Two’s Company... Three’s a Show” in which she stars with Michael de Pinna, another well-known Jewish actor, Keith Smith and to the accompaniment of her husband, clarinettist Sam Sklair, opens this Saturday night at the Foxwood Theatre in Houghton. Labelled a “cabaret extravaganza”, the actual show is making a comeback after its successful run last year. “The show incorporates the music of the great composers (most of them Jewish) like George Gershwin, Irving Berlin, Burt Bacharach, Stephen Sondheim and also Hoagy Carmichael,” Annabel says. Ageless in appearance, with not a line on this grandmother’s face, Annabel is happy that Sam is part of the show. “He is not only a musician, but a composer, instrumentalist and writer of music,” she pointed out. “Two’s Company...” will be staged on weekends only from this weekend till March 8, opening with a Valentine’s Night special dinner for those who celebrate this romantic day. “We don’t do Friday nights as the show attracts mainly Jewish audiences,” Annabel says. This award-winning actress, comedienne and singer, plans to include a tribute to the late comedienne Joan Rivers “whom I adored”. Born in Durban to Orthodox Jewish parents, Gerald and Bessie Linder, she quips that her real family name was Kirschenstein, “which my paternal grandfather changed to Linder when he arrived in England from Lithuania. I am glad he did - can you imagine having a stage name like Annabel Kirschenstein? “This is not a myth. My nephew, who is into family trees, checked in the cemetery and found ‘Harry Linder, formerly Kirschenstein’ engraved on the tombstone.” From an early age, Annabel was always chosen for school productions, displaying her acting, singing and dancing talents. “My mentor was Joan Brickhill, who sadly passed away last year.” Joan was known as the queen of musical extravaganzas in South Africa. “She was in my life from the age of 12. She was literally part of my family. When Sam and I were planning our wedding in the garden of my Parkmore home nearly 21 Photo supplied World News in Brief 13 – 20 February 2015 years ago, she told me we couldn’t get married in a ‘winter’ garden and went down on her hands and knees transforming it. “She gave me the dress she wore when she was nominated for a Tony.” Annabel herself has been nominated 12 times for awards in theatre, TV and radio, winning five of them - for “Chicago”, “Heroes”, “Tale of an Allergist’s Wife”, “Rose “, the story of an 80-year-old Holocaust survivor, and for “Torch Song Trilogy”. She is the only woman comedienne on the cabaret circuit. “It pays better and is now referred to as corporate cabaret. A gig (in theatre lingo) is known as ‘G-d is Good’.” Annabel recently had a nine-month stint on ChaiFM. “I enjoyed meeting all the personalities in various spheres.” She struck up a rapport with Rebbetzen Mashi Lipskar, whom she admires and who taught her a great deal about Yiddishkeit. Annabel has started her memoirs, after a lifetime in the entertainment business. Her recent accomplishments are a fulllength feature film “Nothing for Mahala” and filming the sitcom “Those Who Can’t”, for Harriet Gavshon’s Quizzical Pictures. Running in Jerusalem for a very good cause MARCELLE RAVID “Marathon training is serious business,” says Rabbi Ramon Widmonte, one of the runners in the ORT SA, Mizrachi SA and SAZF contingent to the Jerusalem Marathon in March. Group training is well under way in Johannesburg, led by the “mystery” celebrity runner. Excitement is mounting as the competition between participants for fundraising heats up. “What could be better than running through thousands of years of Jewish history?” said Nicci Raz, a member of the ORT SA National Executive Committee. The participants are running to raise funds for all three organisations. Wendy Lewis; Rabbi Ramon Widmonte (Mizrachi); Nicci Raz (ORT SA). Photo supplied 14 SA JEWISH REPORT 13 – 20 February 2015 Classifieds What’s On To book your classified notice or advert contact: Tel (011) 274-1400, Fax 086-634-7935, email: [email protected] SERVICES NOTICES Hawley Marble and Granite Works Est. 1948. Monumental masons. We are proud to have served the Johannesburg Jewish community for many decades. Your support is much appreciated. Collen Hawley Tel: (011) 828- 9010 Chaim Silver (011) 485-3005 LIFTS OFFERED Lift service Doctor’s app, OR Tambo, Courier services Reasonable rates! Ivan 082-962-5007 LIFTS OFFERED AIRPORT SERVICE JHB ACCOMMODATION AVAILABLE TO LET Royal Linksfield / Sandringham. Ground floor with garden. Available April 1. 3 Beds( 2 with bics), 2 baths, 2 tiled lounges, open plan kitchen / dining area, small study, lock-up garage, carport. R12 400 pm plus deposit R14 000. Call June 083-226-3741 or (011) 640-4967 To place your classified advert call (011) 430-1980 or email [email protected] 8-seater. Tours/Day Drives Contact Arnold, 082-447-0185 011-454-1193 Today, Friday (February 13) ments). Contact: (011) 532-9616. • UZLC hosts Judy Jaye on “Stress is All Around Us”. Venue: Our Parents Home. Time: 12:45 - 14:00. Contact: Gloria, (011) 485-4851 or 072127-9421. • Jewish Genealogical Society of SA hosts Eli Rabinowitz on “Exploring our Roots: A Contemporary Journey Back to the Shtetl”. Venue: HOD, Orchards. Time: 19:30. Donation: R20 (incl refreshments). Enquiries: Mo (011) 887-7764. Sunday (February 15) • Bikkur Cholim (Jewish Society for Visiting the Sick) hosts a breakfast at the Waverley Sports Centre to thank the group of hospital volunteers who visit all the hospitals and clinics throughout Johannesburg. Guest speaker will be Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein who will be there between 09:30 - 10:00. Contact: Joy Gafin, (011) 440-3606 (am) or 082-454-1444. • Second Innings hosts Kate Turkington on “More Magical Journeys with Kate”. Venue: The Gerald Horwitz Lounge, Golden Acres. Time: 10:00 for 10:30. Cost: R20 members, R30 visitors (incl tea and light refresh- To OR Tambo from R180. To Lanseria from R220. Reasonable rates to all other areas. BEST SERVICE DIAL A LIFT Comfortable 7 seater. 083-267-3281 Pip Friedman www. dialalift.co.za • UJW hosts Jules Browde SC, co-founder of Lawyers for Human Rights, Integrity Commissioner for Gauteng Legislature, and his grandson Daniel Browde, poet, author and deputy -editor of “Africa in Fact”, on: “Tales my Grandfather Told me”. Venue: 1 Oak Street, Houghton. • WIZO Forum hosts a spokesman from the Israeli Embassy on “The Key to Peace in the Middle East”. Venue: Beyachad. Time: 09:30. Cost: R40 (incl tea and refreshments). Booking: Sandy (011) 645-2515. Wednesday (February 18) • UJW hosts Dr Lorraine Chaskalson, former lecturer in Dept of English at Wits, on “Contemporary Poetry”. Venue: 1 Oak Street, Houghton. Time: 09:30. Donation: R35. Contact: (011) 648-1053. • Lodge Jerusalem of HOD International is holding a bingo evening. Venue: HOD Centre, Orchards. Time: 19:30 for 20:00. All prizes are cash. Refreshments will be served. Tickets at R100 for five games from Colin Thursday (February 19) • C AJE’s Learning Launch, in conjunction with Sydenham Shul, kicks off with a symposium on the future of South Africa: “Is it Lights Out for SA? Darkness and Doom or a Brighter Destiny?” Presenters are Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein; David Shapiro, Deputy Chairman of Sasfin Securities; and Howard Sackstein, entrepreneur and political activist. Rabbi Yossy Goldman of Sydenham Shul is the moderator and the public is welcome to bring their own relevant questions to the discussion. Venue: Sydenham Community Centre. Time: 19:45. Cost: R50 pp. Special series tickets which include all events are available at a reduced fee of R200 from Sydenham Shul (011) 640-5021. Speak to Shirley. Secure parking and tea will be served. in seven seconds I won’t back down JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu won’t cancel US speech. “I’m determined to travel to Washington and present Israel’s position before Congress and the American people.” Experienced, reliable driver able to lift you anywhere/ anytime 24 hours. Courier work undertaken. Please call Paul 083-542-6480 AIRPORT SHUTTLE SAM (011) 728-5219 083-627-8516 Tuesday (February 17) 072-114-6969, Louis 083-457-7827, Joe (011) 485-5140 [w] or Allen 082-334-099. The Jewish World A TAXI SERVICE Let Warren Pogorelsky chauffeur you to your destination in Johannesburg and back. OR Tambo from R170. Mercedes Benz Tel: 082-399-6187 Sun City & Game Reserve SMILE-LEE’S LIFTS A reliable lift service. Specialising in lifts to and from airports, shops, appointments, casinos and courier. Charna 083-391-6612 Time: 09:30. Donation: R35. Contact: (011) 648-1053. • Second Innings hosts Edmond Furter on “Mindprint - The Subconscious Art Code”. 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. Monday (February 16) SA JEWISH REPORT 15 ACCOMMODATION ACCOMMODATION AVAILABLE AVAILABLE Highlands North Immaculate, fully furnished cottage. Phone Lisa at 072-607-4898. Garden townhouse Accommodation to share in Benoni Looking for a female flatmate between 40 50 years to share a Semi-furnished flat in a secure complex. Shul nearby R2 500 pm incl. 082-211-1957 082-665-1097 TO LET Suite in home in Orchards, with lounge, private verandah, garage. R4 500 pm all in. (011) 728-1688 082-555-9449 SERVICES HOME SERVICES Troon Village Sandringham available March 1, 2015. 2 bed, 2 bath situated in a secure complex, shade parking for 2 cars, good security. FOREIGN CITIZENSHIP Shimon Botbol Lithuanian / Polish / German citizenship Many South African Jews are eligible for EU citizenship. If you are interested, please contact me. I specialise in obtaining Lithuanian, Polish and German citizenship. I am able to obtain the required documents from archives in Europe. Rael Cynkin CA (SA) [email protected] 083-346-4627 082-452-3575 VEHICLES R9 000 pm excl w/l. Viewing by appointment only. Jeanette (011) 864-7625 (o/h) SERVICES HOME SERVICES Appliance repairs on-site Fridges, stoves, washing machines, tumble dryers and dishwashers. Free quotations. Call Jason 082-401-8239 / 076-210-6532 Deceased estate house clearances Entire households cleared, professionally and confidentially. I’ll take the burden off your shoulders and pay you for it. Please contact Ladislav Miklas 079-810-8837 for a trusted and professional service. Also clear garages, cellars, storage rooms and storage facilities. WANTED IF YOU WANT TO BUY OR SELL A VEHICLE Contact: Solly Kramer 082-922-3597 MISCELLANEOUS Love entertaining? No time to cook? Gourmet meals delivered to your door. Prepared and designed by professional international chef. Just heat and eat. Kosher food is available on request. Contact Regev on 082-827-6570 or [email protected] to discuss your menu and dietary requirements. Hitler Youth band’s drum made out of Torah scroll found in Poland JNS WARSAW - A drum made out of an ancient Torah scroll and used by the Hitler Youth marching band was discovered in Poland and has been purchased by the From the Depths association, which aims to preserve Holocaust memory. Suspicious find in Australia The Daily Telegraph SYDNEY - Two men were arrested in Sydney after a raid by Australian counterterrorism police found a hunting knife, a flag and other items, raising suspicions of a “beheading plot”. Obama causes a stir Jerusalem Post WASHINGTON - President Obama has caused a stir in the social media by calling the Paris kosher deli attack “random”. Confusion abounded in Jewish and Israeli news and social media circles after the Obama administration may, or may not, have avoided characterising the attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris as anti-Semitic. Fundraiser raises disapproval ISRAEL - Some seem to have got their knickers in a knot over the screening of the movie “50 Shades of Grey” as part of a WIZO fundraiser. “As WIZO women we defend your choice to see the movie. Or not. WIZO is all about empowerment, including the right to make informed choices, including on issues of sexuality”, said WIZO leader and blogger Rolene Marks, a former South Africa. Former Chief Rabbi Metzger indicted for taking bribes Ynet News JERUSALEM - Former chief rabbi of Israel Yona Metzger is to face trial for numerous counts of bribery, fraud and money laundering. Joan Rivers’ apartment goes on sale for $28 million Jewish Chronicle, London LONDON - Legendary comedienne Joan Rivers’ Upper East Side apartment in New York has been put up for sale. Rivers died in September last year at age 81. The apartment, which measures 5 000 sq ft, has four bedrooms, four bathrooms, five fireplaces and a 23-ft-high sky-blue ceiling painted with clouds and doves. Judaica from Etz Chayim up for sale A number of fascinating items of Judaica will go on sale at an upcoming auction this month in Johannesburg. The pieces, part of the collection of the late Gunter Samson, were sourced from the Etz Chayim Synagogue which was started in a private home when Jewish immigrants arrived in Johannesburg from Germany around 1936, Russell Kaplan Auctioneers said in a media release. The community grew and eventually the synagogue moved to premises in Fife Avenue, Berea. At that time, Samson was the chairman. Eventuall, through demographic change, people left the area and most of the original members had passed away, so the shul was disbanded. Doris Samson believes that most of the Judaica was brought from Germany. Her late husband bought the Judaica after the shul closed. Samson added to his collection by buying anything with a Jewish connection whenever he went to an auction. He was a businessman, collector and antique dealer with a shop in Rosebank in his later years and he used to visit auction houses weekly. Russell Kaplan says: “In the past auctions were seen as dumping grounds for stuff you couldn’t get rid of. That’s truly changed. The reason auctions grow year-on-year, is that both buyers and sellers enjoy the transparency of the process. “Sellers feel comfortable with setting reserve prices so that they don’t lose on a deal. Buyers are attracted by the opportunity to get a better price. We are selling 90 per cent of the goods on each auction which means there is demand at least at the level of the reserve price.” The auction will also include three watercolours from another seller painted by Andrew Allen in April 1831, each inscribed on the back with the place and date. They state they were painted on the spot and include the River Jordan, City of Jerusalem and a view from Jaffa Gate. The items can be viewed at Russell Kaplan Auctioneers from Friday 13, and bids may be submitted during the week or at the auction. The full catalogue of this auction is available online at www.rkauctioneers.co.za. Viewing takes place at the auction house Corner Garden and Allan Roads in Bordeaux. Sport Sport 16 SA SA JEWISH JEWISH REPORT REPORT 16 5 ––12 2014 13 20December February 2015 Billie Jean helps and Women’s Benevolent Golfers Richard Warrick in majorfundraiser tee off JACK MILNER MILNER JACK One of golfers the greatest tennis players all time, Jewish Richard Kaplan andof Warrick Billie Jean King, hasforces donated memorabilia Druian, have joined to form Raw Golfto the Johannesburg Jewish Schools, the latest buzz onWomen’s the SouthBenevolent African Societyscene. to help them raise funds. golfing Marleneand Bethlehem, a tennis player of Richard Warrick, herself both former Maccabi note whoplayers has participated on the international national and successful players on South platform, used herTour, contacts ask Billie Jean Africa’s Sunshine have to teamed up to pre-for a signed racquet could raffl e. golf sent arguably thethat mostthey complete fulltime “Billie-Jean is well known for her generosity school on the African continent. and notare only didprofessionals she send us aat racquet, Both head two of but the also a signed edition hercourses book as- Richard well as aat poster,” country’s leadingofgolf said Marlene. Jean was also involved Houghton GC “Billie and Warrick at Killarney GC. in a concert to raise funds for an Aids concert Raw Golf Schools is the culmination of awith Elton John. life-long dream of both Richard and Warrick. Both have signed the Royal posterSwazi alongOpen, with eight Ironically both won the tennis players, Grand winners Richard in 1996including and Warrick theSlam following year. Andy Roddick, Steffiseven Graf,years Martina Naratilova Warrick had to wait for his next title andhe Andre Agassi. but clinched the Telkom PGA Championship “We held GC a raffl and the winner was Rael at Woodhill in e2004. Berelowitz,” said Richard was oneMarlene. of South Africa’s leading As the winner lives in London, the memoraamateurs and won a number of titles, including bilia1986 wereEnglish handedOpen over to JJ van Strokeplay der Linde at the Amateur Global Capital, -the rm with which Berelowitz Championship thefiBrabazon Trophy. He also is associated. won the Royal Thai Classic on the Asian PGA Marlene, of the organisation, Tour in 1996president and represented South Africaand in her1999 vice-president, have donated the World CupAnnette of Golf Angel, in Kuala Lumpur in many years of their time to the Women’s Malaysia. Benevolent. fact, between the come two oftothem After theirIn playing careers had an they have been active for 99 years. The organisation is 121 years old, having served the Jewish people of Johannesburg continuously. Those who know Billie Jean cannot help but be affected by her determination and charm. She is outspoken and does not mince her words. In 2002 she was in South Africa for the Nike Junior Tour International Masters which on that occasion joined forces with World TeamTennis, the organisation owned by Billie Jean and Ilana Kloss, at Sun City. Speaking to the youngsters aged between 11 and 14, Billie Jean was amazed by how many of the players did not know the names of some of the tennis greats from their respective countries. “If you don’t know where you come from, how do you know where you are going” she asked them. Perhaps my favourite quote from her best puts Billie Jean King into perspective. “A champion is afraid of losing. Everyone else is afraid of winning.” Warrick Druian (left) and Richard Kaplan have a plan to produce more great South African golfers. JJ van der Linde (centre) accepts the Billie Jean King memorabilia from Jewish Benevolent Society President Marlene Bethlehem (left) and Vice-President Annette Angel on behalf of winner Rael Berelowitz. JR will be available throughout holidays portant mental aspect of the game. She has end, Richard became technical director of Jewish Report’s website, www.sajr.co.za instruction at the Gary Player Golf Experience will updated throughout the holidays. at thebeWorld of Golf in Woodmead, while WarThewas print edition will take a break for Golf rick head professional at Jamie Gough four weeks over the holidays, but the Schools in Tygervalley, Cape Town. website will continue publishing Together they boast 55 years of professional news throughout. experience in the golf industry as players, If youand simply add your e-mail They coaches on-course professionals. address on the right hand have worked extensively withside both men’s and of any page, you will receive women’s elite amateurs and professional golfers, our weekly newsletter and ePaper on as well as countless club golfers. Wednesday evenings. It also They have sought to create thetells bestreaders fulltime what’s popular andbywhat’s reported golf school in Africa partnering with at a team greater The weekly newsletters, of highlylength. accomplished professionals. The aim is sans the ePaper, will continue to be students sent to produce self-motivated, professional out throughout who will be trainedthe andholidays. equipped to perform in are at leisure and onamateur holidayortheUsers highlywho pressurised arena of elite away from their professional golf. busy everyday lives - spend more time on the visit more The school will bewebsite hosted atand Houghton and pages during the holidays. For all of you we Killarney. will links most popular Therun team willto bethe joined by the highlystories qualified andfitness eventsfundi of the year,Milne. basedGarth on what our golf Garth works as enjoyed reading areaders golf fitness specialist and most. has been helping We will also running a regular professional andbe amateur golfers for theseries past 14 of articles on how to get the best from the years. - and howsince to find things specialised inwebsite sport psychology January fast. Of course there with is a 1994 and for the past 20 years has worked search tab... many golfers - professionals to juniors - from all over South Africa. The most people on the website in a level single day: Many of her golf clients are elite golfers, 12 241, Tour, 15 441 times: The playing on the Sunshine European Tour, most readTour, single US PGA Tour and Asian andstory manythis are year - average time over six trophy winners with nationalread and/or provincial colours. minutes. It had 184 comments representing over 15 000 words. SAJR.CO.ZA is completely interactive and allows users to comment on The aim is to produce every post. self-motivated, Over 100 000 unique users from 175 professional students countries around the world (66 per cent from SA,who followed by Israel, US,and Australia, will be trained UK and equipped Canada) have overin 8 000 tovisited perform the contenthighly items on the website. Users pressurised arenahave also posted thousands of comments and of elite amateur hundreds of blogs on the site. or professional Over the past 12 monthsgolf. users have spent over 1,5-millon minutes on www.sajr. co.za pop in and see why. Sign up for the newsletter and getTour the real news, first. Former European and Challenge Tour He developed the Kinetic Golf Fitness System player Neil Cheetham is the club head path On and club fitting specialist. He brings that is applied at numerous golf academiesWhat’sanalysis with across South Africa. He currently works with SUNDAY (DECEMBERhim 7) the latest technology available, namely Trackman. numerous professional golfers playing on the • JFilm at Bet Emanuel’s Slome Auditorium, shows the Israeli film, “Bethlehem”. Time: 18:00. Cost: R40 (incl tea and snacks). On the medical side Dr Jon Patricios joins the PGA and(011) European Tours, the LPGA and Ladies Enquiries: 646-6170. European Tour, as well as on the Sunshine Tour. team. Jon is currently president of the South • Majestic Radio present ainmatinee screening, by Selwyn Klass, ofSports a news reel documentingAssociation “The First Royal Tour to South African Medicine (SASMA). GarthFilm willSociety alsoand use 3DToday analysis the quest in 1947”, to commemorate the 20th anniversary of South Africa’s returnHe to the Commonwealth. Ditsong Museum of Military History has been teamVenue: physician to school, club, forAfrica swing improvement. Auditorium, Saxonwold. Time: 14:30. Cost: R100. Bookings: (011) 486-3648 or [email protected] provincial and international sports teams in Virgin Active Old Eds have also partnered athletics and abasketball, with Raw Golf Schools to host the personal • Big Band Music Appreciation Society meets at St John’s College Auditorium,rugby, Houghton.cricket, Harry Fidlersoccer, from Ballito Bay will present tribute to Glenn is a member of Cricket SA’s and Rugby’s training classes by Garth. Miller featuring previously unheard material and recordings. Time: 14:15 sharp. Enquiries: Marilyn, 072-243-7436 or Jack, SA 082-450-7622. medical committees, and the Rockies Comrades Counselling psychologist Maretha Claasen • Jaffa’sRaw morning market takes place - 12:00 imat 42 Mackie Street, Baileys Muckleneuk There will be second-hand clothing, Marathon panelPretoria. of experts. joins Golf Schools forfrom the08:30 critically tombola, a delicatessen, tea garden, books, personalised printing cards and much more. 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