Hashalom July 2017 Established 1923 Volume 21. No 9

March 2014 █ HASHALOM 1 Editorial 02 EDITORIAL Out of Perspective 03 Mishna Impossible 04 THE SIX-DAY WAR AT 50 YEARS Israel 05 Prof Antony Arkin The Kotel’s Symbolism 05 Staying in Africa 06 “In the beginning they destroyed Egypt’s air force on the ground and knocked 50 Years Later 07 out the planes of Jordan, Iraq and Syria. That was Monday. Then they broke Israel’s 1967 Victory is Something to Celebrate 08 Egypt’s massive defences in Sinai. That was Tuesday. Next they took the Old City of Jerusalem and prayed. That was Wednesday. Then they reached Gallery: Six-Day War 09 the Suez Canal. That was Thursday. They ascended the Golan Heights. That We will become a minority in Israel 10 was Friday. Then they took the peaks overlooking the plain of Damascus. In the evening the world declared a ceasefire. That was Saturday. And on the Jewish World 13 seventh day the soldiers of Israel rested.” (The Economist) The Secret Jewish Origins of Wonder Woman 13 Community News 14 The war was triggered by Egypt’s decision to expel the United Nations Bubkes 14 peacekeeping force from the Sinai Peninsula and Gaza and to close the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping. Throughout the Middle East Arab Past Tense 15 leaders echoed the Arab street calling for Israel’s destruction. Nineteen Beth Shalom 16 years after its establishment the Jewish world believed Israel faced Divote 17 another Holocaust. The Communist bloc was totally supportive of the Durban United Hebrew Congregation 18 Arabs. France, hitherto Israel’s ally, had imposed an arms embargo on Akiva College 19 it, and the American President Lyndon Johnson had failed to deliver on UJC 20 previous American assurances to break any Egyptian blockade of the Israeli port of Eilat. Young Israel Centre 21 Talmud Torah 21 After just six days of fighting, Israel controlled the Sinai Peninsula and Durban Progressive Jewish Congregation 22 Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and all of Jerusalem. Richard Mazaltov Martin Moshal 23 Haas argued in Project-Syndicate that the war put an end to the notion KwaZulu Natal Zionist Council 24 that Israel could be eliminated. He wrote that most Arab leaders came to Wotsup Wizo 25 shift their strategic goal from Israel’s disappearance to its return to the pre-1967 borders. Limmud 26 Union of Jewish Women 27 The Six -Day War did not, however, lead to peace, not even a partial one. Eden College 28 On June 19, 1967, nine days after the end of the war, the Israeli cabinet Durban Holocaust Centre 29 offered to return territories conquered from Egypt and Syria in exchange Project TEN 30 for peace, security and recognition. The Arab League categorically rejected Above Board 31 peace with Israel at its Khartoum summit later that year. In 1973, Egypt Cooking with Judy and Linda 31 and Syria unleashed a devastating surprise attack on Israel, puncturing the myth of Israel’s invulnerability. Social and Personal 32 Diary of Events 32 It took a decade after 1967 for the Egyptian government of Anwar Sadat to finally accept Israel’s legitimacy. When he did, he recovered every inch of Sinai. Syria remains unreconciled. It took another decade for Yasir Arafat’s The views expressed in the pages of Hashalom are not necessarily those of the Palestinian Liberation Organization to recognize Israel and formally Editorial Board or any other organisation or religious body unless otherwise forswear terrorism. This led to the Oslo Accords of 1993 and further Israeli withdrawals. In 2000 at Camp David, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip. individual. Hamas seized control two years later, and used the territory to start three Hashalom Editorial Board: wars in seven years. In 2008 Prime Minister Olmert offered a Palestinian Editor: Prof Antony Arkin State in Gaza and 93 percent of the West Bank. The Palestinians rejected Sub Editor: Mr Colin Plen the proposal. Editorial Board: Mrs Mikki Norton, Mrs Michelle Campbell Commitee: Dr Issy Fisher, Ms Diane McColl, Mrs Lauren Shapiro Of course Israel has made mistakes. The most serious of these is the Production Manager: Mrs Robyn Bradley proliferation of West Bank settlements beyond those in historically recognized blocs. Yet as Bret Stephens writes in the New York Times it Notice to Organisations/Contributors: All material to be submitted by email to is important to note “There would have been no occupation, and no [email protected] settlements, if Egypt and its allies hadn’t recklessly provoked a war. Or DEADLINE FOR THE AUGUST ISSUE: 7 July 2017 if the “international community” hadn’t fecklessly abandoned Israel in its desperate hours. Or if Jordan hadn’t foolishly ignored Israel’s warnings Advertisements to stay out of it. Or if the Arab League hadn’t arrogantly rejected the Contact: Robyn Bradley P.O. Box 10797 Marine Parade 4056 possibility of peace.” Tel: (031) 335 4451 Fax: (031) 337 9600 Email: [email protected]

Hashalom is issued under the auspices of the SAJBD KZN Council, A Palestinian state would most likely exist if the Palestinians had not adopted KwaZulu-Natal Zionist Council and the Durban Jewish Club. terrorism as the calling card of their aspirations and if the United Nations had not treated their attacks on Israel as a nuisance, but Israel’s self-defence as Typesetting Supplied. Designed by RBG Studios, email: [email protected] a crime against humanity. Fifty years after the Six-Day War, the absence of Printed by Fishwick Printers peace between Israel and the Palestinians is part of an imperfect status quo that many have come to accept and expect. Until Arabs accept the idea of Visit our website: www.hashalom.co.za Israel as the Jewish state, no peace initiative can succeed.

2 HASHALOM July 2017 OUT OF PERSPECTIVE THE SIX-DAY WAR AT 50 YEARS Farewell to arms... at Tzrifin Base David Arkin

After a hiatus in 2016, I had a Milu’im (reservist) exercise for four the rescuer doesn’t want to inflict any further harm on the victims. days earlier in the year. For what can only be classified reasons, I One of the most challenging exercises is to lift a disposable plastic had been moved to a new battalion in the Home Front Command cup off the ground, without the bucket of the excavator making any (HFC), which is responsible for the area between Nesher and the marks into the soil. Krayot in the Haifa Bay area. My position remained as previously: a mechanical engineering equipment operator. Methinks the English Back at Tzrifin, I realised it is likely the last time I will be deployed translation glorifies the role as officially described in the army, as a at this base. It was originally set up by the British, established in yellow machine operator is perhaps more apt. Or, to be more direct, 1917, so this is in fact its centenary year. The high land value and a bulldozer or an excavator driver. The point is, the nature of the shortage of land in the centre has made it worthwhile for the IDF work remained the same. As with most battalions in the HFC, they to sell the base to private contractors and relocate. The base is are responsible for search and rescue work in disaster zones. These currently being decommissioned and evacuated, and its functions teams have brought a lot of credit to Israel in the past, amongst relocated to several new bases built in the south in the Negev. As others, on site at the US embassy Nairobi bombing, in Turkey and the land is on an area “without jurisdiction”, it has been allocated Haiti after massive earthquakes, in South East Asia in the aftermath to the bordering municipality of Rishon Lezion and local council of of the Boxing Day Tsunami, at the Versailles wedding hall collapse, Be’er Yaacov. If you haven’t heard of Be’er Yaacov yet, you most and more recently, at the parking lot collapse in Ramat Hachayal likely will in the near future, as it’s slated for massive housing and last year. commercial development. The base was recently under attack too… from foxes. I read in the press in May (with much disbelief) how two The exercise was held over four days. The start and finish was at rabid foxes were killed by the IDF, after biting sleeping soldiers in Tzrifin base, between Rishon Lezion and Be’er Ya’akov. This massive their tents at night. The attack was carried out at Bahad 16 (Training base is used mainly for logistics and training for communications, base 16) where the HFC is centred, and where our exercise has been medical professions, human resource planning, military law practice just a few weeks prior. I couldn’t ascertain from the report where and courts, as well as search and rescue units. The actual core exactly on the base it took place, but for my next milu’im I probably exercise time was 2 days, as it takes about a day for almost 200 won’t sleep near the tent entrance. soldiers to mobilise, and then another day to demobilise. Armies aren’t the most time-efficient organisations, and the IDF is no exception. In between Day 1 and Day 4, training took place on a Margo Botha custom man-made disaster site at Zikim base (on the Gaza border south of Ashkelon), and on a demolished building in Lod. Zikim was a blast from the past, as it was there that I completed my basic training, before the Disengagement from Gaza. Today the base is www.djc.co.za under the auspices of the HFC, and is undergoing a renovation, with new buildings and structures being built. The layout of the camp hadn’t changed much, but due to the proximity to Hamas Qassam rockets and mortars, there were concrete ballast blocks and shelters everywhere next to the tents and the prefab buildings. A rocket barrage actually hit the base in one of the tented areas around ten years ago, so the blocks were an obvious welcome safety feature. We acclimatised on the yellow machines in a big open field just outside the base’s gates (which involved digging and filling ditches, ploughing sand, and piling stacks of rubber tires) before joining one of the battalion’s companies for the exercise. If one ever wonders why Israeli search and rescue teams have a world-class reputation for their missions in disaster zones, it’s because they train for the events in simulated scenarios on custom-built disaster sites or on actual demolished buildings. Dozens of soldiers in their orange helmets (the colour of the HFC beret) swarm over the site, searching for human-size dolls buried under the rubble, cutting or sawing the concrete and metal with a variety of power tools, and evacuating and treating the injured. Sitting in the air-conditioned cabin of an excavator, with a kind of bird’s eye view of the operation, one can only ponder how practice does make perfect. In Haiti, the Israeli mission flew over the Atlantic, was first on the ground to set up a field hospital, and began evacuating the worst-hit areas, before the Americans had even woken-up. Operating a yellow machine (usually an excavator) at a disaster site requires delicate movements, eye contact and specific hand signal communication with soldiers on the ground. One can wait up to an hour for the engineer and rescue team to decide how best to chain an element, before it can be lifted. The machine is designed for the complete opposite type of work, i.e. moving material en masse and in large volumes. But such is the nature of search and rescue work, where

July 2017 HASHALOM 3 MISHNA IMPOSSIBLE 12 Prayer can be a blessing Berachot 8 By Warren Shapiro

When R’Yochanan heard that there were elderly people in Babylonia, he was amazed. Quoting “In order to prolong your days and the days of your children upon the land which Hashem has sworn to your ancestors to give them”, he stated that the verse implied that outside the land of Israel, there was no promise of a long life. R’Yochanan was then told that the elders of Babylon were people who arose early to attend synagogue in the morning and stayed late in the synagogue in the evening. He opined that this was the merit that gained them their long lives – as R’Yehoshua ben Levi said to his sons “Arise early and stay late when going to the synagogue in order that your days be prolonged”.

So, do you have to go to shul in order to merit a long life?

Until my dad died, my days were generally too busy for shul attendance – mornings were spent getting the kids ready for school and evenings were supper, bath and bed times. I also had to get myself together and run my practice, so shul was a luxury – unless someone desperately needed a minyan in which case I would try to make a plan.

Then this all changed – for the first thirty days after the funeral, I was at the morning and evening services every day. The time was found – whilst still dealing with everything else!

But something strange happened – every morning when I was putting on my tefillin in shul, a feeling of peace came over me. I didn’t always pray along or in time. Sometimes, I just sat and thought, but I came to relish that interlude before my day really began. The same thing happened at night (and before long I was leading the service, something I had never even contemplated before).

Sure I got a lift thinking about how proud my dad would be of me, but it SHOTLANDS was more – I felt a glow for those few minutes as I led the congregation in prayer before going home to the nightly chaos! PACKAGING Which brings me back to the question – is there a link between shul attendance and a long life? Perhaps the question can be approached differently – instead of asking if one merits the blessing of a long life because of daily prayer, perhaps we should ask if daily prayer is the blessing in itself? FOR ALL YOUR This idea is not limited to Judaism – consider any faith or movement that promotes a healthy lifestyle. They all promote the idea of quiet time, CORRUGATED positive thought, seeing the Divine in everything and consciously taking time to be grateful. BOX AND BOARD There seems to be an obvious link – a time to be grateful, to think and to say thank you generally means a time of peace. It is a short REQUIREMENTS space where stress can be banished, or at least be delayed. A brief period where we can orientate ourselves and maybe tune out the noise, focussing on what is important and what really isn’t. A reduction in stress is healthy and it must improve the odds of survival! If each day can begin and end with peace, surely this must make the time in between better as well? And if we live a more positive life, maybe we TRADE ENQUIRIES: will live a longer one? Tel: (031) 700 4711 • Fax: (031) 700 4723 P.O Box 801, PINETOWN, 3600 Perhaps that is what the Elders of Babylon had going for them – even E-mail: [email protected] in the midst of exile, each day started and ended with a blessing. Not Website: www.shotlands.co.za necessarily the words they said, but maybe just the time to say them.

4 HASHALOM July 2017 ISRAEL

THE KOTEL’S SYMBOLISM JERUSALEM POST EDITORIAL

As with any symbol, however, there is an ongoing battle among Jews both in Israel and in the Diaspora over what the Western Wall represents.

With his head covered by a kippa and his hand on the ancient stones of the Kotel, US President Donald Trump struck an August pose.

It was the most memorable image from his short visit to Israel.

Trump on Monday was not only taking time to pray at a site where generations of Jews have shed tears of mourning and hope, he was making a statement about Jewish ties to Jerusalem.

As with any symbol, however, there is an ongoing battle among Jews both in Israel and in the Diaspora over what the Western Wall represents.

Some insist on seeing it as a purely religious site – the world’s oldest synagogue with special attributes of holiness.

And as with any other synagogue, they believe it should be governed by strictly Orthodox customs.

Proponents of this approach seek to deny access to those who worship differently. A cabinet decision to create an egalitarian space at the Kotel for non-Orthodox streams of Judaism and for the Women of the Wall organization has been stymied by zealous politicians.

Others see political importance in emphasizing the Western Wall as a symbol of Jewish sovereignty. Archaeology is enlisted in the service of nationalism. The Temple Mount is the most salient example of the Jews’ illustrious past. It harkens back to an ancient time when Jews were a people with a common religion and language that populated the Land of Israel. Far from being European colonialism, the Jews’ creation of the modern State of Israel was a miraculous example of an ancient, exiled people returning to its homeland.

But while archeological proof of Jewish ties to the Land of Israel is an important component of present-day national identity, it does not serve as a solution to the very real problems and conflicts faced by the modern State of Israel. Jews, Christians, Muslims, Israelis and Arabs all have claims and grievances in Jerusalem. Acknowledging the historical ties of any one of these groups does not undermine the ties of any other.

The Kotel, indeed the entire Temple Mount, means different things to different people.

As a relic of the ancient Temple, the Western Wall is a reminder of the Jews’ glorious past. But the Kotel also serves as a focal point for contemporary activities. The IDF holds swearing-in ceremonies for soldiers there; new immigrants celebrate their homecoming in the Western Wall Plaza; fervently religious Jews of all backgrounds venerate the site as a gateway for prayer and a place where God’s presence is more pronounced. Jews adhering to Orthodox practice are not the only ones who yearn to pray at the Kotel. Jewish women who feel more comfortable worshiping God by wearing prayer shawls and phylacteries and leading prayers and reading from Torah scrolls also want a place at there. More liberal streams of Judaism that permit men and women to pray together rightly believe they should be allowed to worship the way they feel comfortable.

How are we to negotiate these different approaches to the Kotel that are often at odds with one another? Respect for freedom of expression should be the basis of any solution.

No single narrative of what the Western Wall represents should be permitted to dominate discourse or appropriate control. A poll conducted for the Schechter Institute of the Conservative Movement by the Geocartography Institute found that almost two-thirds of Israelis (62%) answered “yes” to the question, “Should everyone be allowed to pray at the Western Wall in an equal manner?” The Kotel is resonant with religious meaning. But it is much more than an open-air synagogue, let alone an Orthodox one. As a remnant of the Temple, the Kotel has meaning as archeological proof of deep Jewish ties in Jerusalem and in the Land of Israel. But it is not solely a national symbol reaffirming Jewish ties to the Land of Israel.

Only by upholding freedom of expression will every Jew regardless of religious or political background be made to feel comfortable at the Kotel.

Trump’s visit provides a unique opportunity to articulate what the Western Wall symbolizes as a focal point of prayer, a national site and a place resonant with Jewish history. Reducing the site to any one of these dimensions does an injustice to Judaism and to the Kotel.

July 2017 HASHALOM 5 ISRAEL STAYING IN AFRICA Netanyahu’s trip to Liberia is a step toward repairing ties with Africa.

JERUSALEM POST EDITORIAL

d’Ivoire are ranked among the fastest growing the world. A burgeoning middle- class is beginning to develop and with it many economic opportunities.

And there are many opportunities for post-IDF Israeli youths to combine the traditional trip abroad with volunteering to serve in Africa. NGOs such as Innovation Africa help develop solar energy, drip irrigation and other technologies on a continent in which 600 million live without electricity.

Israel’s ties with Africa were not always strained. Until the Six Day War and the Yom Kippur War when Africa came under the sway of the Soviet Union and the Arab nations, dozens of Israeli doctors, educators, youth leaders and agriculturalists helped newly created African countries take their first steps toward nation-building. It was only natural that there was an affinity between Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Netanyahu’s trip to West Africa is and these nations. These were peoples went to Liberia on Sunday to address the important on a number of different levels. who had suffered from discrimination leaders of the Economic Community of Diplomatically, Netanyahu hopes to and a lack of political sovereignty and West African States (ECOWAS). break the bloc of 54 African countries had finally regained autonomy in their that automatically votes against Israel in historical homelands. It was the first time a non-African leader the UN. An important part of Netanyahu’s addressed the gathering, a clear sign objective in courting Africa is to dissolve In his book Altneuland, published in 1902 of warming ties between the Jewish this bloc and sway it to support the Jewish just five years after the Zionist council state and the African continent, and state at the UN and in international of Basel formally initiated the drive for a Netanyahu’s second trip to Africa in less organizations. Jewish state, Herzl wrote: “Once I have than a year. Last July, he traveled to four witnessed the redemption of the Jews, East African countries – Uganda, Kenya, Like Israel, Africa is confronting Islamic my people, I wish also to assist in the Rwanda and Ethiopia – for the first visit terrorism from Al Shabaab, Boko Haram redemption of the Africans.” Golda Meir, by a sitting Israeli prime minister to Africa and Islamic State affiliates. Israel has one of the architects of Israel’s foreign in 29 years much to offer in the field of homeland policy doctrine, noted that “Like them security, whether it be advanced [Africans], we had shaken off foreign rule; Much of the news surrounding the one- technologies or training strategies. like them, we had to learn for ourselves day trip has focused on the king of Israel’s experience with its own terrorist how to reclaim the land, how to increase Morocco’s cancellation in protest against challenges, combined with its exceedingly the yields of our crops, how to irrigate, Netanyahu’s presence. But the very fact well-developed hi-tech sector has made how to raise poultry, how to live together that Netanyahu was invited to speak it a world leader in cyber technologies, as and how to defend ourselves.” before the representatives of the 13 well. African countries that make up ECOWAS Israel could provide a better model for is nothing short of extraordinary. In addition to the potential for military the newly independent African state, Meir Apparently, Israel is important enough cooperation, Africa can benefit from its believed, because Israelis “had been that organizers were willing to take the ties with Israel in other fields, as well. forced to find solutions to the kinds of risk of inviting Netanyahu despite the From fish ponds and agrotech for growing problems that large, wealthy, powerful possibility that some African countries produce in the desert, to water security states had never encountered.” might protest. and irrigation methods, Israel is a world leader. After decades of tense relations, Israel Bénin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, is now gradually nurturing these old Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Currently, imports to Africa make up commonalities for the benefit of both Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Nigeria, Senegal, just 3% of total Israeli exports so there Africans and Israelis. Netanyahu’s short Sierra Leone and Togo have official ties is much potential for growth. Countries trip to Liberia is yet another step toward with Israel. Niger and Mali do not. such as Ethiopia, Ghana and Cote repairing the lapsed ties with Africa.

6 HASHALOM July 2017 ISRAEL 50 YEARS LATER

BY NACHMAN SHAI - JERUSALEM POST

First we need to find a solution for ourselves, then we must reach out to our broader circle and settle the disputes with our Jewish brethren in the Diaspora.

Writing about the Six Day War, even 50 years later, I still feel the intense through the efforts it’s made to advance Israel-US relations. After France excitement that enveloped us all when it was actually happening. betrayed Israel in 1967 by imposing an arms embargo at our most crucial moment of need, the US stepped in. With the encouragement of its Jewish It’s strange. You might think 50 years would be enough time to gain community, it filled the void and became Israel’s most loyal ally. This some historical perspective, for feelings to turn into rational thoughts commitment translated into economic and military aid, which lifted us up and reflections. But it doesn’t work that way. The Six Day War was a and gave us a qualitative superiority over our neighbors, our enemies. formative event that suddenly and dramatically transformed the lives of everyone here in Israel – as well as those of our fellow Jews overseas – Israel’s brilliant military victory in 1967 gave us hold over a vast amount for generations to come. That’s what I write about today. of land. Some areas were returned to Egypt as part of a peace treaty and others remained under Israeli control – Judea and Samaria, which were to Only 19 years separate the 1948 War of Independence from the 1967 Six become someday an independent Palestinian state, in one form or another. Day War. Those were relatively quiet years, with only one war in-between in 1956 – plus a few sporadic terrorist attacks along the border. It was, The absurdity of it all is that this victory – the source of pride that united nonetheless, still a time of building, absorbing new immigrants and civil Israel with the Jewish world, especially with the US Jewish community – is service, which helped Israel gradually grow stronger. The Six Day War woke today the source of criticism and distance between Israel and American us from this dream and proved to us that Israel was not yet secure, that our Jews. What once unified us now separates us. The younger generations of country could be destroyed by a military conflict with any of our neighbours. Jews born in the US who didn’t experience the dramas of 1948, 1967 and 1973 firsthand, view them so differently from the way their parents do. An article in The New York Times this week even claimed Israel considered dropping a nuclear bomb in order to deter Egypt from attacking. Fear that For young people, Israel’s existence is an indisputable fact. They aren’t took hold of Israel and along with communities worldwide, we learned concerned about Israel’s safety or independence. Instead, they worry our Jewish homeland was far from secure and that it could not guarantee about the fact that “their” Israel has been occupying another people the survival of the entire Jewish people for 50 years. They can’t accept this and wonder why a solution to the conflict has not been found yet. They are concerned about the Within just one week, however, in June of 1967, our feelings of distress ramifications of continuing rule over the Palestinians, how it is going to living under siege were replaced with a wonderful feeling of freedom and affect Israel as a Jewish and democratic state, as well as its reputation power. During the days and weeks leading up to the war, Diaspora Jews in the international arena and in the US. Jewish students in universities bonded steadfastly with Israelis Jews, forming a deep bond that shaped in the US now find themselves increasingly on the front-line, without the relationship between the communities that would last for decades. answers, trying to defend Israel on and off campus against the Boycott, The Jewish world rushed to defend Israel, raise funds, mobilize its forces, Divestment and Sanctions movement and other attacks against Israel’s demonstrate and demand from governments around the world that they legitimacy. Unfortunately, these kids aren’t always equipped with the help prevent the destruction of the Jewish homeland. Jewish volunteers right answers. showed up in Israel willing to do whatever was necessary, and the number of Jews who made Aliya from Western countries skyrocketed to Now, 50 since the war, Jewish communities worldwide – including in 40,000 a year immediately following the war. North America – are shrinking. Assimilation and inter-marriage are the silent enemy that threatens the future of the Jewish people. The only place News of Israel’s victory broke through the iron curtain of the Soviet where the Jewish community is growing is in Israel – and at rates that are Union, and the Jewish community there woke and began demanding higher than average in Western countries. The mutual commitment that the authorities and international community open the gates and let was demonstrated during the Six-Day War has not weakened, but the Soviet Jews emigrate to settle in Israel. Between 1968 and 1973, close direction of help has switched. Now, it is Israel that feels responsible for to 100,000 Soviet Jews became new immigrants in Israel. This was just bolstering America’s weakening Jewish community, to keep this ancient the first wave, though, and soon after, a wave of antisemitism in Poland commitment to the Jewish people. spurred nearly 250,000 Jews to leave Poland and come to Israel over the next few years. The affinity between the Diaspora and Israeli Jewish This does not lessen the extremely important need, in my opinion, to bring communities deepened and it was fully understood that the only constants Israel back to the center of the consensus. Jerusalem, however, was always in the Middle East were that nothing was secure and that political and in the consensus – there has never been any true dispute over that. military upheavals could – and likely would – occur quite suddenly. We cannot afford to have significant parts of the Jewish world become After 1967, Israel underwent many dramatic changes: in addition to distant from Israel because of our relationship with the Palestinians. It is all the new territory, our social-economic thinking also became more a luxury we cannot afford. social-democratic – or to be more exact – Israeli socialists took on more capitalistic values that befitted a prospering, growing society. This trend First we need to find a solution for ourselves, then we must reach out to has strengthened since then. It has helped Israel develop a stronger our broader circle and settle the disputes with our Jewish brethren in the relationship with the American Jewish community, which rejected Diaspora. This the perfect time to announce that Israel will now, exactly socialist and communist views and wanted to see Israel become a liberal at this moment, become a unifying factor for the entire Jewish world. economic state with a free and democratic political culture. Dr. Nachman Shai is a MK from the Zionist Union, a member of the Knesset Since then, the American Jewish community has been the State of Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, and Chairman of the Lobby for Israel’s most important strategic guarantor in the world, both directly and Strengthening the Jewish People and US-Israeli relations.

July 2017 HASHALOM 7 ISRAEL Israel’s 1967 Victory Is Something to Celebrate The Six-Day War at 50

BY MICHAEL B. OREN - THE NEW YORK TIMES

JERUSALEM - Israelis are celebrating 50 years since the Six-Day Arabs in Palestine had accepted partition. Instead, the Arab states War - and with good reason. That victory saved us from destruction supported their intransigence and invaded Israel at the moment of and reunited our holiest city. Ultimately, it also brought us peace its birth. with Egypt and Jordan and a strategic alliance with the United States. The Palestinians, by contrast, are mourning a half-century of What began as a clash between Palestinian Arabs and Palestinian suffering. They claim that Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Jews changed overnight into the Arab-Israel conflict. The two-state Gaza subjected them to colonization and denied them statehood. solution twice turned down by the Palestinians, in 1937 and 1947, While the war certainly shaped the modern Middle East, it alone would be forgotten as Egypt occupied the Gaza Strip and Jordan cannot account for the contradictory ways Israelis and Palestinians annexed East Jerusalem and the West Bank. Yet the Palestinians commemorate it. The chasm can only be explained by events that showed no interest in establishing sovereignty in those areas. preceded it. Far beyond 1967, the Israeli-Palestinian dispute is in Instead, they rejected Israel within any borders. “We shall destroy fact about 1917, 1937 and 1947. Those anniversaries can teach us Israel and its inhabitants” swore Ahmed Shukairy, chairman of the much about the origins of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute and why Palestine Liberation Organization, on the eve of the Six-Day War. peace has proved so elusive. Israel’s shocking victory over three Arab armies, paradoxically, A century ago this November, Britain, anticipating Turkey’s defeat produced opportunities for breakthroughs. Israel accepted in the Middle East, issued the Balfour Declaration. Endorsed by the the principle of territory-for-peace contained in United Nations League of Nations, the declaration pledged to create a “national Resolution 242 and reunited the West Bank and Gaza under its home for the Jewish people” in Palestine. Britain did not commit to rule. Nevertheless, Palestinian groups continued to seek Israel’s creating a Jewish state in all of Palestine - the national home could elimination through large-scale terrorist attacks. When President have been tiny - and promised to uphold “the civil and religious Anwar Sadat of Egypt visited Jerusalem in November 1977 - yet rights of existing non-Jewish communities.” Still, the Palestinians another anniversary - Yasir Arafat, the P.L.O. chairman, threatened vehemently rejected the document. “We Arabs,” wrote Jerusalem any Palestinian in the territories who supported the initiative. notable Musa al-Husayni, would never accept “such a nation.” Palestinians who openly supported Sadat were shot. The P.L.O. attempted to thwart the subsequent Egypt-Israeli peace treaty by This year, Israelis are also celebrating the centenary of the Balfour launching the Coastal Road Massacre that killed 38 Israelis, 13 of Declaration because it formalized the international community’s them children. But the P.L.O. could not stop peace. Israel reconciled recognition of a Jewish nation and our 3,000-year attachment to our with Egypt in 1978 and, later, with Jordan in 1994, reverting the Arab- homeland. But the Palestinians are mourning it - their leaders have Israel conflict into an Israeli-Palestinian dispute. Efforts to address even called on Britain to apologize. Today, as in 1917, they view Jews this were undoubtedly complicated by the construction of Israeli not as a people with rights to a national homeland but as a religious settlements, but they never accounted for more than a fraction of the group and, throughout much of Islamic history, an inferior one at territories and the P.L.O. eventually accepted Resolution 242 and that. Understanding this reality helps explain why, in the 1920s, Arab signed the Oslo Accords with Israel. These agreements created the rioters murdered Palestinian Jews, desecrated synagogues and Palestinian Authority and, in 2000, led to a United States-Israeli offer eradicated the ancient Jewish communities of Hebron and Safed. of statehood in Gaza, East Jerusalem and almost the entire West Bank. But the Palestinians rejected the proposal with violence that Despite persistent Arab rejection of Jewish identity, the Zionist killed and maimed thousands — just as they did in 1937 and 1947. leadership recognized that the Palestinian Arabs were a people with The reason was not 1967, but 1917. sovereign rights. That acknowledgment was codified 80 years ago, in July 1937, with the Peel Commission in Britain, which divided Because of the legacy of 1917 - the Palestinians’ refusal to recognize Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. Though the Jews the existence and rights of the Jewish people - Palestinian Authority were allotted only one-third of the land, the Zionist leader David Ben- President Mahmoud Abbas ignored an even more generous offer Gurion supported the plan. The Arabs rejected it, proclaiming that for a West Bank-Gaza state in 2008. For the same reason, Israel’s the only acceptable solution would be “the complete cessation of the withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, uprooting 21 settlements, brought experiment of the Jewish National Home.” Buckling to Arab pressure, no peace but thousands of terrorist rockets fired at Israeli towns. the British cut off almost all Jewish immigration to Palestine, shutting Because of 1917, Abbas has paid over $1 billion to terrorists over the European Jewry’s last escape route from Hitler. past four years and named public squares and schools after Dalal Mughrabi, perpetrator of the Coastal Road Massacre. And because Finally, in 1947, after six million Jews had been murdered in Europe, of 1917, Israelis fear that Palestinians will respond to any future offer the United Nations stepped in. This November marks 70 years since of statehood in the lands captured in 1967 much as they did 1937 the General Assembly passed the Partition Resolution creating and 1947. The conflict is not about the territory Israel captured in independent Arab and Jewish states in Palestine. 1967. It is about whether a Jewish state has a right to exist in the Middle East in the first place. As Mr. Abbas has publicly stated, “I will The Zionist leadership, welcoming the United Nations’ recognition of never accept a Jewish state.” the Jewish people’s rights but also respecting Arab claims, embraced the plan. But the Palestinian Arabs once again rejected the idea of We’ll hear a lot this week about occupation and lack of Palestinian Jewish peoplehood and independence. Their leader, Haj Amin al- independence. Israel has a clear policy on this score: It does not Husseini, a Nazi collaborator who met with Hitler to ask him to extend want to rule over another people and is ready to begin immediate his anti-Jewish plan into the Middle East, swore that the Arabs would negotiations. Yet while Palestinian leaders claim they support a not only block partition but would “continue fighting until the Zionists two-state solution, until they state that they favor “two states for were annihilated.” And indeed they fought, ambushing Jewish buses two peoples,” affirming both Jewish and Palestinian peoplehood and car bombing public institutions. Arab militias besieged Jewish and rights, the conflict will tragically persist. It is only through Jerusalem, denying food and water to 100,000 civilians. mutual recognition that Israelis and Palestinians will both be able to celebrate, rather than mourn, future anniversaries. But the Jews fought back. Hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs became refugees. Historians debate the causes and Michael B. Oren, Israel’s deputy minister for diplomacy in the prime dimensions of what Palestinians refer to as the “Nakbah,” or minister’s office, is the author of “Six Days of War: June 1967 and catastrophe, yet these tragedies never would have occurred if the the Making of the Modern Middle East.”

8 HASHALOM July 2017 ISRAEL GALLERY: SIX-DAY WAR SOURCES: jewishvirtuallibrary.org, myjewishlearning.org, haaretz.com

From left, then-Maj. Gen. Uzi Narkis, then-Maj. Gen. Rehavam Zeevi, then- A makeshift memorial to the fallen from Paratroopers Brigade’s 28th defense minister Moshe Dayan and then-IDF chief of staff Yitzhak Rabin Battalion on June 5, 1967 visit the Western Wall in Jerusalem’s Old City on June 7, 1967

Soldiers carry away an injured comrade on a stretcher through the streets of the Old City of Jerusalem on June 7, 1967 The head of the IDF’s Harel Brigade Col. Uri Ben-Ari briefs his commanders on the outskirts of Jerusalem on June 1, 1967.

Paratroopers ride in a jeep near the East Jerusalem Female Israeli soldier carrying the neighborhood of A-Tur, with the ubiquitous UZI submachine gun Old City of Jerusalem behind An Israeli soldier guarding Egyptian prisoners at El Arish during the during the Six-Day War them, on June 5, 1967 1967 Six-Day War

A group of soldiers surrounds then-IDF chief rabbi A victorious Israeli convoy in Egypt Israeli gun boat passes through the Straits of Tiran near Sharm El Sheikh, June 8, 1967. (Yaacov Shlomo Goren as he blows a shofar at the Western Wall during the Six-Day War, on June 8 in Jerusalem’s Old City on June 7, 1967 Agar/Israel GPO)

July 2017 HASHALOM 9 ISRAEL ‘We will become a minority in Israel’: Six-Day War cabinet minutes released BY AMIR ALON - YNET

citizens in the occupied territories,” thereby seeting the stage for a debate that has continued up to the present day.

June 14, 1967: Discussing evacuation of Arabs from Jewish Quarter

At the end of the Shavuot holiday, the cabinet convened for a five-hour discussion, which began with a diplomatic briefing by Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gideon Rafael, who updated the ministers: “The United States said to us, ‘Help us. If you act modestly and talk less about territorial ambitions, but talk about security needs, the freedom of navigation and rights that you are entitled to, it will be much easier to enlist support at the UN.’”

Foreign Minister Abba Eban added, “The public opinion in the US is starting to turn against us. Words of criticism are being revealed against our desire to hold onto territory which isn’t The theme of almost every sentence from the secret ours. We are being advised to avoid any announcements on cabinet meetings on the future of the territories following annexation plans and to present a less triumphant and more the stunning Israeli victory echo in today’s political constructive appearance. The US government would like to discourse; ‘We must not return an inch of land,’ Minister know what are views are regarding the territorial questions, the Begin stated, while Defense Minister Dayan called for a refugee problem and Jerusalem’s status, in order to allow it to military rule in the West Bank; Minister Sapir’s comment form its policy. It seems to me that the government will soon reflected the dilemmas that remain in the heart of Israel’s have to take a stand on how it wants to rebuild the Middle East.” political debate 50 years later: ‘We can win a war and then

be in a constant battle which is worse than a war.’ Minister Yosef Sapir spoke about the difficulty in presenting On June 11, 1967, Israel’s citizens woke up to a different reality a stance arguing that Israel’s right to security allows it to hold that would shape the course of their history up to at least the onto the territories incorporated into its ranks after the war: “If present day. Following the stunning victory over the region’s this is about security, I don’t know what is left of the West Bank, armies, the young state’s territory grew fourfold in one military strictly between ourselves. We’ll go back to ruined Qalqilya and sweep, incorporating into its jurisdiction an Arab population of keep it, and the result will be that we won’t achieve peace.” about one million people. Minister Menachem Begin, the soon-to-be prime minister who When the battles ended and the euphoria subsided, Israel was staunchly advocated holding onto the new territories, replied: required to form its stance on the future of the territories it had “Heaven forbid, we must not be tempted to chase moderation conquered and the Palestinian residents living there, ahead of by saying that we have no territorial claims. We sat where we United Nations sessions on the issue. Every sentence uttered are sitting today 4,000 years ago. We should ‘electrify’ the Jews in those secret discussions reflects the dilemmas and disputes of America and hold mass protests, not just of Jews, but of that have remained at the heart of Israel’s political discourse to Christians too.” this very day. The first issue the ministers discussed was Jerusalem’s future. In honor of the 50th anniversary of the Six-Day War, the They agreed that the two parts of the city must be united and Israel State Archives released the transcripts of cabinet that the Old City’s Jewish Quarter must be rebuilt, especially the meetings and discussions of the ministerial committee on synagogues in it. At that point, however, there were Arabs living security affairs since the beginning of the tensions with in the Jewish Quarter, and the cabinet members were at odds Egypt and Syria, through the actual days of battle, to the over the way they should be handled. months after the war, when Israel was forced to deal with the new reality. “There was an idea to perhaps clear the Jewish Quarter of houses and move the Arab population elsewhere,” Eshkol said. “There June 10, 1967: What should be done with population in are 2,000 Arab families living there. There was thought to perhaps occupied territories? start rebuilding the synagogues first, and it’s also dozens of families, and these homes are destroyed with bulldozers. Perhaps In the cabinet meeting held Saturday evening, the ministers if they see that all hope is lost, they will move on their own.” decided to halt the fighting on the northern front and bring the war to an end. After Education and Culture Minister Zalman Development and Tourism Minister Moshe Kol opposed the Aran concluded that “this is the most legendary war in the move. “I am against removing the Arabs from the Old City’s Jewish history of the Jews’ wars and it will sustain the Jewish people for Quarter at this time, so as not to spark a dispute before the UN generations,” the ministers stood up to honor the memory of General Assembly session,” he said, before Deputy Prime Minister the fallen soldiers and raised a toast “L’chayim” (to life). Yigal Allon demurred. “I am in favor of clearing the Jewish Quarter of Arabs. If it isn’t done in the next couple of days, it will never be At the conclusion of the meeting, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol done. In addition, we should encircle the Old City with beautiful told his circle that “We have to decide what to do with the Arab Jewish neighborhoods.”

10 HASHALOM July 2017 ISRAEL

Defense Minister Moshe Dayan stressed, “We must decide is not Hussein, and Gaza isn’t Nasser. It’s Israel. Internally I to do that, and if we do, it has to be now. Within two-three say, don’t take in another million Arabs. In the West Bank, we days we’ll move them to empty houses around Jerusalem, must stick to a military rule for a long period of time. We won’t from Sur Baher to Ramallah. We won’t throw them out on the make any move which will drag us into a situation in which street. The houses that are standing empty won’t be empty they will be able to vote for the Knesset.” in a week from now. Bethlehem was nearly empty, and in the meantime, they started coming back. If we don’t do it now, Eban: “I suggest that it be an independent region to all intents there won’t be houses to transfer them to.” and purposes, that there will be an autonomous region and that they will be independent in every area, apart from Eshkol clarified his position on the matter. “If these families foreign and security affairs which are reserved for the central are moved to other homes, I won’t object. And if the owners of government.” that house arrive, we’ll evacuate them from this neighborhood to another neighborhood, but not in the Old City. It might be Allon: “Since we view the Jordan River as Israel’s border, I possible to find an empty compound in the Arab quarter and suggest that we create a settlement strip in the Jordan Valley.” settle Jews there, but it’s clear that we must first settle Jews in the Jewish Quarter.” Dayan: “In my opinion, there is no need to do that. If there is a need from a security perspective, we can station tanks At the end of the war it was decided to do everything in somewhere, but I wouldn’t recommend something that would the government’s power to evacuate the Arabs living in the mean settling in the area. I wouldn’t want to start now with a Jewish Quarter to other places in and around Jerusalem. If the settlement of the past.” reconstruction of the quarter required home demolitions, the Begin: “Nevertheless, we must speed up one process— cabinet would decide on the timing. creating a mixed population in the big cities like Hebron, Bethlehem, etc.” 10 am, June 15, 1967: An autonomic region vs. martial law Eshkol: “Perhaps we can move doctors, teachers and After deciding in the previous meeting that Jerusalem would professionals. Perhaps we can open a yeshiva in Hebron not be divided again, the cabinet held a short meeting, the again.” first in a series of discussions aimed at forming an Israeli stance on the future of the additional territories, focusing on Dayan: “If we say we don’t want the Arabs of Nablus to go to the issue of the West Bank and its residents. Haifa, we can’t demand that Jews settle in Hebron. We must decide if everyone is entitled to travel anywhere or if it’s a Foreign Minister Abba Eban briefed the ministers on the separate area.” American stance: “Their feeling is yes to Jerusalem, but no to the territories. They are stressing that it would be very bad if Begin: “In military rule there isn’t always free movement.” the world gets the impression that we really intend to hold onto the entire territory.” Dayan: “Apart from Jerusalem, I wouldn’t engage in any settlement now, neither in Gush Etzion nor in the Arava or Allon: “Let’s annex Mount Hebron till the Dead Sea, the Judea in Hebron. I want to look into a possibility of a geographic Desert plus greater Jerusalem to the State of Israel, with line, so that they will be there and we will be here. I don’t its Arab population. There will be one more ‘Galilee.’” Allon want us to declare an autonomy, because for me this issue of suggested turning the West Bank into an autonomic Arab preventing a million Arabs from joining Israel is as important region. “In this case,” he said, “they don’t get a voting right. I as the West Bank.” don’t care if the autonomic region is called Palestine, if they find it convenient.” 5 pm. June 15, 1967: ‘We’re going to get into trouble with the West Bank’ Eshkol: “I accept that Jordan is the border. We can’t take in 1 million or 1.2 million refugees and additional Arabs, Dayan: “I suggest that the West Bank regime will be a military because then we’re lost. We won’t be able to keep up with rule, in which Arabs from there won’t cross into the Israeli them in terms of birthrate, and in a few years they will ask territory, and vice versa. There is a geographic division here, why they don’t have a voting right, and then we’ll have terrible and we are not starting a carnival in which we travel freely to international problems.” the Cave of the Patriarchs and to Gush Etzion and they have Israeli relatives and travel here. Apart from Jerusalem, the Begin: “As for the eastern Land of Israel, we must not return border that existed will remain—they will be there and we an inch of land, because returning means handing it over will be here. to foreign rule. We liberated part of the Land of Israel. The concept of the Land of Israel includes Gaza as well. There “As to Hebron and Bethlehem, we will make arrangements. are historical rights. Now the question is what will happen Jews will want to travel to the Cave of the Patriarchs, tourists with the Arabs. I see a very great danger in declaring an will want to go to Bethlehem—we will make arrangements for autonomic region, because we may be calling for pressure for them. The only exception is Jerusalem, which moves to Israel. a Palestinian state. I suggest that we consider the following Jerusalem will be treated like Nazareth. We have received arrangement: For seven years, they will be residents rather another 100,000 Arabs, however.” than citizens. At the end of the seven years, we will be able to ask each and every one of them if he wishes to be a loyal Allon: “In Hebron, Bethlehem and the surrounding villages, citizen or perhaps wants to go to a different state.” there are about 60,000 Arabs—not such a terrible number, until we give up this important enclave, both for historical and Dayan: “The Israeli border is eastern Jordan. The West Bank religious reasons and for strategic reasons. For an addition

July 2017 HASHALOM 11 ISRAEL

of a few tens of thousands, I wouldn’t give up Hebron. At the we build the expanded Jerusalem, this city’s Arab residents same time, we must create settlement facts on Mount Hebron won’t immediately become citizens of the state according to and in that same area. We must also establish 12 communities, international law, unless we give each and every one of them kibbutzim and others, in the Hebron and Bethlehem area. the citizenship. Citizenship is not granted en mass, but each We must not even wait a month, and must immediately person receives the citizenship.” start building a chain of communities. We will build this strip precisely during the period of shock. We must start getting Kol: “These Arabs were born in the Land of Israel and you the West Bank’s Arabs used to the fact that they cannot move won’t treat them the way immigrants who came from other eastward or westward from their place of residence within countries are treated. Logic will lead to the Land of Israel’s today’s State of Israel.” transformation into a binational state, according to the path you are taking. You in Israel will have to treat the Arab resident Eshkol: “Every intelligent gentile with a conscience will want like the finest nations of the world. We do not wish to persecute things to be cleared. If you tell him, give me six months to monitories. Someone approached me yesterday and said, ‘The study the issue and in the meantime there will be a military state’s name should be changed. It should be called the Land rule—fine. But will they let us keep them that way for many of Israel.’ People are having many thoughts right now.” years?”

Finance Minister Pinhas Sapir: “We can win a war and then Minister Yisrael Barzilai: “I think we are going to get into be in a constant battle which is worse than a war.” trouble with this whole thing called the West Bank. We want

a new territory without the residents living there. You take a Eban: “Minister Begin’s proposal to include the entire area in territory without resident, you don’t give the residents civil Israel without granting citizenship has a vision of geographic rights. They are not citizens for all intents and purposes and integrity, historical integrity, the homeland’s integrity. But won’t be citizens for all intents and purposes. I don’t know why we are afraid to think about a possibility of a dialogue when I analyze it, I reach the conclusion that it’s a powder keg. with Hussein and with Jordan. If it turned out that he was able We are sitting with two populations, one which has all civil to accept some of Nablus with something else, it’s possible rights and the other which is denied of any rights. In other that we would then receive both a minimum number of words, this seemingly splendid sight at first glance becomes residents that remain with us and most of the territory. It may very gloomy.” be a fantasy in any case. Why are we afraid to talk to him and look into the issue?” Aran: “It’s an illusion to think that we will hold Arabs in Israel and won’t give them any rights. I would like to say that to Begin: “It doesn’t ring like a fantasy, but like a catastrophe. the State of Israel’s patriots. With my simple mind I say, we Namely, handing part of the western Land of Israel to could reach Israel’s defeat—Heaven forbid—through victory, Hussein.” because it won’t be the State of Israel with everything that it implies. Why do we need that? The way of thinking about Eshkol: “One thing is clear to me: I don’t want more land and I the West Bank should be, in my opinion, what not to do. don’t want more Arabs. The question is when will we become It’s perfectly clear to me that we are taking upon ourselves a minority in the state.” a strangling rope from different aspects without any benefit apart from historical sentimental satisfaction. The people of Begin: “I want all the cabinet ministers to know that when Israel have lived for 4,000 years, and will keep on living.”

Defense Minister Moshe Dayan at the Western Wall Damascus Gate, after the war (Photo: David Rubinger) (Photo: David Rubinger)

12 HASHALOM July 2017 JEWISH WORLD The Secret Jewish Origins of Wonder Woman Diana, Princess of Themyscira, Daughter of Hippolyta? Don’t be fooled by the Greco-Roman names. Wonder Woman has deep roots in Jewish lore

BY: NATHAN ABRAMS - HAARETZ

The latest superhero movie, “Wonder Woman,” is cloaked in But don’t be fooled by these Greco-Roman names. Wonder controversy. Because it stars Gal Gadot, a former Miss Israel Woman’s origins have deeper roots in Jewish lore. She, like and Israel Defense Forces combat trainer, it was banned in many other superheroes, is a contemporary reincarnation of Lebanon before its release. The Lebanese urged the Jordanians the famous legend of the golem, a humanoid sculpted from to do the same. “We remind the Jordanians of their obligation to clay and animated to do the bidding of the Maharal of Prague. boycott the film, and we refuse to be partners to the crimes of the Zionists and to increase their profits from this film,” reads a Wonder Woman, created by American psychologist William statement from a Jordanian campaign to ban it. Moulton Marston, may not have had a Jewish formation, but she was given her start by Jewish comics entrepreneur Max If that wasn’t bad enough, once the film was released, it became Gaines (née Ginzberg). She is part of a wider pattern in which the source of debate over Wonder Woman’s “whiteness.” Critics Jewish comic book writers and artists created all-American complained of the lack of women of color in the film, especially superheroes masking Jewish interiors, of which Superman may given the lead character’s Amazonian origins. Others noted that be the greatest example. No amount of makeover can erase Gadot cannot be considered Caucasian because of her Israeli these characters’ underlying Jewishness. origins. Backing up the latter argument is the history of Jews, particularly in the West, who neither considered themselves ‘Despite Wonder Woman’s success, the superhero universe, white Europeans nor were considered as such by the white from comics to fandom to movies, is still a man’s world.’ Gal Europeans themselves. Jews sought invisibility and had to earn Gadot in a scene from “Wonder Woman”.Clay Enos/Warner their “whiteness.” It was only begrudgingly bestowed upon Bros. Entertainment via AP. them when they had assimilated to the point of no longer being perceived as a threat by mainstream society. And like Superman and Captain America, Wonder Woman, who was created during World War II, was also enlisted in the fight But all of this misses the point. Superheroes all have a coded against Nazism. Jewish history, whether they were invented by Jews or not. To paraphrase the great American comedian Lenny Bruce: If you’re She was conceived as a feminist icon, predating and anticipating a superhero, you’re Jewish even if you’re goyish. the feminist movement of the 1960s, which had its watershed moment with the publication of Jewish writer Betty Friedan’s “The Superman was the creation of two American Jews, Jerry Siegel Feminine Mystique” (1963). Activist Gloria Steinam, who had a and Joe Shuster, who conceived of him as a conceptually Jewish Jewish father, put Wonder Woman on the first cover of the feminist character. Clark Kent is just a cover name, hiding an inner “Ms. Magazine” in 1971 and Jewish artist Dara Birnbaum created a Jewishness. As the novelist Michael Chabon wrote, “only a Jew Wonder Woman-inspired video installation around 1979. would pick a name like that for himself.” Captain America was also created by two Jews, Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg) and Wonder Woman is highly ethical. She seeks to heal a fractured Joe Simon (born Hymie Simon). They wished to create a new world, known in Judaism as tikkun olam. She adheres to a superhero to uphold American values in the face of the Nazi code of decency, known in Yiddish as mentshlekhkeyt. Wonder threat. He, too, hid beneath a goysiche name, Steve Rogers. Woman is a fine, upstanding and honorable human being, an exemplar of social justice. Wonder Woman fits into this trend. Born Diana, Princess of Themyscira, Daughter of Hippolyta, she also hides in plain sight So now we have come full circle. From gentile origins, Wonder under an assumed identity as Diana Prince. Her origin story tells Woman is finally outed as Jewish. Played by a Israeli woman, that she was born when her mother, Queen Hippolyta, sculpted her inner Jewishness is rendered explicit. Wonder Woman is her from clay. She became animate when Aphrodite breathed surely an example of an Eshet Chayil, a “woman of valor,” or in life into her, and the Greek gods gave her superhuman powers. other words, a tough Jewess with attitude

July 2017 HASHALOM 13 BUBKES

Thinking Outside The Box By Lauren Shapiro

They just don’t make things like they used to. My grandparents’ old box that enthralls children so? And I think I figured it out: kids have tumble dryer from circa 1978 is still going strong. Okay, we have the innate ability to see the power of potential. They don’t just see a to prop the door closed with a chair because the little latch is worn branded cardboard carton; they see the possibilities it holds. They out from nearly half a century of use, but the electric mechanism think outside the box – for real. It comes down to creativity (which works perfectly. is why the phrase “think outside the box” has become hackneyed to death in corporate marketing circles). Kids are naturally creative, On the other hand, for the last few years we’ve had to replace and it’s society that seems to beat it out of them – and us. our clothes iron and coffee grinder every 366 days – as soon as the standard warranty runs out. I believe the technical term It’s a mitzvah to emulate Hashem, and since He is our Creator, for this is “integrated obsolescence”, but I’m praying that’s an creativity is prized on the mitzvah-brownie-points scale. Hashem unethical urban legend. As it transpired, this month both our kettle instructs us to keep His commandments and to walk in His ways and toaster decided to give up the ghost within days of each (this is mentioned five different times in Deuteronomy alone). In this, other. Breakfast suddenly became complicated, but I’m pleased He provides His children (both juvenile and grownup) numerous to announce that we all survived. Both appliances had pretty opportunities to exercise our creativity and realize potential. For good runs, being wedding presents from over ten years ago, yet example, He gives us food in the form of fruits and vegetables it’s impossible to survive without such things (don’t kettles and and grains, but as much as I’m not knocking a nice, ripe apple, toasters sit next to oxygen and gravity on the scientific table?), so it ain’t got nothing on a freshly baked apple pie. The apple is the Hubby and I toddled off to procure replacements. cardboard box to my Wendy house/space rocket/caravan/canoe/ treasure chest/tent – it affords me the pleasure and satisfaction of We returned home pleased with realizing my creative potential. our new purchases: a four-slice “Kids have the innate ability toaster (we’re moving up in the Judaism is full of these world!) and a kettle with trendy opportunities. Shabbat candles blue LED lighting that flashes to see the power of potential” aren’t just sticks of wax – they are when you turn it on (let’s just see a way of seeing our loved ones in if it can boil water). While Warren and I read instruction manuals a new light. They are symbols that light our way in life and beacons the length of short novels and tried to find the most basic functions, of hope for our future. And, in some homes, they are a means to our kids were kept entranced with the empty boxes. continue playing Go Fish after the time-switch turns off the lights.

What is it about kids and boxes? My kids have a chest full of toys, Each year as we put up a sukkah, we can build something far but they often spend more time playing in the recycling drawer. more special if we work together as a family, use our creativity and I myself have photographs of three-year-old me playing with a think outside of the prefabricated poles and canvas. A sukkah can cardboard box in which came a very fancy doll’s house, with said be a temporary hut – or it can be a tabernacle for love and joy and house residing mournfully in the background (sorry, Granny). spiritual development.

One day a year or two ago while out walking in our neighbourhood, The ketubah is so different to secular ante-nuptial contracts: I saw a discarded washing machine box put out with someone’s where an ANC focuses on the prospective end of a marriage, the trash and I lugged it home for my kids, just having a feeling it would ketubah concentrates on the beginning and lays the foundations be enjoyed. That box became a Wendy house, a space rocket, a for a family built on love, commitment and chocolate (what, that’s caravan, a canoe, a treasure chest, a camping tent (very different not in there??). to the Wendy house – this was when the thing was basically collapsing on them and had acquired a texture more like burlap There’s a common theme here: love. Hashem loves us and wants than corrugated cardboard)… it kept them busy for weeks. Well, what’s best for us. Keeping His commandments and walking in they say one man’s trash is another kid’s treasure. His ways can help us to see life for what it is: a gigantic empty cardboard box full of magical potential. Watching now as I took a chapter-break in the tome of how to operate our new toaster (seriously, where is the “on” button??), I saw Feel free to come and discuss this further over a cuppa (if it doesn’t my three children thoroughly absorbed in the cardboard boxes and take me the next 364 days to finish reading this manual, by which bits of Styrofoam and I had to smile. It would have been the perfect time the warranty on the now-defunct kettle will expire). moment to sit with a quiet cup of tea and contemplate the magic of youth, but Warren hadn’t figured out how to work the kettle yet. Sigh. They sure don’t make things like they used to. Lucky the Torah has a lifetime guarantee. May we use it to unlock the power I sat and asked myself: what’s the chup? What is it about an empty of our own potential. Until next time.

14 HASHALOM July 2017 PAST TENSE

PAST TENSE By Pundit

HASHOLOM – July 1942 The C.N.J., in conjunction with the Jewish Education Council, arranged and organised a Youth Leadership Training Course at the DJC with 33 We still don’t know what happened to HASHOLOM from May 1942 to participants from all the Provinces in the Republic. Mr. J. Amiel, Director Rosh Hashanah that year: so nothing at all from 75 years ago. of the Youth Department of the Board of Deputies, directed the course which provided talks on a variety of topics: “Psychology of the HASHALOM July/August 1967 – extracts. Teenager in Modern Society” by Mrs. Cummings; “Youth Group No Editorial this month but an article entitled “WELCOME TO DR. Dynamics” by Mr. J. Amiel; “The Art of Public Speaking” by Mr. T. NAHUM GOLDMANN” published with an acknowledgement to “Jewish Stemp; “Jewish Day Schools” by Mr. J. Friedman; “Is Assimilation Affairs”, celebrating the visit which that “Jewish elder statesman” was to Threatening our Community?” and “Pop Music” by Mr. R. Ellison. make to Durban on 30 August. Dr. Goldmann was visiting South Africa as Col. Monbaz came to Durban especially to deliver a lecture the guest of the Board of Deputies for the first half of his short stay and of entitled “Relationship between Youth in Israel and the Diaspora”. the Zionist Federation for the second half. As a result of the dangers Israel had been facing, which led up to the Six Day War, the United Communal The issue even contained a photograph of all the participants in the course. Fund had in effect suspended all its activities for the duration of the Emergency Campaign; and its workers had thrown in their lot with the Well, I think Hashalom should have been more exciting than that after Emergency Drive. It was in the interests of the U.C.F. that Dr. Goldmann Israel’s miraculous success in the Six Day War, don’t you? was visiting Durban.

STIRRING CALL FOR SOLIDARITY This was the headline to a report on the Annual General Meeting of the Durban Branch of the Jewish Ex-Service League, which described the keynote address given by Colonel Jack Monbaz, the Consul-General of Israel.

FIRST CEREMONY ON MOUNT SCOPUS IN 19 YEARS proclaimed the report on the recent Graduation ceremony of the Hebrew University at which honorary doctorates were awarded to amongst others, the President of Israel, Mr. Zalman Shazar and the Chief of Staff of the Israeli Defence Forces and “the architect of the recent victory”, Major-General Yitzchak Rabin. The report states, not unexpectedly, “When Major- General Rabin’s name was called out, the applause was tumultuous”.

BOOKS IN THE CLUB LIBRARY included • “A Biography of Leonard Bernstein” (who still had another 23 years of life left in him) by David Even. • “The Murderers Among Us” by the famous Nazi-hunter, Simon Wiesenthal.

LETTER FROM ISRAEL by former Durbanite, Sarah Patz, described life in Israel during the Six Day War written from the point of view of what the author was, a mother of a paratrooper who served in the war on three fronts, Sinai, Jerusalem and Syria. A very moving story it was too!

Then followed another letter from Israel, written, so we are told, by a non-Jew who was holidaying in Haifa during the “recent Middle East War”.

Much of the rest of the issue was taken up with topics relating to the youth.

Thus, Carmel College had two representatives, Suzanne Goldberg and Lyle Edelstein, on the Junior City Council which had been inaugurated by the Junior Chamber of Commerce.

July 2017 HASHALOM 15 COMMUNITY NEWS

By: Sylvia Collins

Beth Shalom staff once again proved their loyalty to the Home and to our residents during the one day Taxi strike. Staff had to walk from the Market, the Workshop and from the City centre in order to get to work. So on behalf of our Committee and Management Team we express our sincere thanks to the staff who made the extra effort to get to work. Unfortunately one or two were unable to get to work due to the protest. So the Home ran smoothly during this strike due to our dedicated and loyal staff with no disruptions fortunately.

Beth Shalom is presently upgrading the Security at the Home due to generous donors who are committed to ensure that our residents and staff are safe, so a big thank you to the donors who are supporting this initiative.

A special party was held for Barbara Daniels for her 95th birthday. A very special day for Barbara as her whole family was able to join her for her special day. Family came from UK, Israel and America.

It was a wonderful afternoon for her family and all the residents who enjoyed the delightful music by Igal. There was lots of singing, dancing and lovely eats.

We also had birthdays for the following residents during the month food. This is an event not to be missed. Diarise the date. of May: Gillian Salakoff and Cherna Stevenson on the 11th; Sheila Schulman and Marcia Firer on the 15th; Barbara Daniels on the 23rd Our Gala Concert will be held at the Jewish Club on the 27th August and Ethel Stiller on the 24th. We wish them all a hearty Mazaltov. 2017, tickets will be going on sale soon. This event is also not to be missed. Beth Shalom also hosted the Limmud Function which was very successful and well attended; this was hosted by Lynn Matisonn Our residents enjoyed Shavuot with lovely meals, so a big thank you to and Rachel Puterman. Well done ladies for a lovely event which our our kitchen staff who made this so enjoyable for our residents. residents thoroughly enjoyed. Everyone loved the delicious eats. A big thank you to our catering department at the Home, for assisting with NEW RESIDENTS: this event. Beth Shalom is very fortunate to have two lovely new ladies who have moved into the Home. Mrs Zara Harber moved into the Home on the The winners of our Fund Raising Event for the ‘Poker Raffle’ were: 31st March 2017. Zara is so happy at the Home and is now wishing 1. Ralph Chin who won an African Shaped Bottle of Liqueur. that she had moved in prior to her admission date. She has renovated 2. Sidney Lazarus who won x 2 R500 Zapper Vouchers. her room and it is lovely. We are all so happy that Zara is happy at the 3. Sidney Lazarus who won a Garden Umbrella. Home. Zara joins in all our Activities such as music appreciation, bingo 4. Michael Freedman – won 1.5 L Lanzerac Wine and Crystal glasses mornings and is an avid reader and a great bridge player. with Ice Bucket. 5. Beare Holdings – TV Set. Mrs Pamela Meyerowitz has also moved into the Home on the 6th 6. David letchart – Explorer and Michael Kors Ladies Watch. April 2017. Pamela has settled down well and has a great social life. 7. Michael Sevel – Bicycle. Pamela is worried that she may put on weight since she is eating great food three times a day. Our Poker Event will be hosted on the 20th August 2017 at the Jewish Club. We are looking forward to a great event and looking forward to Beth Shalom Committee and Staff wish our new ladies many happy many players. There will be lots of lovely prizes to be won and divine years of living at the Home.

16 HASHALOM July 2017 COMMUNITY NEWS

By Cheryl Unterslak

During my trip to Israel I met with Meirav who was badly injured in the bus #2 bombing during the second intifada. Meirav, her four siblings and both parents were injured in the bombing and Meirav had a long road to recovery both physically and emotionally. DIVOTE has been with her for all these years and she is very aware of the love and support from the South African Jewish community and the Moshal family, who visited the family with me a few years ago.

I was so happy to hear that Meirav got engaged and that she is now getting married this month. The whole DIVOTE team was invited to the wedding, and she and her mother thanked us for being there for them all these years.

I met Meirav in her mother’s home and I gave her a DIVOTE wedding box filled with magnificent gifts bought by a wonderful family in the Durban Jewish community in lieu of a wedding gift for a young Durban woman who recently got married. There were also other gifts from members of the DIVOTE team and other members of the community. Meirav was so excited and happy to receive the kitchen utensils, cutlery, a dinner set, quilts, towels and much more for her new home. Meirav was glowing with happiness and appreciated every single gift. We all wish her all the best for the future and lots of years of happiness.

During my trip I also went to numerous families to deliver bar or batmitzvah gifts to children. These gifts were all given by a bar/ batmitzvah from Shaarei Torah School, in Johannesburg. It is very special that these children partner with another bar/batmitzvah to celebrate with them and to do such a lovely chesed for them that gives these children so much comfort and happiness. Below are a few photos of some of the children that received their gifts. Some have just had their lives affected by terror in recent terror attacks and some are still recovering from other attacks that have taken place over the years. The children and their families were very grateful that they had been remembered and cared for. They wrote letters and sent gifts to the bar/batmitzvoth in Johannesburg who sent gifts to them. The happiness and excitement of each of the children when they received their gift was wonderful to see, and their families were also so very appreciative.

If you would like to make a donation in lieu of a gift for a simcha and have a gift bought for a child/chattan and kallah etc. in Israel. DIVOTE will send a letter telling them about the donation and what it was used for and wishing them Mazeltov.

Azriel with his Harel with his Meirav with her Noa with her barmitzvah gift barmitzvah gift wedding gift batmitzvah gift

Devorah with her Tehilla with her Natan with his Noa with her Oz with his Ranana with her batmitzvah gift batmitzvah gift barmitzvah gift barmitzvah gift barmitzvah gift batmitzvah gift

July 2017 HASHALOM 17 COMMUNITY NEWS

By Michael Greenbaum

Shavuot Celebrations: Our Time of Receiving the Torah

Shavuot celebrations began with the traditional first night dinner in the Sacher Family Hall at the new Silverton Road Synagogue which had been beautifully decorated with drawings by the pupils of the Umhlanga Day School. With great communal spirit, families and friends enjoyed the superb dinner catered by Selma Lurie and the educational and informative quiz led by Orli-Shein Essers based on our knowledge of Shavuot where the correct answer earned Israeli chocolates for our guests.

We celebrated the Chag with Rabbi Lebowitz reading the inspirational Megillat Ruth. Before the chag, Rabbi Lebowitz gave an enlightening and useful shiur on why we read the Megillat Ruth on Shavuot. He said there were no specific religious obligations to read Megillat Ruth on Shavout. He said it may connect us to Ruth’s descendant, King David, who passed away on Shavuot. But Rabbi Lebowitz said Ruth was the exemplary convert who dedicated her life to accepting the Torah. He said Ruth waited for Boaz, her kinsman and redeemer to do what was required of him, redeeming the land and marrying her and to correct the seemingly improper seductions of her ancestors, Lot and Judah. He said that Mount Sinai was held over the Children of Israel like a “chuppah” showing our relationship with Torah is like a marriage which must be fulfilled each year on Shavuot, acknowledging that the Torah is from Hashem and living according to its laws and principles.

In His kindness, Hashem gave us the Torah and so we read Megillat Ruth on Shavuot because it contains many examples of acts of kindness and compassion by Ruth and Boaz as it relates the touching and emotional story of Ruth who received the Torah as Bnei Yisrael did on Shavuot, and her devotion to Judaism and kindness to her mother-in-law, Naomi, teaching us a lesson of the importance of loyalty and love of family and faith.

DUHC Annual General Meeting 2017

The DUHC recently held the 81st Annual General Meeting and the past year’s events and achievements were the focus of the meeting. The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and called on Rabbi Zekry to deliver the opening address. Rabbi Zekry said on Shabbat, the angels follow us home and see Shalom (peace) in the household. He said may the angels come and see peace in our new Silverton Road Synagogue. He compared the contributions of oil by the Tribe Leaders and community for the Temple Menorah to the community contributions to building the new Shul. He said that what we have achieved is a miracle, and despite challenges, this community is truly blessed. Rabbi Zekry thanked Chairman Maurice Sacher for his time, effort and problem-solving: Stan Oshry and the many others who made the construction of the new Shul a reality. He said our problems are similar to other communities including dwindling communities, Shul attendance and individual loneliness. He said we must work on ourselves and emphasized participation in what is offered in the community and said “May we go from strength to strength.”

Chairman Maurice Sacher then presented the Council’s Annual Report, reviewing the year’s past significant events. Regarding the sale of Silverton property, he said that the challenges of moving from the Great Synagogue were extremely high. He thanked Hashem for the successful completion of the project. He especially thanked Rabbi Zekry, Julian Beare and David Levine and Paul Gering for their assistance.

The Chairman thanked Rabbi Lebowitz, Rev. Brian Lurie, DUHC Chazzan Jaron Kalomonowitz, the Office staff, the Synagogue Women’s Guild and the Choir. The Chairman also thanked the various benefactors, Trustees and Foundations who contributed so much to the DUHC and especially Sidney Lazarus and Michel Aronoff for their fundraising efforts for the Rosh Hashanah community publication. The Chairman closed his report by thanking the Executive and Council for its support over the past year and thanked his wife, Rhoda, for her constant support during his 28 years of service at the DUHC. The Chairman thanked Alex Zingol for his commitment to the daily minyan and urged members to attend daily services as it was increasingly difficult to obtain minyanim.

Honorary Treasurer Bradley Vinik then presented the Treasurer’s Report informing the congregation that the Council had agreed not to increase membership fees. Mr. Vinik also thanked benefactors, Shul staff and the Council for their assistance.

The new Council was elected with Maurice Sacher continuing as the DUHC Chairman and Warren Shapiro as newly elected Vice- chairman. The new Council includes many young dedicated individuals with foresight and commitment. The congregation thanks the Council for their personal dedication and for always working in the best interests of the synagogue and the community.

18 HASHALOM July 2017 COMMUNITY NEWS

By Jess Stout

Akiva College was very busy during the second part of the Omer. After commemorating Yom Hashoah and Yom Hazikaron, and celebrating Yom Haatzmaut, we moved right on to preparations for Yom Yerushalayim. Students watched a video about Jerusalem and the 6 Day War, before taking part in a flag ceremony, as is customary in Israel. Students marched to the “Kotel” waving their Israeli flags and sings songs about Israel and Jerusalem.

Next it was time to get ready for Shavuot. Students spent many hours creating beautiful flowers and fruit with which to turn the Durban and Izinga Shuls into flowering Hara Sinai’s. They also decorated boxes for Bikkurim and brought generous amounts of fruit and vegetables to fill the boxes with. The pre-primary and junior primary phases also got the opportunity to see a real Torah in Shul, as well as listen to Rev Friedman reading a paragraph.

The Friday before Shavuot, Akiva College joined in with school all over South Africa to take part in Generation Sinai. This amazing initiative by the Chief Rabbi provides the most fantastic material for parents to learn with their children. This year’s topic was all about the mezuzah, and parents and children filled up the Shull, taking the the time to study Torah together. Everyone left feeling spiritually rejuvenated and ready to accept the Torah again on Shavuot.

Levi and Juanita Katzer learning with Aaron The pre-primary and junior primary classes Aviva Shapiro opened the ark for Rev Friedman brought their Bikkurim boxes to the Shul to take the Torah out

Listening to the Torah being read The Grade 6 class decorated the Izinga Shul Yom Yerushalayim flag ceremony

Eithan Moss learning with his parents and Ayush Jace and Janine Greenstone Shiri Conner learning with Ben and Amahle

July 2017 HASHALOM 19 COMMUNITYCOMMUNITY NEWS NEWS

By Gilad Friedman

Lag Bomer was held on Saturday 13 this year and gave six excellent May, on the terrace at the UJC. The shiurim throughout the week. We are theme was beat ‘n eat; Drum Shack, seeing an awakening of appetite for hot dogs and bonfires. Torah learning and decided to extend the learning program from Tikkun Leil On the night of Shavuot a Tikkun throughout the week. Leil is held. This year the learning experiences began a day early and On the Shabbat following Shavuot, continued throughout the week into two youth lunches were held. the following Shabbat. These incredible programs could not The night before Shavuot a pre- have taken place without inspired Shavuot ladies night out was held; and passionate people who have Shiur by Tracey Friedman, wine worked hard for months to ensure tasting and snacks. The first night the success of a magical week. Shavuot dinner had over 140 people booked. Rabbi Alon Joseph from On behalf of the UJC, thank you for Arachim was the scholar in residence your drive to build community.

20 HASHALOM July 2017 COMMUNITY NEWS

Young Israel Centre By Jess Stout

May has been a great month at the Young Israel Centre. We hosted the first Youth lunch for the term on Saturday 20 May, with 6 children from Durban between grades 4 and 8. We also had a university student attend. The youth enjoyed lunch and socializing over an exciting game of Risk. Thank you to Orli for organising and we hope to have many more lunches during the rest of the year.

On Saturday 27 May, the Young Israel Centre hosted the first official Cholent Club lunch. 2 families made different cholents, while the rest of the food was sponsored. Numerous families attended, with almost 30 people in total enjoying the yummy coolant and great company.We are hoping to bring together as many families living on the Durban side as possible for these lunches, which will be held on a monthly basis. Well done to Rabbi Lebowitz for spearheading this project.

Cheder continues every Sunday. We are currently focusing on Davening with the children who attend. They have just started learning the amidah and are doing fantastically.

Talmud Torah By Cheryl Unterslak

Exciting news! Talmud Torah shiurim and learning material will be available to everyone online, with whoever registers with Talmud Torah soon.

The lessons are going well in all the schools as well as the mishna learning after Shabbas.

I have just returned from Israel with a lot of excellent new material bought from educators for all age groups and these will enable the children to learn in a fun way, with visual references.

If anyone would like to join in with the learning and to also have the opportunity to learn with Rabbi Vegoda and Rabbi Garber, please contact me.

July 2017 HASHALOM 21 COMMUNITY NEWS

By Diane McColl

June was Youth Month and to celebrate this Netzer Durban conducted a Shabbat service on Friday, 30 June. Congregants showed their support for the future generation of the DPJC by attending this service and came together for a brocha sponsored by Netzer afterwards.

22 HASHALOM July 2017 COMMUNITY NEWS Mazaltov Martin Moshal Martin Moshal was the deserved recipient of a 2017 Honorary Doctorate at the Haifa Technion on 12 June 2017. His citation was as follows:

Martin Paul Moshal “In recognition of your significant contributions to education and industry in Israel; in appreciation for your generosity – enabling disadvantaged students to attend Technion through the Moshal Scholarship Program, thereby profoundly changing their lives and the lives of those in their communities; and for your friendship to Technion.” Martin and family

What an outstanding achievement! Mazaltov Martin!

Martin with Moshal Scholars

Martin and his wife Ilana

July 2017 HASHALOM 23 COMMUNITY NEWS DURBAN Wotsup Wizo DURBAN By Michelle Campbell Klassy Tea Laughter is the fireworks of the soul! In the spirit if these fine words, on Wednesday 7 June, WIZO staged a deliciously scrumptious Celebrating the Jerusalem Jubilee and hilariously funny “Klassy Tea” with the oh-so-fabulous comedienne Tracy Klass. The sidesplitting laughter was proof that there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour! On June 7, 1967, corresponding to the 28th day of the Jewish month of Iyar, Jerusalem was reunified under Israeli sovereignty. The 50th anniversary of this auspicious occasion for the Jewish people was celebrated in Durban on 24 May at the Durban Jewish Centre. Classy it certainly was…banquette tables were exquisitely laden with lip-smacking eats & treats. We extend big kudos & gratitude to Leemor Berchowitz and her team who generously volunteered their time to make & bake all the delectable. Big thumbs’ up also goes This extremely well attended event opened with a wonderful video made to mark the occasion, to Anna Moshal who lent us a hand and prepared her legendary sarmies. To add to the stylish ambiance, up & coming artist Angelika featuring Rabbi Jonathan Sacks. This was followed by audio visual material on Jerusalem which transported the audience to the world the Holy City. Suzanne Edmunds and Mike Hirshovitz then Anastasis-Lan exhibited some of her contemporary pieces as well as donating a beautiful artwork for our raffle. Big thanks go to Igal enthralled us with tales of their experiences as volunteers in Israel in the weeks following the Six Day Abergal for providing some super-cool tunes! War. Rachel Puterman added to this in reading a narrative by an American Christian Pastor who was in Israel at that time, an experience which has stayed with him all his life. Lastly big appreciation & thanks goes to all the sponsors (to many to mention) and all the wonderful ladies who attended, all together The main speaker of the evening was Mr Itai Melchior, Head of Trade and Economic Office at the making this fundraiser an extraordinary... Embassy of Israel in South Africa. Mr Melchior, in his usual entertaining and informative manner, spoke on the Jerusalem of today, of diversity and co-existence, of a city of hi-tech and innovation. “Klassy Tea”! The reunification of Jerusalem is, for many, the “crown jewel” in the amazing accomplishment by Israel in the war which lasted only 6 days. In the months preceding the war, Israelis had felt very much alone, surrounded by enemies baying for Jewish blood. Many accounts have described Michelle Nathan the uncertainty and anxiety that gripped Israel in 1967. The fear of a second Holocaust was intense, to the extent that across Israel, thousands of graves were dug in preparation for the terrible slaughter expected. What came instead, was victory on a biblical scale — a victory that astonished Israel as much as it shocked the world. Fifty years on, the celebration focussed not only on the victory of the reunification, but on the outstanding progress that Jerusalem has made since then, to become the modern, vibrant and accessible city that we see today.

If you were not able to join us on Yom Yerushalayim, you can still get to share some of the audio visual material screened at the event by going online: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dd9PCaqWQaI and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YfpwILcri_A

Unfortunately, regarding the delicious Israeli snacks, cheesecakes and Israeli wines which were served on the night, there is nothing we can do about sharing with you. The next time the KNZC hosts an event, don’t miss out! If you would like to be on the KNZC mailing list, email us your details at [email protected] Errata: Yom Haatzmaut photo spread, in the June 2017 edition of Hashalom A photograph was unfortunately captioned incorrectly. In a photograph with Danielle De Gaye, we captioned Eli and Rachel Cohen. This was incorrect and should have been Eliahu and Rachel Shalem. Apologies for this error.

SAVE THE DATE – FUTURE EVENTS! 67 Minutes

Tuesday 18 July 2017 “67 Minutes for Mandela” Durban Jewish Club 09h00 to 10h07

In association with theUnion of Jewish Women Union of Jewish Women

Thursday 10 August 2017 Welcome the Cycalive Team to Durban (late afternoon) For more details, please call contact Jen Hackenbruch on 031 335 4452

Contact us: 031 337 7070 | [email protected] WIZO South Africa 24 HASHALOM July 2017 DURBAN Wotsup Wizo DURBAN Klassy Tea Laughter is the fireworks of the soul! In the spirit if these fine words, on Wednesday 7 June, WIZO staged a deliciously scrumptious and hilariously funny “Klassy Tea” with the oh-so-fabulous comedienne Tracy Klass. The sidesplitting laughter was proof that there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour!

Classy it certainly was…banquette tables were exquisitely laden with lip-smacking eats & treats. We extend big kudos & gratitude to Leemor Berchowitz and her team who generously volunteered their time to make & bake all the delectable. Big thumbs’ up also goes to Anna Moshal who lent us a hand and prepared her legendary sarmies. To add to the stylish ambiance, up & coming artist Angelika Anastasis-Lan exhibited some of her contemporary pieces as well as donating a beautiful artwork for our raffle. Big thanks go to Igal Abergal for providing some super-cool tunes!

Lastly big appreciation & thanks goes to all the sponsors (to many to mention) and all the wonderful ladies who attended, all together making this fundraiser an extraordinary...

“Klassy Tea”!

Michelle Nathan

Contact us: 031 337 7070 | [email protected] WIZO South Africa July 2017 HASHALOM 25 1100tthh DDUURRBBAANN LLIIMMMMUUDD CCOONNFFEERREENNCCEE ttoo bbee hheelldd aatt tthhee DDuurrbbaann JJeewwiisshh CCeennttrree 99 AAuugguusstt 22001177

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Fun for the kids - of all ages...... Loads of activities and entertainment as well as all day long care

Plenty for the adults - a wide range of topics and presenters. Choose from 12 internationals and 5 nationals. The line-up includes Middle-East experts, Israeli analysts, performers, artists, text teachers, leading academics and rabbis from diverse sectors of the Jewish community.

Kayli Levitan Emmanuel Santos Miri Eisin Pop-up Charity Store International Photographer Intelligence Squared Miri Eisin served in the IDF Kayli is the creator of ‘The Born in the Philippines, Emmanuel is an Australia intelligence community for Street Store’ - the world's rst based documentary and art over twenty years and was pop-up charity store. photographer. For more than a Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's international media adviser. decade now, Emmanuel Santos She has become one of Israel's The Mail and Guardian named has been tracing the songlines her as one of the Top 200 main voices, speaking on of the Jewish spirit. regional geo-politics, giving Young South Africans of 2015, security and intelligence she was one of Glamour His photographs are memory b r i e  n g s i n I s r a e l a n d Magazine's Women of the Year tracks spiralling through worldwide, and commenting and already has a Ted talk history, hinting at the prophecy on the different narratives w i t h i n t h e I s r a e l i - under her belt. of ingathering from every corner of the earth. Palestinian/Arab conict.

Catch our 10th Anniversary Early Bird Special - R100 for adults, R50 for kids - ONLY till 15 July 2017 To register for Limmud Durban please see the insert in this edition of Hashalom Alternatively, please contact: Rochelle at [email protected] or on 084 446 6362

BOOK NOW TO SAVE YOUR SPACE Visit our website for more info on our exciting presenters [email protected] COMMUNITY NEWS

Union of Jewish Women

UJW 79TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

he UJW-Durban has had several successful meetings over the In her expressing her thanks Mary acknowledged that her late years and this year was certainly up there with the best of them. mother-in-law, Jean Kluk z’l would have been very proud of her TIncluded in the agenda was a presentation to Mary Kluk, current achievements and also that this honour had been bestowed on her President of the SAJBD, having held office on many other Communal by the Union. Jean z’l was a long standing dedicated member of the organizations both locally and nationally. Below are extracts from Union and a past Executive Chair. Linda Nathan’s address. A highlight of the meeting was the guest speaker, Courtneigh Mary, we the UJW Durban believe the time has come to recognize your Bernstein. Courtneigh already has an impressive CV which extraordinary and impacting contribution to our community, to the includes time graduating from Yad Vashem in teaching the Shoah South African Jewish Community and to World Jewry. We believe that and participation in New York in the Jewish Partisan Education in our community you are the true essence of a respected leader, a Foundation 3rd Generation group. She was introduced by her very great educator, a shining role model and a Woman of Worth. proud mother-in-law Andy Bernstein. Courtneigh, a dynamic young lady, had the audience listen in awe to some of her late grandfather, In detailing Mary’s impressive CV Linda mentioned Mary’s accomplishments locally, nationally and internationally. Israel Gurwicz’s z’l story. It was an honour to hear a grand-daughter speak with such passion about the importance of perpetuating her In conclusion Linda said “In keeping with the tenets of the Union of grand-father’s legacy. Courtneigh currently works as an educator Jewish Women of SA, the Circle of Excellence is awarded to women at the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre. She most whose deeds and actions enrich and empower the lives of the people certainly must be an inspiring lecturer. of South Africa. You have more than enriched and empowered the lives of your own community and beyond. On behalf of the UJW it is In thanking Cournteigh, Jenny Kahn, said it had been a privilege to my pleasure to present you with this “Circle of Excellence” brooch in listen to her and in appreciation a generous donation had been made recognition of the remarkable contribution you have made. Thank you”. to the Durban Holocaust Centre in memory of her grand-father.

July 2017 HASHALOM 27 COMMUNITY NEWS

Eden College By Norma Bloch

Shalom

The 2nd term started with our Yom Hashoah ceremony. We were honoured to have our Matric History Teacher, Mrs Marcellin, as our guest speaker. She discussed the roles of the perpetrators, collaborators and bystanders in the war, explaining how each group contributed to the escalation and devastation of this tragedy. The take home message she left our pupils with, is to never be a bystander but to have the courage to stand up and fight for humanity.

Juxtaposed to this sombre Yom Hashoah day was the joyous celebration of Yom Haatzmaut. Our annual Israeli market adorned in the colours of blue and white, was thoroughly enjoyed by pupils and their families alike. It was so rewarding to see the parents participating and interacting with the children and together successfully manning each activity. Once again we relished the tasty falafel fare made lovingly by our own “Judaica Chef” Mr. Russel Wolman. The highlight of the day was when each pupil hand painted their own “I love Israel” t-shirt, which they will proudly wear to future functions.

Lehitraot until next month.

28 HASHALOM July 2017 July 2017 HASHALOM 29 COMMUNITY NEWS

By Micaela Browde

Project Ten Cohort 3 has landed in Durban and we’ve hit the ground running!

We started off our orientation week by welcoming Shavuot with flowers and lots of delicious dairy food. We would like to thank the KNZC for their generosity which made a very special meal possible. We continued our busy week of orientation with visits to, and discussions with, all of the volunteering projects.

This Cohort is split into 3 groups - Education, Social Development, and Agriculture. Groups have all been very busy these past couple weeks planning, building, teaching and planting, all while learning about our new Durban community and soaking up the South African culture.

We are thrilled that we are continuing with existing projects – continuing to provide adult computer courses with Protec; youth development sessions with the refugee community at Tumaini; and a growing relationship with Amaoti 3 combined schools.

We are also very excited to embark on new projects. We have partnered with Zwakele Primary School (in Amaoti) where we are spending 2 full days a week teaching, assisting and running extra special classes for the children. This month, we are focusing on teaching self defense so that the children know how to keep themselves safe. We have also partnered with Rotary Umhlanga, who have led us to some very exciting agriculture projects. 3 days a week we are out on farms in rural Inanda, helping to plant, irrigate and keep the land in top shape so that these poor communities are able to get the most out of the land as possible.

We’re so excited for what lies ahead. Stay tuned - amazing things are yet to come in the next few months!

30 HASHALOM July 2017 COMMUNITY NEWS Above Board Mary Kluk, President A column of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies VIS & TZIPS SPICED UP! The SAJBD and the SA Human Rights Commission

In performing its core function of upholding the safety and civil rights SPICY BATTERED FISH FINGERS of the Jewish community, the Board works closely the SA Human 1kg firm white fish cut into thick fingers Rights Commission (SAHRC), one of the organisations set up under Chapter Nine of the Constitution to give practical expression to the Batter implementation of democracy in South Africa. From the SAJBD’s point of 1 ½ cups self raising flour 1 teaspoon salt view, the SAHRC has been an invaluable vehicle through which to address Freshly ground black pepper 1 Tablespoon grainy mustard incidents of antisemitism. ½ Teaspoon paprika 2 teaspoons finely grated onion 1 ¾ cups soda water One of the key benefits of the SAHRC process is that it enables us to take Mix batter ingredients with a whisk until well combined and stand for up incidents that, while definitely requiring action of some kind, are not an hour or more of so extreme and/or threatening a nature as to necessitate approaching Dip the fish fingers into the batter and fry a few at a time in hot oil until the courts directly with all the trouble and expense that entails. What is golden - Serve with the dip: noteworthy about how the SAHRC operates is that in the first instance, the aim is to try to resolve the issues between the parties, first through Dip allowing for a response and counter-response period and thereafter, if Puree 1 cup mayonnaise, ½ cup plain yoghurt and 6 pepperdews required, through instituting a conciliation process. Often, it is possible Stir in 2 Tablespoons chopped fresh mint, 2 Tablespoons chopped for disputes to be resolved at the first or second stage, without having parsley, 2 Tablespoons finely chopped spring onion or chives, 2 to go any further. Only once these stages have been passed without Tablespoons finely chopped gherkin, ½ teaspoon paprika, a few drops of Tabasco, salt and freshly ground black pepper - Chill till required achieving resolution will the matter be referred to the Commissioners for consideration and a ruling. In the event of non-compliance with the BLACKENED GRILLED FISH ruling, the matter will be referred to the Equality Court, whose decision is binding on all parties. In the course of our own dealings with the SAHRC, 4-6 fillets of line fish or kingklip we have been able to follow through and ultimately bring to a satisfactory conclusion a significant number of complaints involving racist hate speech Creole Spice Mix and threats against our community. 1 Tablespoon paprika 1 Teaspoon salt ½ Teaspoon cumin ½ - 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper The value of bodies like the SAHRC is in the role they play in preventing ½ Teaspoon cayenne pepper 2 Teaspoons garlic and herb seasoning a culture of impunity concerning racist behaviour from taking root. They Mix all the spices together and rub onto fish fillets – refrigerate for further provide fora in which both individuals and communities who feel 30 minutes that their right to dignity has been transgressed to obtain redress. As such, Brush the fish fillets with a generous coating of oil – DON’T add any they play a critical role in our society. oil to the pan! Heat a heavy based pan until very hot Terrorism and ‘Hate Crimes’ Place the oiled fish into the dry pan and push down with an egg lifter When dark brown, turn and cook other side Terrorism, which by its very nature aims to inflict maximum deaths and Serve with a wedge of lemon, some potato wedges and a lovely green injuries amongst unsuspecting innocent civilians, constitutes a particularly salad gruesome form of “hate crime”. Fortunately, South Africa has in the AMAZING POTATO WEDGES course of this century largely been spared attacks of this kind. However, this is not true when it comes to other acts of violence that, while more 600g Potatoes Olive oil limited in the scope of the damage caused, nevertheless also fall into the Salt Freshly ground black pepper hate crime category. What distinguishes hate crimes from other acts of Garlic salt Paprika unlawful activity is that hate crimes are motivated by feelings of prejudice on the basis of the victim’s intrinsic identity, whether race, ethnicity, Preheat your oven to 200degC gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality or other similar grounds. Put a large pan of salted water on to boil They range from verbal or written harassment to serious acts of violence. Scrub the potatoes clean then cut into chunky wedges Add to the pan of boiling water and parboil for 8 minutes Drain in a colander and leave for a couple of minutes In the wake of the upsurge of xenophobic attacks against foreign migrants Transfer to a roasting tray and add a 2 Tablespoons olive oil in 2008, a number of human rights organisations came together to form Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic salt and paprika the Hate Crimes Working Group to monitor and campaign against Toss so all the wedges are coated in the oil then spread out in one layer various forms of racism in our society. The SAJBD was a founder member Roast in the hot oven for 30 minutes until golden, crisp and cooked of the body and continues to be active on its steering committee. through

July 2017 HASHALOM 31 BIRTHS JULY 2017 Mazaltov to Urri and Cookie Rubin and Antony and Marion Arkin on the birth of a granddaughter, a daughter for David and Tali Arkin, in Israel; to Yaki and Yaffa Genislav on the birth of grandson, a son for Dana and Lior Date Time Event Venue Plotkin, in Israel; to Rabbi and Dina Zekry on the birth of a granddaughter, a daughter for Ronen and Danni. 5 9.30am Friendship Club - UJW Beth Shalom BAR/BATMITZVAHS

Mazaltov to Ivan and Cara Puterman, Jack and Marcia Puterman, Miriam 17 HOD Lodge Jaffa meeting DJCentre and Dennis Tuttle on the Batmitzvah of their daughter and granddaughter, Ruby. 9.00 - Mandela Day 18 DJCentre BIRTHDAYS 10.07am (SAJBD KZN Council & UJW)

Mazaltov to Dr Issy Movson on his 90th birthday; to Joan Handelsman on her 80th birthday; to Michele Linkermann on her 75th birthday; to Shirley 19 9.30am Friendship Club - Sisterhood Beth Shalom Chanoch on her 75th birthday. CONDOLENCES AUGUST 2017 Our deepest condolences to Trevor, Deborah and Hugh on the passing of their mother and to Rosemary Levinsohn on the passing of her sister, Sue Date Time Event Venue Goldberg; to Sharon Sklarchik and Ruth Tollman on the passing of their grand/great grandson Hugo; to Ivan Schneiderman on the passing of his brother Alan in Canada. 2 9.30am Friendship Club - UJW Beth Shalom

10 Cycalive DJCentre

Diane McColl and the McColl family thank the community for the kind messages and support we received after the death of Stewart.

We would like to thank the community for their kind words and caring messages at the time of the passing of our very dear Rosie Freeman. - Dennis, Gary, Martin and Leonard Freeman.

Mazaltov Rachel!

Rachel Abrahams with partner Casey Swales will be performing the Principal Role in A Midsummer Night’s Dream with the JHB Youth Ballet Company at The Grahamstown National Arts Festival in July. This exciting Production Choreographed by Mark Hawkins will be taking place on the Main Stage.

Errata: In the June 2017 edition of Hashalom, we published an article titled: A Meeting with Durban’s mentors in Ra’anana. The author of this article was Steven Linde. Due to a layout error, Steve’s surname was not visible in our printed version. We apologise for this unfortunate error. Hashalom is not responsible for errors and omissions. Please submit your information in writing to TheHashalom Editor, PO is Boxnot responsible10797, Marine for Perrorsarade and4056 omissions. or fax to (031)Please 3379600 submit your or email information [email protected]. in writing to The Editor, PO Box 10797, Marine Parade 4056 or fax to (031) 3379600 or email [email protected].

32 HASHALOM July 2017