www.sajewishreport.co.za Friday, 24 June 2011 / 22 Sivan, 5771 Volume 15 Number 23 Pressure on Palestinians to abandon UN statehood bid PAGE 8 TALKING ABOUT SINAI

‘One person with one heart’, the slogan of the Sinai Indaba, epitomised the tone of this vibrant “ingathering” in Sandton, imbued with Torah values, where Jews of many stripes used the opportunity to listen to top Jewish speakers and to participate in the stimulating discussions that followed. Pictured are Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, former Chief Rabbi of Israel and current Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv, in discourse with Rabbi Yossi Jacobson, one of Sinai Indaba’s keynote speakers. (PHOTOGRAPH: CAROLINE SUZMAN) SEE PAGES 2-4, 6 AND 8

70 years since Nazis’ SAKS: ‘Proud’ letter to actress Books: Betrayed - Jewish travel Operation Barbarossa / 9 Margolyes on Israel / 8 police bungling / 11 to Italy / 12-13 YOUTH / 16 SPORT / 20 LETTERS / 14-15 CROSSWORD & BRIDGE / 18 COMMUNITY BUZZ / 7 WHAT’S ON / 18 2 SA JEWISH REPORT 24 June - 01 July 2011 SHABBAT TIMES PARSHA OF THE WEEK SINAI INDABA June 24/22 Sivan June 25/23 Sivan Korach For G-d or for me? Problems are merely Divinely Starts Ends 17:08 17:59 Johannesburg ordained opportunities 17:28 18:22 Cape Town RABBI AHARON DAVID SAKS 16:48 17:41 Durban PHOTOGRAPHS BY RITA LEWIS 17:08 18:01 Bloemfontein ROSE 16:59 17:54 Port Elizabeth Waverley Shul IF THERE was a common theme in the 16:52 17:47 East London wide array of presentations by the speak- ers at the Sinai Indaba held at the Sandton WHENEVER someone says it’s not about the Sun Hotel over the weekend, it was not money… it is! that life’s difficulties and hardships should “Korach separated himself... with Datan and be denied or minimised; rather, it was that Aviram... and 250 men... and gathered together when seen in a correct, Torah, perspective, Published by against Moshe and Aharon.” (Numbers 16:1-3) it would be understood that they were not S A Jewish Report (Pty) Ltd, Ethics of the Fathers (5:17) states: “Any dispute problems at all, but rather Divinely PO Box 84650, Greenside, 2034 which is for the sake of heaven will have an ever- ordained opportunities for further spiritu- Tel: (011) 023-8160 lasting result,” and cites the dispute between Hillel al development and achievement. Fax: (086) 634-7935 and Shammai as an example. But “any dispute In his lecture entitled “Happiness in a Printed by Caxton Ltd which is not for the sake of heaven will not have an Sad World”, Rabbi Akiva Tatz explained Rabbi Akiva Tatz Sara Rigler EDITOR - Geoff Sifrin everlasting result”, such as the dispute of Korach that true simcha (happiness) came from absurdity and injustice of its conclusions [email protected] and his followers. doing the right thing in terms of what the about what was happening, was itself evi- Sub-Editor - Paul Maree The problem is obvious; most people are absolute- specific circumstances demanded. dence that something out of the ordinary ly convinced that they only argue with pure inten- The purpose of life in the physical world, was happening, Rabbi Rosenblum believed. Ed Co-ordinator - Barry Bilewitz tions. Korach himself argued: “The entire communi- [email protected] which itself was little more than a faint The real reason for it was that Jews were ty is holy and G-d is among them; why do you elevate projection of an infinitely deeper and eter- a special people with a mission to bring the Senior Reporter - Rita Lewis yourselves over the People of G-d?” nal reality, was to enable the neshamah knowledge of G-d into the world, and this [email protected] Korach appears to be making the quite reason- (soul), using free will and the temporary was why so much of the world hated them. Sports Editor - Jack Milner able claim that a regular people needs leaders, but physical tools with which it was endowed, “The answer to anti-Semitism is to use it [email protected] a holy nation, led by G-d, does not. Whereas in fact, to build its own unique place in Olam as a proof of who we are and through that Books Editor - Gwen Podbrey Korach was upset that his cousin Elitzafan had HaEmes - the World of Truth. be encouraged to take our mission serious- been appointed leader of the family of Kehat, Once this was properly understood, then ly,” he said. Arts Editor - Robyn Sassen rather than himself. [email protected] all life’s experiences, even those involving In his lecture “Facts and Faith: Prophecy So how does one know if a controversy is for the suffering, could be properly utilised to Fulfilled?”, Rabbi Dovid Ordman likewise Youth Editor - Alison Goldberg sake of heaven or not? How can I know what my own build on an eternal reality, and there was pointed to the obsessive, fundamentally irra- [email protected] intentions really are? no greater happiness than that. tional nature of anti-Semitism as a proof of Cape Town correspondent Firstly, if you look at the words of the Mishna, you Depression, said Rabbi Tatz, was regard- the Jews’ special mission in the world. Moira Schneider: 021-794-4206 will see that in the dispute between Hillel and ed as so harmful in Judaism because it was The survival of the Jewish people, com- Pretoria correspondent Shammai both sides are mentioned, whereas in con- both caused by and the cause of stagna- bined with their being continually singled Diane Wolfson: 082-707-9471 nection with Korach, the Mishna only refers to the tion, characterised by a failure to move out as the objects of hatred, fully bore out dispute “of Korach and his followers”, rather than forward towards higher goals. It was the predictions and teaching of the Jewish Manager: Distribution that of Korach and Moshe. Britt Landsman impossible to be depressed when engaged prophets and sages. Hillel and Shammai were interested in the truth, [email protected] in building something worthwhile, hence The story of the Jewish people went and, so, each was willing to listen to the other side. the antidote to depression was to “get mov- completely against normal historical pat- Sales Executives - (011) 023-8160 Whereas Korach and his followers were not interest- ing”, ideally in helping others. ters and the way it had unfolded was not Britt Landsman: 082-292-9520 ed in what the other side had to say, and therefore, Manuela Bernstein: 082-951-3838 However, even worse than depression something that could reasonably have Moshe’s side is not mentioned in the Mishna. Murray Schoeman: 083-627-6670 was devoting one’s efforts to a trivial cause been predicted thousands of years before. A dispute that is for the sake of heaven, takes into that had no intrinsic or lasting value. “I have all that I need and I need all that Freelance Sales Executive consideration all possible sides of an issue, in an Rabbi Tatz recounted the advice of his I have,” is the approach Sara Rigler recom- Marlene Bilewitz: 083-475-0288 effort to uncover the truth. While the other side is teacher and mentor, the late Rabbi Simcha mends to accepting perceived lacks and Classified Sales talking, if you are thinking of what you are going to Wasserman. This was to focus on doing unwanted problems. [email protected] say next, chances are you’re not interested in the whatever one could do to the best of one’s This meant understanding that whatev- Design and layout truth. abilities and not to worry about what it er a person had in terms of money, talent, Frankie Matthysen Secondly, if you are able to wait a while before was out of one’s power to do. intelligence or the like, was what Hashem Nicole Cook arguing, your dispute might be constructive and “for Rabbi Yonatan Rosenblum, speaking on had determined was appropriate for that Website the sake of Heaven”. But if you are so excited that “The Media Obsession with Israel - an particular person to fulfil his/her life’s www.sajewishreport.co.za you can’t hold yourself back from expressing your Optimist’s View”, said that calling for “bet- mission. Ilan Ossendryver point of view immediately, it is highly likely that ter hasbarah” to counter anti-Israel bias The second part of the formula referred IC-Creations your dispute is selfishly motivated. was to miss the point. to the difficulties one might have to face in [email protected] Thirdly, a person who is selfishly-motivated tends Even the best hasbarah would not be life; these, too, were there for a construc- Subscription enquiries to bring in all sorts of irrelevant issues which mere- effective in a situation where facts and evi- tive reason. Avusa Publishing (Pty) Ltd ly add heat, but no light, to the matter under dispute. dence were disregarded and self-evidently Rigler said that sadness in Judaism (as Tel: 0860-13-2652 If you find yourself bringing up the past when a dis- irrational conclusions assuming Israeli opposed to aveilus - mourning - which was pute arises, you are probably involved because you guilt adopted without question. BOARD OF DIRECTORS a mitzvah) was not allowed. The exception are desperate to win the argument, rather than to Again and again, without any evidence, was feeling sadness over any wrong, which Howard Feldman (Chairman), Issie Kirsh find the truth. (Deputy Chairman), Stan Kaplan, hysterical accusations of Israeli war crimes was defined as anything the Torah prohib- Finally, if your argument stands up to the test of Marlene Bethlehem, Russell were made, and the fact that these were con- ited, that one had done and even here, this Gaddin, Norman Lowenthal, objective logic, it might be based on a desire to dis- tinually exposed as falsehoods thereafter, regret had to be felt only within strictly Bertie Lubner, Benjy Porter, cover that which is true and right, but if not, then it did not prevent a new round of libellous observed limits. ] Herby Rosenberg, Howard is probably a personal battle of wills. claims being made the next time round. Nor It was forbidden for a Jew to conclude Sackstein, Jason Valkin. How can you know that? You probably can’t - ask did the fact that Israeli attacks were always that he/she was a bad person. Rather, the someone you respect and trust to give you an impar- in response to continual acts of provocation approach to teshuvah should be: “How can Advertisements and editorial copy from tial perspective. by the other side, make any difference. someone with so unique and special a mis- outside sources do not neccessarily reflect Shabbat shalom! The very irrationality of the world’s sion as myself, have fallen short of what is the views of the editors and staff. obsession with Israel, and the self-evidently expected of me?”

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WIN AN ISLAND HOLIDAY & OTHER GREAT PRIZES - VISIT WWW.STAMELMANPROPERTIES.CO.ZA FOR DETAILS 24 June - 01 July 2011 SA JEWISH REPORT 3 SINAI INDABA AROUND THE WORLD NEWS IN BRIEF Why do bad Rosenblum: No halacha TEXAS ENACTS LAW UPHOLDING MEZUZAH RIGHTS HOUSTON - Texas Governor Rick things happen on Palestinian state Perry, has signed a bill requiring homeowner associations to per- ALISON GOLDBERG only we were more forthcoming. mit religious displays on resi- to good people? PHOTOGRAPHS BY RITA LEWIS If the Palestinians wanted a state dents' doors, including mezuzahs. instead of the destruction of the According to the law, the religious ALISON GOLDBERG WHILE TORAH is clear on the mat- Jewish State, they could have had item must be under 25 inches and ter of Jewish national survival and one long ago. be in the doorway. THE PAIN of people’s lives is very real. Those who ratio- on our understanding of who we On the issue of army service, he The law, signed on June 17, was nalise others’ pain are either cruel or stupid, said Rabbi are and why our collective exis- said we needed both soldiers and introduced after a Conservative Yossi Jacobson, in a discourse on “Why do bad things hap- tence is so essential, there is no scholars. Not every haredi Jew was a Jewish couple was ordered to pen to good people?” halachic point of view on the issue scholar. There was no halachic rea- remove a mezuzah from the door Rabbi Jacobson is an internationally renowned speaker, of a Palestinian state. Rabbi son why being haredi served as a life- of their rental apartment, then teacher and mentor to thousands across the globe. He was Columnist Jonathan Rosenblum Moshe time exemption from army service. fined when they refused. the first rabbi invited by the Pentagon to present the annu- and Rabbi Moshe Taragin, both Taragin “I would not advocate it for young, The couple sued to be allowed al religious keynote address to 4 000 US military chaplains, haredi, at the SinaIndaba, brought unmarried haredi men because the to keep the mezuzah up and lost; and to the 34 000 employees of the National Security into sharp relief the dichotomy army is an institution of socialisa- they moved from the building Agency. that faces us, of the commandment tion to a particular set of values that when their lease was up. They He is editor of the Algemeiner Journal, the largest to settle the land and yet respect the are in many ways anathema to the then turned to Garnet Coleman, Yiddish-English newspaper in the world, the spiritual rights of Palestinians on the land. Torah life. a state legislator from Houston, leader of congregation Bais Shmuel Chabad in New York, Rabbi Taragin, also a senior lec- “But there is room for some form to help pass a bill to prevent this and the dean of TheYeshiva.net, where he presents weekly turer at Yeshivat Har Etzion and of army service at 25 or 26, as is from happening to others, the classes and lectures. He is also, inter alia, the author of the author of an Internet shiur entitled common for older students at Houston Chronicle reported. 150-lecture series “A Tale of Two Souls” on the Tanya. “Talmudic Methodology” with over Mercaz HaRav, the flagship of the In 2008, Florida passed a simi- In the place of pain, which is a holy place, Moses was 5 000 subscribers, made the point Jonathan national religious movement.” lar bill. (JTA) commanded to take off his shoes on seeing in the burning clearer in his talk: “Does Religion Rosenblum While Rosenblum was prepared to of the bush the burning of his people, but not their being Stifle our Humanity?” live with the ambiguity of Israel’s ARGENTINE: CANDIDATE consumed, in future generations; so we are commanded to He says the Palestinians deserve our statehood and the uncertainty of it being CAN’T BE ‘RABBI’ ON BALLOT be humble and compassionate in the face of another’s respect and understanding and that Jews the flower of redemption, Rabbi Taragin BUENOS AIRES - A Buenos pain, he said. have to strive for a delicate blend of believed Torah suffused the entire scope of Aires court ruled a rabbi running As with Yizkor, the prayer for the departed, people who nationalism and universalism. Jewish experience and that statehood, for the city’s legislature, cannot have not lost loved ones have to leave the synagogue. For Rosenblum, in a panel discussion with thanks to secularism, was G-d’s will and a use the title “rabbi” on an elec- those who have lost loved ones, a piece of them has left this Rabbi Taragin on “Secularism, a Divine footprint. Indeed the ingathering of tion ballot. The court’s three life; they don’t look at life the same way. Palestinian State and Iran. The Way its people, particularly over the past 150 judges acknowledged that Berg- To the question of why good people suffer, which con- Forward for Israel?” said for peace, if real years, has brought G-d’s people back to its man may be better known as notes a consciousness even by atheists of a G-d, that the peace could be achieved, not just the sign- redemptive role. "Rabbi Sergio Bergman" than by world is supposed to be a good place, the answer is, we ing of an agreement, land could be traded. Rosenblum acknowledged that the his name alone. However, the don’t know. The life of the soul is a mystery, for which we That was the haredi point of view and the state of Israel commanded our support court said the title of rabbi could must have respect. theoretical halachic position. and a clear understanding of its need for suggest positive connotations not There is a reason G-d doesn’t tell us why, because if we But there would be no Palestinian state security. Rabbi Taragin pointed out that appropriate for an election ballot. knew why, we would be less pained by it. G-d wants us to in the foreseeable future, given the constel- today more Torah is being studied in The rival Victory Front, the be possessed with fighting it. He needs us as partners to be lation of Palestinian attitudes, he believed. Israel than in the time of the first party of Argentina's president, there for those who are suffering to eliminate their pain; to And we should not delude ourselves that Temple, thanks to the motivation of the had objected to Bergman using the be there for people to have a shoulder to cry on. we had the power to bring one about if religious community. title "rabbi" on the ballot. (JTA) 4 SA JEWISH REPORT 24 June - 01 July 2011 SINAI INDABA Enduring Torah values run like golden thread through Sinai Indaba ALISON GOLDBERG The only way to break through hatred is to talk and be honest. If you talk, you can WHAT IS an indaba, former Chief Rabbi of resolve the conflict. When you realise that Israel – and presently Chief Rabbi of Tel speech can lead to conversation, conciliation Aviv - Yisrael Meir Lau, asked on being invit- is possible. ed to deliver the keynote address to the Sinai Today we are living with all kinds of revo- Indaba last weekend at the Sandton Sun lutions, political and technical. We see the Hotel. fragmentation of people who are like-minded He was told “indaba” was a Zulu word for talking to their own; of opposites not listen- the gathering of the different peoples of ing to each other, leading to extremes. South Africa to discuss important matters The failure of this conversation is very and to hear everyone’s view. dangerous. The Babylonian Talmud teaches One of those matters was the giving of the us that prayer with G-d leads to spiritual Torah at Mount Sinai, Chief Rabbi Warren peace; with a human, to social peace. That is Goldstein explained to the audience as he an indaba. opened the conference on Saturday night. Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv Yisrael Meir Lau, a The aim was to shed light on matters of the child survivor of the Holocaust who rose to day in an often troubled and turbulent world become the Chief Rabbi of Israel, has been filled with complexities and to learn what involved in Israel’s most eventful moments Torah had to say about them. and is the embodiment of Klal Yisroel, the Hence its name, Sinai Indaba, to which community of Israel. Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein; Rabbi Dovid Masinter of Chabad; and Chief Rabbi of 1 500 people came on Saturday night in He is the rav, the teacher of the whole of Tel Aviv, Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau. (PHOTOGRAPH BY CAROLINE SUZMAN) Johannesburg and a further 2 500 on the Israel, as was Moses, our first teacher. Thus Sunday, where by mid-Sunday, a further con- was he introduced by Chief Rabbi Goldstein. countries around the world is Sinai: 613 From Sinai came Hashem’s mission state- ference room had to be found at the Sandton The Torah itself spoke of its own relevance mitzvoth, 10 commandments, one eretz ment that the women had to be taught the Convention Centre to accommodate them all. today, said Chief Rabbi Lau. Three months Yisrael, “for which you are prepared to sac- Torah first, and then all of Israel. During the The conference was also held in Cape after the exodus from Egypt, Israel gathered rifice your life”. And above us all is an all- turbulent feminist era in 1975, she was still Town on Saturday night, drawing a crowd of to receive the Torah on “this day”, meaning it knowing judge. struggling with the kind of role Jewish 300, and a further 500 on Monday. In Durban, had bearing on us today and for eternity, nei- women could play. the indaba was held at a lunch last Thursday ther limited by time nor place. * * * The answer came from the Rebbe: a for 200. Fifty-two years ago to the day, when Rabbi woman’s mitzvah was to light the Shabbat This same Torah, given at Mount Sinai Lau became engaged to his wife, her father, How Torah Talks to Me? Five internation- candles. The Rebbe’s campaign to ensure 3 323 years ago, Chief Rabbi Goldstein said, then Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv himself, posed a al speakers were asked to give their defini- young girls and women lit the candles, guided us in every generation, in all aspects question, for which the possible answer may tions, in five minutes. implied the role of women to spread light and of our lives, for all time and in all places. It lie in the parsha of that week, as it was this Jonathan Rosenblum, a graduate of Yale divinity. That was the answer to the chal- was made to live through discussion and past Shabbat: Parshat Shelach. Law School, a prolific writer and columnist, lenge of reconciling feminist values and the debate on the issues of the day. The word “heritage” appears only twice in discovered on a bus on the morning of July role of Jewish women in the universe. Such a gathering of the community for the the Torah, each time with a different meaning. 4, 1976, when the news of the Entebbe rescue Rabbi Moshe Taragin, who taught Talmud first time to hear from nine Torah luminaries The first time it appears is in Exodus chap- broke, when Jews were hugging and kissing at Columbia University and who is inter alia from around the world, and to learn, as we did ter six: “I will bring you to the land. I give you each other, that we are all part of an unbro- a senior lecturer at Yeshivat Har Etzion in at Sinai as “one person with one heart” – the that heritage I promised to your fathers.” ken chain. Gush Etzion, said the Torah was a gift to us, theme of the Indaba - was conceived and led by The second time it appears is in Deu- He found on becoming observant, that as a for all kinds of noble aspirations; one we Chief Rabbi Goldstein in partnership with dif- teronomy 40 years later: the Torah itself. lawyer, that judges often erred and their would not exchange for a life without it. ferent shuls and community rabbonim, name- What bothered him, said Rabbi Lau, was judgments could be dismissed, but in the There are so many mitzvoth, which cover ly Rabbi Dovid Masinter (Chabad), Rabbi that it was like a prophecy: every Jew every- Talmud that was not an option. Here he all aspects of our lives. What do we have in Shmuel Moffson (Ohr Somayach), Rabbi where in the world had some connection with found truth that you had to pursue and find this world? We have parents, a Rebbe, wife Laurence Perez (Mizrachi) and many others. the Torah, some recited Kaddish, others went to unravel its layers; it speaks to every part and children. He sees religion as the greatest The event was dedicated to those in our to a seder or performed other mitzvoth. of human existence. gift: to live life on a higher and more noble community who are in need of refuah, a When it comes to the history of our nation Torah gives us a purpose in life; shows us plane; to live life at its most dignified; to have recovery from their illnesses, the Chief Rabbi and homeland, the majority of our people how to relate to others and to ourselves. The a life of happiness and meaning. said, and was sponsored anonymously as a have not received the heritage of the land to miracle of Entebbe gave him that perspec- It is not a system of don’ts but dos. mark of gratitude to G-d, by a family who had the extent that 85 per cent of American Jews tive and the hope of what is possible when Henry Drummond, an English poet said to experienced such a recovery. have never been to Israel, though its gates are Jews join together, and their observance is get to heaven we had to take heaven with us. Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom Lord open. Most Jews cannot speak Hebrew. what has made us survive to this day. “I thank Hashem for everything. This gift of Jonathan Sacks, in a video message, inter- It depends on how you receive a gift. When Sara Rigler, world-renowned author, life is what we received at Har Sinai.” preted “indaba” as the time to sit down and Israel gathered to receive the Torah, they whose work has been acclaimed as “life- Rabbi Dr Akiva Tatz, a graduate of Wits study together to sort our problems. promised to perform its commandments even changing”, learnt how Torah could temper Medical School, an acclaimed author and lec- One of the most mistranslated verses in before they heard what those command- her reactions and made her stretch herself. turer in Jewish philosophy and thought and the Torah was when “Cain said to Abel, when ments were. On receiving a “letter bomb” from a on medical ethics, teaches at the Jewish they were in the field, and Cain rose up and Before the heritage of the land of Israel, we cousin who “annihilated her character” Learning Exchange in London and interna- killed his brother”. were more resistant. In the book of Numbers, because of an “indelicate” passage in an tionally. Cain does not say what he said. It is not a everyone descended on Moshe, there was article she wrote, she was compelled by Pointing out that the gematria of indaba is syntactically well-formed sentence. Why confusion; we had to send in spies. We were Torah not to take revenge, but to seek a com- truth, he said for him Torah was a process does Torah use it? It is to teach us that when afraid to go, despite Moshe’s reassurance. A passionate approach. that enabled one to develop a conception of conversation breaks down, violence follows. whole generation had to die out before we Further, though she still burned over the truth; that enabled one to see through the illu- Torah explains it in the most beautiful way: entered the land. attack on her character and life, silent treat- sion of sin, which though external, was like a conversation is crucial to explore conflict and A pasuk in Devarim speaks of a king in ment was not an answer. As Maimonides spider’s web that entrapped like steel cables. move on. Yeshurun (Jewry) when the heads of the peo- taught, you cannot go for three days without Adam’s partaking of the Tree of the We see the same teaching in the determina- ple gathered and all the tribes came together. greeting your fellow man. Knowledge of Good and Evil, boiled down to tion of whether a man is guilty of murder or That verse foreshadowed all three types of She wrote and apologised for the offense Adam eating the fruits of confusion between (accidental) manslaughter, and which, in the government: monarchy, Sandhedrin and given. The reply? Her cousin was having a good and evil. Torah delineates clearly latter case deserves protection in a city of democracy, the latter when the tribes of bad day. She observed wryly that it was bet- between good and evil and that is why it is refuge. Maimonides says he is a murderer if Israel ruled. ter to have a bad day than a lifelong family called the Tree of Life. he has hatred in his heart. The indicator of Governments may change, for example, feud. That’s Torah. It teaches you that you As a former South African, he said what he that hatred is if he has not spoken to his vic- you couldn’t change the borders unless a can be a better person tomorrow than you treasured most about South Africans, was a tim in three days. Sanhedrin of 71 said so. But the Torah are today. certain wholesome approach to the truth. Again, when Joseph’s brothers “could not remains unchanged. You cannot change what Bronya Shaffer, counsellor, mentor and “It is a place where a community has been speak to him to peace”, Torah is exact. Had was given. speaker on Jewish women’s issues, who revolutionised by Torah that is unparalleled they told him why they did not like him, he Beyond all the different languages, mental- grew up with her grandmother, was taught in the world.” could have had a chance to say sorry, or work ities and destinies of Jews, what makes us a that it was her duty to make a world in Charles Mendelow contributed to this out the issues, or explain himself. nation, scattered though we are in almost 190 which G-d could dwell. report. 24 June - 01 July 2011 SA JEWISH REPORT 5

anyone is prohibited from expressing their Journalist trainee suspended personal views outside of work, but when you realise that one of your employees has OWN CORRESPONDENT said: “The remarks made on facebook... a stance that contradicts the values of your are fundamentally at odds with the most company, then you have the right to disso- THE MAIL&Guardian last week suspend- fundamental values of the Mail & ciate you and your company from that per- ed an intern for posting an anti-Semitic Guardian, the Constitution, and basic son.” “GetReal” pointed out that “voicing comment on facebook. human decency. Justifying the Holocaust an opinion” and “breaking the law” were Ngoako Matsha, who has been a trainee in this fashion is hate speech and is com- different things. at the newspaper since February this year, pletely unacceptable in any forum.” “Alinet” elicited more than twice the was suspended last week Thursday, He added, in a telephone interview with number of negative clicks to positive ones according to Mail&Guardian Online, for the SAJR: “If it had happened with a full- when he stated: “Stalin, Lenin and Marx stating in a facebook response that “all time staff member, we would have dis- were Jews and they killed over 65 million Jews” are racists and that it was “no won- missed him. What brings a young person to Christians. Telling the truth while working der Hitler killed all Jews”. make comments like this, however, draws for Zionist (sic) doesn’t pay. So much for News24 reported that these comments from a lack of adequate education. Matsha freedom and democracy.” “Ivym” quickly had been in response to a facebook user, is in his early 20s. We take responsibility took him/her to task: “Stalin was not a Benji Shulman, who asked people to sug- for his training and development. We do Jew, neither was Lenin and Marx (his par- gest “a basic decent history of apartheid”. not want to take action that is more ents converted to Christianity). Learn your Matsha replied to the request: “Petty destructive than the original remarks. history before making comments...” apartheid is building tall walls to separate “I do not want to send him out into the Said Dawes, “These reactions reflect a Israel from Palestines (sic)” world angrier and more prone to making lack of understanding about issues relat- Shulman replied: “Thanks for that piece comments of this nature.” ing to genocide in general, and the of pseudo-politics but I need something Commenting on the News24 story, blog- Holocaust in particular. We have tried to be that will stand up to logical argument.” gers in general seemed to have agreed with completely fair and open about this. We Matsha’s response: “You racists! No the suspension, citing the fact that will use this incident as a teaching oppor- wonder Hitler killed all the Jews, because although Matsha may claim that he acted tunity, rather than to destroy a young per- you’re all a bunch of racists.” in his personal capacity, it was clear that son’s career. Hopefully what he learns Mail & Guardian editor Nic Dawes was he was still a Mail&Guardian employee. from this will demonstrate his capacity to informed of Matsha’s comments by a “Ntlutluko” wanted to know whether grow.” Twitter user. He investigated and said M&G employees were “prohibited from On June 17, Matsha updated his face- Matsha had confirmed that he had made voicing their opinion outside of work.” It book status: “I apologise and withdraw my the statements. elicited a host of negative clicks. comment as it does not reflect my true In an e-mail to staff members Dawes “Brenton” responded: “I don’t think opinion on the issue.” Strong delegation from Africa at WJC meeting AFRICAN DELEGATES are pictured with the World Jewish Congress leadership at the WJC governing board meeting taking place in Jerusalem: Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft (CEO African Jewish Congress); David Jacobson (SAJBD Cape director); Li Boiskin (SAJBD Cape and national vice-chairman); Ronald Lauder (president World Jewish Congress); Mervyn Smith (president African Jewish Congress); Mary Kluk (SAJBD national vice-chairman); Wendy Kahn (SAJBD national director); Owen Griffith (chairman Island Hebrew Congregation, Mauritius); and Dan Diker (incoming secretary-general WJC) . 6 SA JEWISH REPORT 17 - 24 June 2011 SOCIAL SCENE

Rita Lewis [email protected]

Two rabbis fond of the colour red - Chief Rabbi Sharing a joke are Rabbis Mendel Liberow Rabbi Dovid Masinter of Chabad, business tycoon and philanthropist Solly Krok, Warren Goldstein and Rabbi Ari Kievman. and Yossy Baumgarten. Rabbi Ari Kievman (behind) and former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau of Israel. Sinai Indaba – nourishing food for the soul STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BY attendees comprised Jews from all David Ordman, Jonathan Rosen- four ballrooms to simultaneously surgery; Why do bad things happen RITA LEWIS denominations. Rabbonim from blum, Sara Rigler, Bronya Shaffer, accommodate the speakers whose to good people? the different shuls, secular Jews, Rabbi Moshe Taragin and Rabbi Dr sessions during the day lasted 50 There were also three Beit THE ATTENDANCE at the Sinai Lubavitch Jews, those wearing Akiva Tatz, each gave a five minute minutes each with a lunch break Midrash sessions on: What are the Indaba of some 2 500 Jews thirsting kippot srugot, mainstream Jews, message on “How the Torah and 10-minute breaks in between limitations of honouring parents?; for knowledge, was indeed a revela- black Jews – you name them, they Speaks to Me”. sessions - for some refreshments Confidentiality – when is there an tion, not this time at Mount Sinai were there, sitting side by side, In total, nine international guest and to find the next venue where obligation to reveal sensitive infor- but at the Sandton Sun’s Maroela talking and interacting without speakers had been invited, as well your choice of subject and speaker mation? And, Can you turn people Room on Saturday night and in any finger-pointing. as various local rabbonim and would be. away? Understanding the mitzvah four ballrooms the following day. In Johannesburg, on Saturday speakers. Some subjects on Sunday were: of tzedakah. The first of its kind to be held in evening every single seat of the As well as those previously men- Happiness in a sad world; Modern The three films to be shown over South Africa, the Indaba was a Maroela Room was taken to hear a tioned, also participating were ills – Torah cures; Jewish identity the lunch break were regrettably resounding success, with many chief rabbi and a former chief Rabbis Yechezkal Auerbach, Avig- in a multi cultural society; Journey not aired as some discussions had Jews packed into the various pub- rabbi speak, while another spoke dor Blumenau and Yossi Jacobson, of the soul- what happens in the run overtime. lic rooms of the Sandton Sun Hotel via video link: South Africa’s Rabbi Rabbi Mendel and Rebbetzen Mashi after-life; From India to Israel – A The closing address was given by in Sandton on Sunday, while anoth- Warren Goldstein and former Lipskar, Rabbi Laurence Perez, bumpy journey; Jewish Intimacy; Rabbi Lau. er 1 500 attended the Indaba in Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau, who Rabbi Levi Wineberg, Joanne Facts and Faith – Prophecy ful- During the Indaba, Rabbi Cape Town and Durban. is presently Chief Rabbi of Tel Zagnoev, as well as local experts filled?; Does religion stifle our Goldstein thanked the family who Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein’s Aviv. Rabbi Lau delivered the who had been invited to share their humanity?; Sinai Revelation – had sponsored the event anony- idea to bring “Torah Talking to a keynote address. knowledge, interpretation and Historical Proof; Israel’s Way mously in thanks to Hashem for a Modern World” in the guise of an With the use of modern technol- insights on various “important Forward?; Employer/Employee re- refuah. indaba, was a rousing success. ogy, the UK’s Chief Rabbi Lord issues we face in our daily lives” - lationships; Interactive workshop - He thanked all those who had Whether or not the audience Jonathan Sacks addressed the through presentations, panel dis- A child – gift and responsibility; assisted him in so many ways and took note of one of the main Indaba via a video link. cussions, debates and dialogue. The media’s obsession with Israel; had gone the extra mile to make the themes of the Indaba which was After the Chief Rabbis had spo- On the Sunday, the massive Vanquishing negativity and guilt; event the huge success that it was – “One People with One Heart”, the ken, six of the speakers, Rabbi crowds necessitated the use of Risk and danger in medicine and for “One People with One Heart”.

A meeting of two great minds - former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Rabbi Danni Sackstein with Rabbi Laurence Perez and his son Guest speaker Bronya Shaffer with her daugh- Lau of Israel and Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein of South Africa. Levi, with Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein and his son Mordi. ter Batya and son-in-law Rabbi Ari Kievman.

Rebbetzen Chaya Ita Lau, Devorah Nates Yisroel Rigler with his moth- Rebbetzen Gina Goldstein with her son Levi and David Nossel with SAUJS’ Rabbi Yitz Lerner and Clarissa Goldfein. er, guest speaker, Sara Rigler. Deanne and Rabbi Danni Sackstein. and Gideon and Tzipora Pogrund. 24 June - 01 July 2011 SA JEWISH REPORT 7

done. A spontaneous plan evolved and the in the town. Les did his matric at Bothaville leader of the Cape Town Orangia Jewish Hoërskool and went on to study at Wits COMMUNITY BUZZ Orphanage, Isaac Ochberg, was University. LIONEL SLIER approached to contact Dr Jochelson at the “Les’s father died when he was young and he 082-444-9832, fax: 011-440-0448, offices of the Federation of Ukrainian needed all the Jewish men living in Bothaville [email protected] Jews in London. to come to the local shul to form a minyan so The Prime Minister of South Africa at that he could recite Kaddish. There were then that time was General J C Smuts and he about 10 Jewish families living there. CAPE TOWN and the Minster of the Interior, Patrick “Les recalled: ‘It was wonderful, a small Duncan were approached with a plan and town, it was totally free in terms of restrictions Before 1914 the vast majority of European also to seek permission to bring some chil- and crime, the things that children grow up Jews lived in the area known as “the Pale dren, at least, to South Africa. with today. Our lives revolved around fishing of Settlement” which stretched from The government agreed, but laid down and swimming in the Vaal River.’ Lithuania in the north to the borders of conditions. The children were to be “When the shul closed down as they could no the Austrian-Hungarian Empire in the brought and kept at the responsibility of longer sustain a minyan, the Sefer Torah was south. It was estimated that over four mil- the SA Jewish community. Only genuine taken to Israel, to Moshav Timorim. lion Jews lived there. orphans were to be brought out. “Isaac Cohen and his wife, Jinks, stayed on During the First World War, the Pale was If there was a living parent, that child in Bothaville after their sons had left, because the battleground where the massive must not be considered; no families were ‘they felt at home among the Afrikaner fami- armies of Germany and Austria fought broken up: no sick children were to be lies’. against the Russians. It was here that three taken, nor any with mental or physical “At the age of 85, Isaac sold his shop to Dave great empires destroyed themselves. defects. Serfontein, but he remained on as an employ- Millions of soldiers and civilians lost their It was reckoned that 200 children could ee. Serfontein gave Isaac a 90th birthday party lives. be brought out to this country. but Isaac died soon after. Caught up in this conflict were the Isaac Ochberg offered to go to Europe. “At a memorial service for him, the dominee Jewish communities who actually had lit- He was a great philanthropist. Besides, was among the locals who attended. The tle interest in the war, yet thousands were he had been born in The Ukraine and Jewish community was always well respected dispersed and died as the battles raged on came to South Africa in 1894 as a 15-year- in Bothaville. for four years. old, so he knew the area and naturally the “What has really changed now in Bothaville Ironically the Jews welcomed the language. is the absence of Jews.” Germans when the Russians were forced to He left on his mission in March 1921. retreat from the Jewish areas. They spoke • There is the story (possibly/probably apoc- almost the same language as the Germans BOTHAVILLE ryphal) that a Jewish traveler called at Isaac and there was neither inherent anti- Cohen’s shop and asked him to direct him to Semitism nor the persecution and pogroms From M Lewin: the area where there were Jews. Isaac pointed as there had been under Russian rule. out the way and off went the traveller. There was no way of knowing how many “This town is situated 80 kilometres north- However he was soon back and said that Jews lost their lives during the warfare. west of Kroonstad in the Free State. It was there had been some mistake because he had Many Jews who had survived the war on named after Theunis Botha who had a ended up at the Jewish cemetery. “Yes,” said the Eastern front died in the famine in 1919 farm, where the town now stands. Cohen, “that is where the Jews are now.” and even more perished in the murderous “In August 2001 the last Jew in the town, ‘flu epidemic which swept through the Isaac Cohen, died at the age of 90, ending KIMBERLEY area at that time. an 80 year era of the Cohen family there. The Jews in South Africa looked on, “Harry and Bessie Cohen originally It seems that every other day we hear about aghast and in trauma. Most of them came from Lithuania, arrived in Bothaville in another earthquake somewhere in the world. from the areas where the fighting was at 1920 with four sons and three daughters. Are we safe here in South Africa? its heaviest. They had left behind them Isaac, one of their sons, married and went In 1912, at 15:05 on Tuesday February 20, a parents, brothers, sisters, families and to live in Durban. severe earthquake occurred, lasting about 30 friends. They had no way of knowing their “Their middle daughter, Annie-Ray, seconds, followed by a lesser tremor. This was fate. married Mike Balkind from Wepener in the most severe earthquake on record in the A few received messages from Eastern the Free State. Mike opened a hardware Kimberley district. Europe telling of the death and devasta- shop in Bothaville, called M Balkind (Pty) No damage was done to the De Beers works, tion and also stories of orphaned children, Ltd. Harry and Bessie lived with them. either on the surface or underground, but con- verminous, abandoned, sick and dying. “In 1964 Mike was killed when he was run siderable damage was sustained at Kenilworth, (The American Joint Distribution Board over by a car outside his shop. Annie-Ray a model village which housed the company’s estimated between 300 000 and 400 000 chil- moved to Johannesburg to be with her fam- employees. dren were orphaned.) ily who had relocated there. Isaac moved The local Jewish community asked back to Bothaville to take over the shop. • From De Beers’ Centenary Supplement 1888- themselves whether something could be “Mike’s son, Les, was born and grew up 1988. Durban hors d’oeuvre to Limmud main meal COOKY ISAACS gates taking part in the high-quality dis- Shackle: Obsessive Behaviour Among Reli- DURBAN course. There was a great buzz and much gious Jews; and Charles Maisels on Profit discussion on the sessions, around the cof- with Purpose: Jewish Social Entre- LIMMUD Family Fest at the Durban Jewish fee station and during the lunch break. preneurs. Centre on June 12, treated the local commu- Some of the best attended sessions were This event was a build up to the nity to a diverse and interesting programme Prof Anton Harber on his book Diepsloot: Limmud International Conference to be that featured presenters from Durban, Cape Listen for the Call of the Bullfrog; Johnny held in Durban on Monday August 22. Town and Johannesburg. Copelyn’s “Has the Zionist Dream Hit its Email [email protected] or visit Attendance was good with 140 -150 dele- Sell-by Date?”; Dora Wynchank’s Ritual or www.limmud.org.za to register. 8 SA JEWISH REPORT 24 June - 01 July 2011 OPINION AND ANALYSIS

FORUM FOR DIVERSE VIEWS A gathering To Miriam Margolyes good for the soul NOT MANY performers can claim to have successfully upstaged Rowan Atkinson. For BARBARIC THE WORD “indaba” means “a gathering of good reason, the star of such classic come- South Africans to discuss important matters”. dy shows as Not the Nine o’Clock News and The Sinai Indaba (covered on pages 1-4 and 6) the Black Adder series is ranked high on YAWP held during the past week in Johannesburg, the list of the top British actor-comedians, David Saks Cape Town and Durban, lived up to that defini- that includes John Cleese, Peter Sellers and tion abundantly - a discussion about the essence Kenneth Williams. of the Jewish soul and Jewish peoplehood. One who undoubtedly did manage it is It was a breath of fresh air which will be long Miriam Margolyes. In an early Black Adder Dear Ms Margolyes remembered. The organisers are to be congratu- episode (wittily - for those who know their lated. The anonymous donors who funded it can Elizabethan history - entitled “The Queen Why, as a Jew, am I proud of Israel? be satisfied their money was well spent, its spiri- of Spain’s Beard”), she played, with memo- tual value measuring far beyond its nominal rable, lip-smacking relish, a dumpy, sexual- I am proud because while her enemies worth. The Jewish community owes them a debt ly predatory Spanish princess who is lined carry out sneak attacks aimed at killing of gratitude. up to marry the wretched anti-hero. and maiming as many civilians as possi- The eminent speakers coming together in this Another superb cameo of Margolyes, is ble, Israel goes out of its way to warn forum - the likes of which has not been seen here as the comic-pathetic Flora Fincham in the civilians when it is about to carry out mil- before - addressed a myriad aspects of Torah and BBC adaptation of Dickens’ Little Dorrit. itary operations in their vicinity. This is its meaning, attracting such enthusiastic crowds She has since become a respected member consistently done, even though it means of the British acting fraternity. warning enemy combatants in advance that people had to be turned away. The spacious Miriam Margolyes as Professor Sprout Maroela Room at the Sandton Sun was bursting My good opinion of her, unfortunately, is that an attack is coming, thereby signifi- at the seams. It shows the hunger in South now tempered by the fact that she has cantly undermining the effectiveness of in the Harry Potter films. (PHOTOGRAPH African Jews for stimulating, high-level dis- emerged as what the novelist Howard those operations. COURTESY HARRYPOTTER.WIKIA.COM) course. Jacobson would term an “ASHamed Jew”. I am proud because whereas Israel’s Last Saturday night’s keynote speaker, Israel’s This means that she has joined with other enemies dance and sing in the streets and result in excessive hardship for that terri- former Chief Rabbi, Yisrael Meir Lau - now UK Jews in publicly expressing - as Jews - throw sweets to their children after a suc- tory’s population. Chief Rabbi of Tel Aviv - is an inspiring symbol their moral outrage over what Israel is cessful massacre of Israeli civilians, I am proud because Israel’s courts take of strength and determination. He was a child doing to the Palestinians and dissociating Israel scrupulously investigates instances action against those who discriminate Holocaust survivor who went on to attain the themselves - as Jews - from those acts. where civilians on the other side have, against non-Jews when it comes to buying country’s highest rabbinical position. It was Margolyes who, in proclaiming even inadvertently, been killed, and pun- or renting property, whereas across the Jews are a divided people - they are not “one”. herself on Desert Island Discs to be “a ishes those responsible. border those who sell land to Jews are sen- They contain myriad variants of religious obser- proud Jew” but also “an ashamed Jew”, I am proud because Israel has been will- tenced to death. vance and cultures - different streams of ultra- apparently provided the inspiration for ing to release hundreds of enemy prison- I am proud because while “intellectuals” Orthodox, modern Orthodox, Conservative, Howard Jacobson’s Sam Finkler in his ers in order to bring home the remains of across the border brazenly deny the land’s Reform, etc. “What is it that keeps this scattered, award-winning novel The Finkler a small number of its own soldiers. Jewish past, Israel continues to acknowl- diverse people together?” asked one speaker. Question. I am proud because hundreds of those edge, respect and protect the historical and What links Jews in Finland to those in Perhaps most damning of all, she guilty of carrying out terrorist attacks religious heritage of all its citizens. Argentina, India, the United States and South appeared in Caryl Churchill’s play Seven against the people of Israel, are being I am proud because in Israel, the world’s Africa? Torah, he said, and proceeded to unpack Jewish Children, a vile concoction brought humanely treated in Israeli prisons and only Jewish majority state, members of what this 3 323 year-old tradition - some 150 gen- out at the time of the 2008-‘9 Gaza incursion allowed regular access to the Red Cross, other religions can not only freely practise erations - means. in which Jews are depicted gleefully cele- while Gilad Shalit has been denied even a their faiths, but can even proselytise to Rabbi Yossi Jacobson from New York said brating the slaughter of Palestinian chil- single communication from the outside Jews, whereas across the border minority many divisions between the Jewish streams dren. She continues to insist that there is world since his capture five years ago. religious groups are discriminated derive from a profound debate between “univer- nothing wrong with this warmed-up ver- I am proud because during the years against and converting out of the majority salist” and “particularist” approaches to sion of the Mediaeval Blood Libel. when thousands of missiles were being faith carries the death penalty. Jewishness. Because I admire her work, Margolyes’ launched across the border at Israel’s I am proud because Israel strives to The former stresses the universal applicabili- self-indulgent acts of public disloyalty - I cities, thousands were allowed to cross imbue its children with the values of ty of Jewish principles, encouraging Jews to regard as nothing less - has bothered me that same border to receive medical atten- peace and tolerance, while across the bor- seek their place in broader society and some- more than that of such UK fellow travellers tion in Israel’s hospitals. der children are taught that hatred and times leading to widespread assimilation, such as, say, the loony leftist historian Eric I am proud because when it was pro- terrorist violence are the noblest things as in the United States. The latter focuses on Hobsbaum or the veteran Israel-baiting posed that Israel cease providing electric- they can aspire to. Jewish “peoplehood”, clearly distinct from oth- parliamentarian Gerald Kaufman. ity to the territory from where missiles All this and more, Ms Margolyes, is why, ers; when we grapple with who we are specifi- I sometimes flirt with the idea of publish- were being fired in order to bring such as a Jew, I am proud of Israel. cally as Jews, we are strongest and are respect- ing an “open letter” to her. Were I to do so, attacks to a halt, Israel’s courts ruled Moreover, I believe that if you had any ed by others, allowing the Jewish message to it might go something like this: against it on the grounds that it would genuine Jewish pride, you would be too. the world to radiate. Being different is not easy. One speaker referred to “the courage to be different”. Jews Pressure on Palestinians to abandon statehood gambit have often suffered for this in their host societies throughout history. LESLIE SUSSER several congressional initiatives. In ting to resume negotiations immediately It is a tribute to different factions in South JERUSALEM December, Congress passed a resolution on a state-to-state basis. That, however, is African Jewry that they pulled together to create “condemning unilateral measures to unlikely to cut much ice. the Sinai Indaba - Chief Rabbi Warren THE PRESSURE on Mahmoud Abbas to declare or recognise a Palestinian state”. Meanwhile, the Israeli Foreign Ministry Goldstein’s office, Chabad, Ohr Somayach, back down from plans to seek recognition Last week, Representative Steve has launched a worldwide campaign Mizrachi and others. of Palestinian statehood at the United Chabot, the Republican chairman of the against UN recognition of a Palestinian In our small community, this co-operation is Nations in September is intensifying. House Foreign Affairs Committee’s state, instructing Israeli embassies across precious. Praise also goes to specific people who Squeezed by a combination of concerted Middle East subcommittee, urged the the globe to leave no stone unturned. Even put in the hard work, including the Chief Rabbi, American pressure and intense Israeli administration to withhold US contribu- in countries considered lost causes, diplo- Rabbi David Masinter of Chabad and others. diplomacy, some top Palestinian leaders are tions to the United Nations if it recognis- mats have been ordered to do all they can Many of us live comfortable lives in this coun- urging the Palestinian Authority’s presi- es a Palestinian state. to turn things around. try, with its opportunities for meaningful, fruit- dent to drop his September plan. There is also a looming Congressional The aim of the intense Israeli diplomat- ful engagement. As always, Jews are involved in Abbas, however, says he still intends to go threat to cut off $513 million in US fund- ic activity is twofold: First, to prevent the a wide array of aspects of the society. But there ahead with the UN move, unless key inter- ing for the Palestinian Authority if it goes Palestinians from winning a two-thirds is also insecurity. national players can get serious peace talks ahead with plans to bring Hamas, a desig- majority in the 192-member General We are located at the bottom of Africa, far going before then. nated terrorist group, into the Palestinian Assembly. Then, if that fails, at least to from major centres of Jewish life; the country’s “If the Americans, the Europeans and government. win what Israeli officials are calling a high crime rate, corruption and political uncer- Israel don’t want us to go to the UN, they The spectre of US economic pressure “moral minority” - in which most Western tainty bring anxiety - for example, ANC Youth must show me an alternative,” he said in an backed by widespread Western diplomat- countries, with their moral authority as League President Julius Malema’s hot-headed interview on Lebanese TV on Monday. ic opposition has been having a sobering democracies, vote against recognition of a rhetoric about nationalisation, land expropria- The PA president repeatedly has declared effect on the Palestinians. Palestinian state. tion and labelling whites as “criminals”. that he prefers negotiations with Israel to A pro-Western wing of the Palestinian Israel’s legal and diplomatic arguments Consequently, this small Jewish community has the UN gambit, but he insists on a negotiat- leadership, led by PA Prime Minister have apparently struck a chord in some seen some of its best and brightest leave for else- ing framework with clear terms of refer- Salam Fayyad and including former European capitals. Germany, Italy and the where. ence. So far, the United States and others Palestinian envoy to the UN Nasser al- European Parliament have all made their But our history is special. We come from a con- have been unable to produce a formula Kidwa, is advising Abbas to drop the UN opposition to a unilateral Palestinian UN text - decades of apartheid - where strong group acceptable to both sides. initiative mainly for the sake of good rela- move clear. ethnic identity was a type of survival kit. We feel But the pressure is growing. tions with the United States. Clearly, Abbas is trying to use the spec- a pronounced sense of separate “Jewishness” - By far the strongest source has been They also fear that a UN resolution tre of September as a stick to get a more than many Jews elsewhere. President Barack Obama’s firm opposition which fails to change anything on the resumption of peace talks on his terms. The Sinai Indaba celebrated this - not “solidar- to any Palestinian UN move. Obama’s ground could spark a new cycle of violence But as long as Hamas is part of the ity” in facing a common enemy, but rather an promise to veto any bid in the Security and retaliation, destroying years of state- Palestinian government, the chances of affirmation of the best in Jewish values, beliefs Council for Palestinian UN membership building achievements, especially in the talks being renewed are slim. and identity. means that the best the Palestinians can Palestinian economy and security forces. And unless Abbas is persuaded to back The convening of an exceptional gathering hope for is symbolic recognition by the UN To soften US opposition, Palestinian down at the 11th hour, the diplomatic bat- like the Sinai Indaba - “to discuss important mat- General Assembly, not full membership in supporters of the UN gambit, like Abbas tle is more likely to shape up over what ters” - is a measure of South African Jewry’s the world body. And Obama has been exert- and his chief negotiators Saeb Erakat and comes next: Does UN recognition of vibrancy. The benchmark has been set high. We ing heavy pressure on the Europeans to Nabil Shaath, are proposing sending an Palestine isolate Israel, or does it backfire are looking forward to Sinai Indaba 2012. oppose the Palestinians’ recognition push. accompanying letter to the UN, recognis- and leave the Palestinians worse off than Obama’s position has been reinforced by ing Israel in the 1967 borders and commit- before? (JTA) 24 June - 01 July 2011 SA JEWISH REPORT 9

OPINION AND ANALYSIS - FORUM FOR DIVERSE VIEWS

Evacuation, however, would only be of a temporary nature in preparation for what Barbarossa and barbarism Heydrich referred to as the “imminent Final Solution of the Jewish question”. In PROF MILTON SHAIN Sometime in the autumn of 1941, less than one and a half hours, the partici- Hitler’s plans to deport Europe’s Jews pants at Wannsee had agreed on plans to EXACTLY 70 years ago, the Nazis to “the East” after a victorious war expedite the annihilation of European launched “Operation Barbarossa”, a against Russia were changed: depor- Jewry. savage assault on the Soviet Union. tation could begin before victory. While the deliberations were taking Named after the Holy Roman Emperor That decision, writes Hitler’s most place, another death camp at Belzec was and German crusader of the 12th cen- definitive biographer, Ian Kershaw, under construction and the first gas cham- tury, it was the largest invading force “was a fateful one”, bringing “the ber at Birkenau was being prepared for its that had ever been assembled. ‘final solution of the Jewish question’ odious use. Over the next three and a half Preparations were well underway by throughout the whole of Europe a years, five million more Jews, including a early 1941. On June 6, the infamous massive step closer”. million children, would be killed in an orgy “Commissar Order” was issued: civil- For the immense number of Jews of mass murder and industrialised killing. ian and Communist Party functionar- targeted, new and more efficient The precise relationship between ies were to be identified during the killing techniques were needed. The “Operation Barbarossa” and the Holocaust operation and murdered. use of poison gas was now considered has generated decades of debate. Some Six days later troops were issued a viable option. In the first week of scholars argue that Hitler wanted initially guidelines demanding “ruthless and December 1941 the first extermina- only to deport Jews from German-con- energetic action against Bolshevik agi- tion unit began operations in the trolled territory, but that the advance into tators, irregulars, saboteurs and Jews, Polish village of Chelmno through the Soviet Union - and for some the failure and total eradication of any active or the use of exhaust fumes in mobile of that advance - presented new challenges passive resistance”. gas vans. and options. Just after 03:00 on June 22, a massive Only days before Reinhard Hey- It was, in the words of Karl Schleunes, a artillery barrage on three fronts shat- drich, head of the Reich Main “Twisted road to Auschwitz”. For some tered the silence, followed by a spec- Security Office, sent out invitations scholars, however, the war was a mere tacular Nazi advance. By late morning to several state secretaries and select- cover for long-planned murder: war and the Luftwaffe had destroyed 890 Soviet ed SS representatives to attend a con- the annihilation of the Jews were intimate- aircraft, mostly caught by surprise on ference at Wannsee outside Berlin. ly connected. the ground. At the meeting, the invited delegates These debates have now largely sub- Within three weeks German forces heard Heydrich explain that Hermann sided. It is impossible to know, explains had advanced hundreds of kilometres: Göring had given him the responsibili- Omer Bartov, “whether the Third Reich nearly 500 from the north, 600 from the ty of preparing “the final solution of would have sooner or later pursued a simi- centre and 300 from the south. the European Jewish question”. The lar genocidal policy had it not invaded the Barbarism ensued. Soviet political process would be centralised with the Soviet Union; but the actual timing of the commissars were shot on sight and help of the Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Final Solution, as well as the logistical, tens of thousands of prisoners were An Einsatzgruppe D member about to shoot a Jew Himmler. Eleven million Jews were geographical and psychological context killed by firing squad in concentration kneeling at a filled mass grave in Vinnitsa, Ukrainian targeted across Europe. within which the war in Russia was con- camps in Germany. SSR, Soviet Union, in 1942. The photograph is According to Eichmann’s testimo- ducted, leave little doubt as to the close ties For Jews “Operation Barbarossa” inscribed: The last Jew in Vinnitsa. Photograph cour- ny at his subsequent trial, although between Barbarossa and the regime’s turned into a war of racial extermina- tesy www.websters-online-dictionary.org “killing”, “elimination” and “exter- extermination policies”. tion. Deportation plans - still on the mination” were mentioned during table in early June - rapidly gave way ing place,” wrote propaganda Minister the meeting, these terms were excluded in Professor Shain teaches in the Department to a “Final Solution”. The notorious Joseph Goebbels on August 11, 1941. The the formal minutes taken by Eichmann. of Historical Studies and is Director of the Einsatzgruppen slaughtered thousands in “lice of civilised mankind”, he noted near- Instead the emphasis was to be on what Isaac and Jessie Kaplan Centre for Jewish the Baltic region. ly three months later, “had to be somehow was euphemistically termed the “evacua- Studies at UCT. He serves as a Trustee of the “What the Führer prophesied is now tak- eradicated”. tion” of Jews to the East as forced labour. South African Holocaust Foundation. 10 SA JEWISH REPORT 24 June - 01 July 2011 ARTS MATTERS TAPESTRY COMPILED BY ART, BOOKS, DANCE, FILM, THEATRE ROBYN SASSEN Call 084-319-7844 or which is the debut of a play workshopped by [email protected] at least one Sylvaine Strike and Craig Higginson and cast, week prior to publication Grahamstown again offers including theatre veteran Annabel Linder. The work, “The Table,” with a magnificent sense of magic realism and surrealism, conveys a Adler Museum of blend of Holocaust narrative with contemporary Medicine, Parktown: something for every taste South African Jewish realities. “Reflect”, an exhibition by ROBYN SASSEN be a legitimate festival day too. Also up there is Alan Bennett’s “The History Elaine Hirschowitz, until Some 2 500 performances are scheduled for Boys”, directed by Alan Swerdlow, featuring the July 11, (011) 717-2067. IF YOU’VE been hemming and hawing about between June 30 and July 10. In the programme, cream of local talent. Ariel Dorfman’s “Purga- attending the National Festival of the Arts in weighing in at 230 pages, each production, in the torio” with Dawid Minnaar opposite Terry Circa, Rosebank: two Grahamstown this year, bookings are filling fast, Main festival, which comprises sponsored and Norton, has been acclaimed as has Greg Latter’s exhibitions: “Weapons of in this otherwise sleepy Eastern Cape city, which, invited work; the Fringe, comprising work with- “Death of a Colonialist”, with design by Nadya Mass Destruction” by Ronit for the past 37 years comes alive culturally for a out the critical nod of festival leadership; and the Cohen, which bagged several awards last year. Judelman; “Living on a heady period of 10 days. Arena, which straddles the two, is detailed. Israeli director Roy Horowitz - who comes to SA Horizon” by Ann Gollifer, This year, according to festival director Ismail The Standard Bank Young Artists, Mamela after directing Victor Gordon’s play “Pollard” in until July 10, (011) 788-4805. Mohamed and festival CEO Tony Lankester, it will Nyamza (dance); Nandipha Mntambo (visual art); Tel Aviv - brings his “My First Sony”. “London be “Eleven days of Amazing” - the final Sunday of Ben Schoeman (classical music); Bokani Dyer Road” with Robyn Scott and Ntombi Makhutsi, Foxwood Theatre, the festival has traditionally been the day on which (jazz) and Neil Coppen (drama), will present new will again be igniting festival stages. Houghton: “De Pinna’s many pack up, but this year, the final Sunday will work; festival highlights are mind-blowing, one of Part of the Alan Crump retrospective exhibi- Dinner Detectives”, with tion which blew Johannesburg Art Gallery Michael de Pinna and Lolly patrons away, will be travelling to the festival, Somnez, Wednesday and as will ‘Twenty-five Years at Caversham” Saturday, (011) 486-0935. curated by the founder of the KwaZulu-Natal- based studio, Malcolm Christian and an exhi- Goodman Gallery, bition of comic art, featuring work by Zapiro Rosebank, Johannesburg: Complicated and others. “Battiss and Company,” nachas. Brian Musically, the festival hosts everything from curated by Neil Dundas, Webber and traditional Xhosa singers, to Samson Diamond celebrating Walter Battiss, Annabel (violin), Anna Wilshire Jones (piano), Allan opens June 30, (011) Thompson (clarinet) and Wessel Beukes (‘cello) 788-1113. Linder in a scene from playing Oliver Messiaen’s “Quartet for the End of Time”, not to forget the glorious a capello and big Iziko: South African The Table, by band groups. And this is only on the main festival National Museum, Cape Sylvaine Strike - there’s still the fringe and a whole exciting array Town: “Tretchikoff: The (one of the of spontaneous buskers out there. People’s Painter”, curated Grahamstown If a trip to Grahamstown still cannot be fac- by Andrew Lamprecht, until Festival picks tored into your diary, don’t despair. Many shows September 25, (021) 481-3970. this year). will travel nationally after the festival. Watch these pages for details. Full festival details are Joburg Theatre Complex, (PHOTOGRAPHS BY RUPHIN www.nationalartsfestival.co.za for the full pro- Braamfontein: In the COUDYZER) gramme. Fringe, “Doo Bee Boobies”, until June 26, (011) 877-6800. In the People’s Theatre, “Alice in Wonderland”, until This exhibition will leave your head spinning August 7, (011) 403-1563. Exhibition: “A Stone Carpet Reflected: In another installation, there’s a set of Kalk Bay Modern, Kalk Fragments from a Glacial Pavement”, Origins almost three-dimensional stick figures, Bay: Sculpture and ceram- Centre, (011) 717-4700 standing diagrammatically and not without ics, including work by Lisa Artists: Collin Cole, Chonat Getz child-likeness. Getz’s work is fuelled by a Firer, Clementina van der Until: June 30 “what-if ?” curiosity; the monoprints on rice Walt, Wilma Cruise and paper as well as the relief prints made on a others until July 15, (021) REVIEWED BY ROBYN SASSEN press creating embossed and beautifully 788-6571. bruised paper, attest to this. OCCASIONALLY AN art show has the power to Cole works with clean brisk lines and tex- Market Theatre, push you beyond just looking; it might make ture he pushes out of his paper with his Newtown: Athol Fugard’s you think differently; read in an unanticipated intaglio press. He uses blind embossing in “Sizwe Banzi is Dead”, direction; touch the world with your body in a demonstrating his obvious pleasure in the directed by Monageng new way. This exhibition does all this; it also polemic of contrast. Motshabi, until July 24, in prevents you from leaving the Origins Centre Chonat Getz’s Red male (Relief print, etching and chine The finest works on show are his hard- the Laager. In the Barney gallery without walking through the down- ground etchings, where lines interface the collé) (PHOTOGRAPH BY DINA NEL) Simon, Fatima Dike’s “So stairs exhibit, on which it is based. unsullied whiteness of the paper with a What’s New?” opens June The exhibit in question deals with the loop; she uses it, as well as her glass constructions crispness evoking childish cartoons, but con- 28. In the Main Theatre, engraved symbols possibly made by the Khoekhoen to examine the nature of puzzles in humanity’s taining a complexity that makes you shift in your “You Can’t Be Serious” people in Drieskopseiland, near Kimberley, some intellectual toolkit. Banking on collaborative personal equilibrium. The more you look, the with Nik Rabinowitz, opens 2 500 years ago. It’s a display animated and tossed gives and takes, the work of Cole and Getz dia- more you seem enswathed in the images and lay- July 5, (011) 832-1641. around by the opinion of experts of the ilk of logues and plays with language, questioning and ers his “Milky Way” comprises. archaeologists Sven Ouzman, Carmel Schrire and stretching how mysterious symbols splinter off But this printmaking acumen does not flow into National Children’s Ben Smith. This revisit is non-negotiable. one another to create written communication in curatorial upkeep: Sadly, some weeks after the Theatre, Parktown: “A In perusing the work on show, you will get drawn its rawest possibilities. exhibition’s opening, some had fallen to the floor. Pocket Oliver Twist”, direct- into the vortex of games Collin Cole and Chonat As she has done previously, Getz works with Cole and Getz don’t offer new archaeological ed by Joyce Levinsohn and Getz play, or more accurately, think about. A cast glass. Her work is bold and funky, fun and answers to the questions posed by these ancient Francois Theron, until July delightful piece by Cole is about the children’s serious. Key to the oeuvre is a series of glass engravings. But they do splice wide the questions 23, (011) 484-1584. board game Snakes and Ladders. It tosses into the books, inflexible by virtue of their delicate medi- provoked by the work, and leave your head spin- morass of ideas how games grow - and why. um, but potent in how transparency layers trans- ning. Old Mutual Theatre on Rubik’s Cube, invented in 1974, slips under Getz’s parency. • Getz conducts a walkabout on June 25. the Square, Sandton: A potted version of Gilbert her best friend from childhood, Lillian (Maya me of a more refined version of John C Reilly. and Sullivan’s “Pirates of FELDMAN Rudolph), announces her engagement and Another star turn comes in the plump form Penzance” directed by Greg asks Annie to serve as her Maid of Honour. of Megan (Melissa McCarthy), a tough, no-non- Homann, until July 9; ON FILM But there is some prime competition for this sense fighter who senses Annie’s vulnerability, Friday lunchtime concerts: Peter Feldman position from Lillian’s new friend, Helen and who is given to spout some of the film’s Kristel Birkholtz (violin) (Rose Byrne), a wealthy and officious individ- most ribald lines. and Ashlea Martin (piano) ual. One startling sequences has the bridesmaids on June 24 and Ventura PICK OF THE WEEK Though forlorn and broke, Annie is forced reacting to bad restaurant food during a fitting Rosenthal (harp) and Susan to bluff her way through the expensive and which will live long in the memory for its dis- Mouton (‘cello) on July 1, Bridesmaids bizarre rituals that follow, holding her head gusting nature. (011) 883-8606. high throughout and desperately attempting “Bridesmaids” (co-written by Wiig and Annie Cast: Kristen Wiig; Maya Rudolph; Rose Byrne to make the best of some pretty bad situations. Mumolo) is a relentless, fun ride with surprises Standard Bank Gallery, Director: Paul Feig Director Paul Feig has fashioned a comic and shock revelations around every corner, Johannesburg: “Listening gem, employing free-form conversations, ensuring that there is no complacency where to Distant Thunder”, a Peter “Bridesmaids” is a chick flick with a raunchy some preposterous gross-out moments, strik- the audience is concerned. Clarke retrospective, until attitude; a gloriously funny escapade that left ing set-pieces and a flawless performances It scores handsomely because the characters July 2, (011) 631-1889. me laughing outrageously. from his energetic cast. And audiences will are well developed entities and not the usual It navigates a tricky journey of hilarity, sin- certainly feel a strong empathy with Annie, type of overblown characters shoehorned into Wits University Campus, cerity and humanity as a group of idiosyncrat- thanks to Wiig’s brilliant portrayal. outrageous comic set-pieces. Braamfontein: In the ic females prepare for a friend’s wedding. Annie comes across as an “Everywoman” in Its more serious side shows the competition Origins Centre, “A Stone The central character is Annie (Kristen whom one can believe, a character firmly that exists between women who are jockeying Carpet Reflected: Fragments Wiig) whose life is a hopeless mess. Mired in shaped through deft comedy turns and strong, for best-friend supremacy and who capitalise from a Glacial Pavement”, by debt after losing the cake shop she owned with feminine passion, aspects highlighted in her on rifts between friends at a time when rela- Chonat Getz and Collin Cole, a boyfriend who subsequently abandoned her, dodgy relationship with the local traffic cop tionships enter fragile territory. until June 30, (011) 717-4700. Annie is in a terrible place emotionally. (played by Irish actor Chris O’Dowd) who can- As a fun, comical exercise, “Bridesmaids” is Her circumstances grow even worse when not keep his beady eyes off her. O’Dowd reminds one of the best seen this year. 24 June - 01 July 2011 SA JEWISH REPORT 11

TAPESTRY - ART, BOOKS, DANCE, FILM, THEATRE Horrifying story of police indifference and bungling Betrayed by Carol Thompson with The rape samples from the corpse Roxanne Reid (Tafelberg, R180) were sent to a laboratory, which informed Thompson it could take up REVIEWED BY GWEN PODBREY to 18 months for the results. The rope around Tracey’s neck had been ON FRIDAY, March 11, 2005, “lost”. Every aspect of the case had Benoni-based Carol Thompson been spectacularly bungled. received the news that is every par- A desperate Thompson eventually ent’s worst nightmare: her 24-year- hired a private pathologist, as well as old daughter Tracey’s car had been an efficient private investigator, who found abandoned at the side of a eventually gave the police the name road in a remote area. The girl her- of a suspect. This was never pursued. self - who had been sharing a house She lodged official complaints about on a smallholding with three friends the mishandling of the case and met - was missing. with several senior officials, who Distraught, Thompson immedi- promised to rectify it, but to date ately notified the police, then began nothing more has been done. searching, starting with a visit to The book makes harrowing read- her daughter’s home, where she ing. It is simplistically told, leaving received a hostile and evasive huge gaps in Tracey’s story, yet this response from the three youngsters. should do had been done. is only to be expected in a trauma- On the Saturday and Sunday, When Thompson made a desper- tised mother’s reminiscences. Much Thompson waited in vain for news ate after-hours call to the cellphone of it recounts Thompson’s battle to from the police. Unbelievably, it of a senior police officer (who was overcome the strange disembodi- turned out that the missing person not assigned to the case, but whom ment that grief and horror can pro- docket had not even been assigned she hoped could help rouse the duce. an investigator because “the detec- investigators into action), she was It is possible that Tracey’s disap- tives only worked office hours and bluntly rebuffed for disturbing him. pearance might initially have been not over weekends”. This incompetence and insensitivity treated by the investigators with Dismayed by the delays and sheer were to become a pattern. some scepticism, since she was not a inefficiency of the police, Thompson Nine days after her disappear- minor, nor was this the first time she then recruited the search team of ance, Tracy’s body was found had gone missing. her daughter’s 4x4 Club to join the (bound, with a noose around her Her history of drug abuse and police’s K9 sniffer dog unit in scour- neck - suggesting strangulation - other problems may also have led ing the area where the car had been and her clothing removed). Her them to assume that she herself had found. mother, now dealing with investigat- “invited trouble”. Still, there is no However, the police, deeming the ing officer Captain Kotze (tipped as justification for their abysmal neg- area to be “too dangerous” for this “the best on the East Rand”), battled lect of the case. auxiliary team, ordered them to repeatedly for news of any progress What is more, the South African abandon the search - and promptly on the case. Police have, in certain instances, left the scene themselves. Thus the “Days passed and there was still demonstrated that they can indeed hunt for Tracey Thompson, who no phone call about the investiga- work professionally and quickly might be alive, injured and terrified, tion… I tried phoning Captain Kotze (for example, in the 2004 murder during the crucial first 48 hours of to no avail. It was the same old story: case of Leigh Matthews and, more her disappearance, was halted. his message box was full, his phone recently, that of Anni Dewani). It When Thompson went to the was turned off or he wasn’t avail- seems that only high-profile cases police pound to retrieve her daugh- able on the network. receive priority. ter’s car, she endured a five-hour “I tried the police station landline, In a country where 50 people are wait while indolent staff took their only to be told he wasn’t available, murdered daily, but only 10 - 12 per time over the paperwork. Once they he was on leave, he was ill or he had cent of the killers ever convicted, and had the vehicle, Thompson and her been sent to Namibia on a theft case. where the sheer volume of serious husband found in it various articles I battled to understand why the theft crime has overwhelmed our police which might have provided vital of a few computers was more impor- force (itself plagued with corruption, clues to the girl’s whereabouts. tant than the investigation of my inadequate training and residual It had not even been searched by daughter’s murder.” political grievances), Thompson’s the police, nor properly dusted for As days turned into months, tale is horribly easy to identify with – fingerprints, while the area in which Thompson was lied to, avoided, or as many other victims’ families can it was found had not been investigat- simply fobbed off by the police. She surely attest. ed to find possible witnesses to the learnt that only two useless photo- However, her book is unlikely to abduction. Nobody had questioned graphs of the body were taken. No elicit more than yet another defen- Tracey’s housemates – the last peo- autopsy had ever been performed, sive, belligerent response from a ple to see her. In fact, hardly any- nor had the clothing from her daugh- spokesman - and then lie, forgotten, thing a competent investigation unit ter’s body been tested for DNA. on a dusty docket shelf.

12 SA JEWISH REPORT 24 JUNE - 01 JULY 2011

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Jewish presence in Italy Photograph coutesy www.fotopedia.com coutesy Photograph io Magg - a story of highs and lows TempioTemp Maggiore in FlorenceFlorence

ROBYN SASSEN ary in Italy was compiled by Solomon Italy, birthplace of opera; home ben Abraham ibn Parhon. It fostered the JEWS FIRST made their presence known study of biblical exegesis for Italian Jews. of roving lotharios apt to prey there in about 161 BCE, at the time of Not all Italian Jews were focused only on Judah the Maccabee. Roman Jewry was the rabbinate. Many are known for their lasciviously on women; heart of Greek-speaking and indigent. Jews had writings in Arabic philosophy, astronomy come as merchants, or were brought in as and medicine, including Maimonides, who the mafi a; has a schizophrenic slaves. At that point, anti-Semitism did not practised medicine in Rome and translated exist; Jews were considered odd in their medical works into Hebrew. relationship with customs, and ignorance was common- Under Pope Innocent III, Jews were not place. allowed to hold public jobs; an injunction The Holocaust Jews. Italian Jewry By the time of the destruction of the Sec- to wear an identifying yellow badge was memorial in the has yo-yoed between ond Temple in 70CE, Jews were partially ratifi ed. This rule is repeated throughout Photograph coutesy www.sacred-destination.comVenice ghetto. expelled under Imperial instruction and Jewish history, in different forms, but with were restricted by laws, the most serious no less distinctive humiliating intent. the Jewish opinions of which was the Fiscus Judaicus, a tax By 1492, six per cent of the Sicilian popu- payable by all Jews in the Roman Empire. lation was Jewish. But 1492 was a grim of emperors and By 313, Christianity was established as year with the eruption of the Spanish In- the religion of the empire. Up until the quisition, from which many Jews fl ed into popes. Middle Ages while there were expulsions, Italy. Spanish Jews were well received in there was also a wealth of Italian Jewish Ferrara and Tuscany. But in Rome and scholars. Genoa they were ostracised. Many accept- The Roman Colosseum: the greatest In Salerno, the fi rst Hebrew diction- ed baptism to escape starvation. By the fol-

extant amphitheatre of Antiquity. www.world-travel-pictures.blog.blogspot.com coutesy Photograph AADVERTORIALDVERTORIAL Business or leisure, The Travel Company’s the one Lynne Backos, CEO of a 36-year-old family-run business, The Travel Company, is a softly spoken fun-loving work- aholic who is passionate about travel. She says if she didn’t have a family to anchor her down, she surely would have been the epitome of your “wandering Jew”. MARLENE BILEWITZ umentation and visas, too (over and above the standard air tickets) car-hire, hotel accommo- THE TRAVEL COMPANY, conveniently situ- dation, transport and transfers, theatre, shows ated in Sandown, deals in all forms of travel. and restaurant tickets, or reservations to game On the corporate level: Lynne and her com- reserves in the destination of your choice. petent and friendly staff will organise events of Nothing is too much trouble. If you or Lynne all sizes, from small “think-tanks” in a charming are not sure of what’s available that will interest little conference venue attached to their prem- you, rest assured, Lynne will fi nd something for ises, where they provide teas and lunch around you. the pool - weather permitting - or in the cosy The Travel Company instills great confi - atmosphere of an oversized boardroom. (maxi- dence while imparting a defi nite sense of mum 18 delegates). authority and knowledge on everything they Or they can plan and co-ordinate full-scale discuss. This is not surprising, as there is well- conferences or incentive packages for the busi- nigh not a place or thing that Lynne has not nessman/woman in destinations and venues of seen or done. choice. She speaks from experience and experience They will arrange all the travel, accommoda- she has oodles of; she has been travelling on a tion, transport and anything else required. very regular basis since the age of 17 and she On the leisure side: Kosher cruises and tours plans to carry on “until... forever”. have become quite a specialty as well, as are Please look at the website Poland and Lithuania. In 1516, the Venice ghetto was established. MDA brings winter cheer Thirty seven years later, on Rosh Hashanah, all copies of the Talmud in Italy were burned. In 1555 ritual murder accusations were incit- to the less fortunate ed under Pope Marcellus II, the Roman ghetto was established and the law requiring all Jews RITA LEWIS Mbeki Care Centre in Dunottar. to wear badges, brought back. Many of them were still traumatised by Under Napoleon I, the Italian Jewry was LAST WEEK a group of Jews went to Dunot- the event but were extremely grateful for the emancipated. The supreme power of the tar to visit the “temporary” residents there warm gifts.

popes was broken. By 1829, the fi rst Italian Photograph coutesy www.gallery-art.org and distribute warm clothing and goods col- Hyman said the response by the Jewish rabbinical college opened in Padua. “The Creation of Man”, one of the most famous lected by the community in response to a community to the appeal “had been absolute- The turn of the 20th century saw the fi rst vignettes in Michelangelo’s famous Sistine Chapel “Blanket Drive” organised through the aus- ly phenomenal”. Jewish prime minister in Italy, Luigi Luz- ceiling fresco, painted between 1508 and 1512. pices of MDA Medics SA. In excess of 150 blankets and 50 winter jer- zatti - one of the world’s fi rst Jewish heads Gemilut Chesed is one of the main tenets of seys which had been donated, were distribut- of government, taking offi ce. Judaism and extensively practised. ed among the residents. After Italy entered the war in 1940 Jewish barri- Exhibiting this, the South African Jewish Cohen said that while the “Blanket Drive” refugees in Italy were interned. In 1942 the Ital- er is a dead give away. For community once again came to the party with was generally aimed primarily at providing ian military commander in Croatia refused to those Jews who monitor racism in Europe, regard to MDA’s Blanket Drive, during which winter warmth to the needy in the broader hand over Jews to the Nazis. In January 1943 the security provided to the synagogue ap- many blankets and jerseys, etc were donated, community, MDA Medics felt that the cause the Italians refused to co-operate with the Na- pears necessary. Danger could come from fas- to bring some winter comfort.. of the Struisbult residents took priority in hu- zis in rounding up Jews in occupied France; in cist anti-Semites, or, jihadis. To activists who In an effort to help the less privileged, the manitarian terms. March, they prevented the Nazis from deport- monitor European anti-immigrant politics, group took a load of these blankets and warm However both stressed that although the ing Jews in their zone. German Foreign Min- such graffi ti facing a synagogue is a reminder clothing for the residents of the Struisbult main focus of Magen David Adom (which is ister Von Ribbentrop told Mussolini “Italian that Jews are still considered different. Care Centre, which had recently burnt down. a non-political, not for profi t organisation) is military circles lack a proper understanding “In most European cities today,” he contin- News of a devastating fi re at the care cen- to support Israel and Israeli medical projects of the Jewish question.” ues, “It is not uncommon to encounter swas- tre became headline news recently when ar- it will continue, together with the community Deportations of Italian Jews to Nazi death tikas scrawled on buildings. In Italy, the Nazi ticles were written about the terrible loss of 15 at large, to provide humanitarian assistance camps began after September 1943. An es- symbol is as common as, the anarchist A and members of their community. where and when it is required. timated 7 500 Jews were killed in the Holo- Communist sickle and hammer. Its familiar- A majority of these tragic deaths - as well • Anyone interested in making a contribu- caust. ity makes sense; it coincides with a rise in as the devastation and injuries that had been tion or donation, should contact Dr Nathaniel Today, Italy’s Jewry numbers 45 000; Cha- right-wing sentiment, and racist attitudes to- caused by the fi re - affected those who were Cohen on 082-963-4390. bad plays a key role in the community which ward Europeans of Middle Eastern and Mus- bedridden and unable to move boasts over 90 active synagogues. Chabad in lim descent. quickly enough to reach safety to Lisa Cohen, Venice, for instance, has a yeshiva and a res- “Hence my lack of surprise, when, around escape the fl ames. one of the taurant which caters on Shabbat. A large me- the corner from the synagogue, I encoun- Many of the survivors had lost MDA volun- norah tours the city on a barge during Cha- tered the slogan ‘Juden raus’ on the wall. all their belongings and had been teers, with nukah, and there is traditionally a boat-based Jews are being incited again not from an Is- left with absolutely nothing - no Dr Nathaniel succah that tours the city, during Succot. lamist perspective, but a fascist one. In Ger- clothes or bedding - nothing at all Cohen, head man. Whoever wrote it, the continuity is still Not only is contemporary Italian Jewry to keep them warm, but the clothes of MDA Med- there.” The pendulum in Italy continues to they were wearing at the time of endowed with a respect for cultural values, ics SA, with swing. the fi re. it is respected for social proactiveness too. In Mark Hyman, January, Tullia Zevi died at age 91. She was Dr Nathaniel Cohen, head of chairman of among those who greeted Pope John Paul II Thumbnail knowledge on Italy MDA Medics SA, together with when he visited the Rome Synagogue in 1986, Lisa Cohen one of their volunteers Magen David the fi rst by a modern pope. Zevi, an outspoken and Mark Hyman, chairman of Adom in Ten facts about Italy: South Africa. critic of intolerance, was one of the few wom- • Italy covers over 300 000 square kilome- Magen David Adom in South Afri- en to cover the Nuremberg trials. She believed tres, including the boot-shaped Italian ca, visited the survivors who have Jews should stand in solidarity with Muslims peninsula and the islands of Sicily and since been moved and are pres- against xenophobia. Sardinia. ently being housed at the Zanele Here and now, Jewish existence in Rome is • According to its most recent census, not uncomplicated by Muslim presence, Joel more than 60 million people live in the Schalit writes in the Souciant. He lives near country. It is considered the fourth-larg- the Great Synagogue of Turin, on the Piazetta est population in the European Union. Primo Levi, dedicated to Italy’s Turin-born • The capital is Rome. Auschwitz survivor. Schalit comments on the • According to the most recent census, classically Moorish features in this edifi ce, some 88 per cent of people living in Italy built in 1884. “The fact that it is smack in the describe themselves as adhering to the middle of a largely Muslim immigrant neigh- Roman Catholic faith. The Jewish com- bourhood does little to depress such associa- munity represents 0,1 per cent of the tions. Nearby are a Moroccan restaurant and population. three halaal grocery stores. Our neighbour • Surrounded by the Lirgurian, Mediter- wears a hijab. ranean, Ionian and Adriatic seas to the “What’s most eye-catching about Piazzetta south, Italy’s land neighbours are Mo- Levi is the military presence. Twenty-four naco, France, Austria and Slovenia, to hours a day a camoufl aged Italian armoured the north. vehicle sits in the square. They’re next to a ce- • The highest point in Italy is Mont Blanc ment barrier, pistol at the ready, while young on the Alps between Italy and France, at Jewish children walk by on their way to day 4 807m above sea level. school. I feel protected. • Italy’s economy is the 11th largest in the “Well, somewhat. The graffi ti on the cement world.

Ten essential tips

Ten tips for when you go to Italy: English is common parlance. Be aware, how- • You need a Schengen visa to visit. The Ital- ever, of the diversity of accents throughout ian Embassy is in Pretoria: (012) 430-5541 the country; it’s always useful to know a and there are Consulates for Italy in Cape couple of common phrases in Italian. Town: (021) 424-1256; Port Elizabeth: (041) • The euro is currency in Italy. At the time of 373-6443; East London: (043) 726-0738; and going to press, one euro will cost you R9,70. Johannesburg: (011) 728-1392. A Schengen • There is no limit on the amount of money visa currently costs R577. one can bring in to Italy, though it is ad- • There are no special medical precautions vised that you use your credit card when to be taken for travel to Italy, but measles visiting. Travellers’ cheques are expensive outbreaks have occurred there fairly regu- to change, and it is costly to draw cash elec- larly in recent years. It is recommended tronically. that if you are born after 1956, you should • Having purchased items in shops, you can- ensure that you have had two documented not change them, so make your decisions to MMR immunisations or a blood test show- spend euros in Italy with care. ing measles immunity. • Traffi c in Italy is on the right hand side. • Because of its position on the Mediterra- • Electricity in Italy is 220 volts. The prongs on nean coastline and its mountainous ter- Italian plugs are round - and while adaptors rain, Italy has a diverse climate, with the are easily available, it is important to remem- higher altitudes tending toward cold, wet ber that your appliances will need a voltage and snowy and the coastal regions toward converter before they will work in Italy. warm and dry. Summer in Italy is between • While tap water is safe to drink in Italy, June and July, but it can be warm up until it has a lot of calcium in it, is harder and September; winter is at the end of the cal- tastes very different from local water. endar year, with the fi rst snowfalls gener- • Italy is situated in the Central European ally being anticipated in mid-November. Time zone, which is the same as the time The best time to visit Italy is, however, be- zone in South Africa; Italy does, however, tween April and June - before the weather apply daylight saving at the end of March, becomes extreme. which is shifted back to CET at the end of • Although Italian is spoken throughout October. Italy, the country boasts linguistic residues • There are strict terrorist laws and if you of many other cultures and dialects and use an internet café, you will be expected to because it is a popular tourist destination, hand in your passport. 14 SA JEWISH REPORT 24 June - 01 July 2011

LETTERS The Editor, Suite 175, Postnet X10039, Randburg, 2125 email: [email protected]

Guidelines for letters: Letters up to 400 words will get preference. Please provide your full first name Disclaimer: The letters page is intended to provide opportunity for a range of views on any and surname, place of residence, and a daytime contact telephone or cell number. We do not publish let- given topic to be expressed. Opinions articulated in the letters are those of the writers and do not ters under noms de plume. Letters should preferably be e-mailed. Letters may be edited or shortened. necessarily reflect the views of the editor, staff or directors of the Jewish Report

MERITS OF ARGUMENTS AND NOT BOGUS ANALOGIES ADHD: CRITICISM OF PARENTS IS UNFAIR SHOULD BE CRITERIA THE ARTICLE on the very serious situation of bul- and telling fibs. RICHARD GOLD (SAJR, June 17) anyone established that universities lying among children by Robyn Sassen, “Bullying – Having done wrong and when challenged about asks what is the point of noting that in those countries play a role in vio- so many faces, so many guises...” needs to be very their unacceptable deed, they will hastily and the UK is involved in numerous lating rights or in facilitating regime carefully evaluated. impulsively deny that they have done it. They learn international sanctions and boycott legitimacy, or in providing members Even though I do not know her qualifications, it to tell fibs to protect themselves, because if they campaigns. The answer is simple: It of the oppressive military apparatus still makes my task difficult. Some of her points are admit guilt to the parent, they might be punished. shows that among the many coun- with privileges. well taken; others, are from a medical point of view, “If we “get” our kids and connect to them, the tries that violate human rights on a In addition, no one has argued that totally unacceptable. I speak from a medical point need for psychologists and Ritalin would dimin- massive scale, and commit war imposing sanctions on such institu- of view with 35 years’ experience in treating ADHD ish.” Blaming parents for an inherited undiagnosed crimes, Israel is not being singled tions would advance the cause of with Ritalin. and untreated serious neurological condition is to out. freedom and democracy in those ADHD is a proven genetically inherited neuro- say the least, totally unacceptable and shameful. In fact, it is treated far more countries. Such arguments have logical condition causing major problems for all if Moreover, as ADHD .is a medical neurological leniently than most, by the world been raised in the case of the rela- severe enough and not diagnosed and treated. condition, psychologists do not play an important community, and receives regular tions between UJ and BGU in Israel. Worldwide, it is accepted that this condition is roll in diagnosing or treating the condition. financial, military and diplomatic It is perfectly legitimate to dispute under-diagnosed and under treated. World research clearly suggests that the diagno- support from the US, UK, and mem- their applicability to that case, but One of the reasons for this is journalistic sensa- sis and treatment of ADHD must be very carefully bers of the EU. this must be done on the basis of the tionalism... Recently, 81 fully-fledged professors evaluated. It is diagnosed and treated far too infre- As for the University of Johan- merits of the arguments themselves worldwide, all signed an official protest objecting to quently, resulting in major and very serious com- nesburg, it has not been asked by rather than by using bogus analo- false, unscientific and misleading information plications. Misinformation can only make it worse. opposition groups and human rights gies. about ADHD in the media. They also suggested, the “Dysfunctional children have become an indus- organisations in other countries (say misinformation might cause thousands not to seek try: parents are not parenting.” No! This is an Zimbabwe or Sudan) to boycott aca- Ran Greenstein help. insulting comment made about innocent and car- demic institutions located there in University of the Your article quotes:“The fault often lies with the ing parents in need of help about their children’s order to fight oppression, nor has Witwatersrand parent’s failure to communicate with the child.”. If problem. ADHD is inherited - and communication is one of Research has clearly stated that to blame parents THUMBS UP FOR MICHAEL FREUND’S COLUMN the classical problems of ADHD - then it is not sur- is totally unacceptable; And ADHD is certainly nor prising! an “industry”. YASHER KOACH for the inclu- reading! “Parents allow their kids to lie” is quoted in the If I have been too harsh, forgive me, but the truth sion of Michael Freund’s article. However, the truth is the unsuspecting par- is more important than my emotions. There has to articles. His first, printed in Fay Flood ent inadvertently teaches the child to lie! be a better way than blaming and misleading par- the last edition, made great Johannesburg Children with untreated ADHD have a built-in ents. inherited troublemaker. They have a talent for SA CAUGHT BETWEEN HI-TECH AND LOW-TECH uninhibited doing or saying without thinking. This Dr Billy Levin would certainly account for the tendency to bully Benoni IN YOUR editorial (SAJR May 13) to compete with the hi-tech manu- you write: “As the regional geopoli- facturers and for various reasons tics change, no one knows where it are unable to compete with the Far Robyn Sassen replies: I wish to point out that the munity’s day schools, and they were reflecting is heading, to democracy, radical East’s low-tech manufacturers. article did not address ADHD or ADD in terms of not on the correct use of Ritalin, but on the predom- Islamist states or what?” You are, of In the experience of the late Ritalin as a prescribed drug. The article was about inant use of this drug as a catch-all solution for course, referring to the instability Victor Frankl unemployment leads bullying. In the comments which Dr Levin finds any type of aberrant behaviour, which has in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Yemen to a sense of helplessness which in most contestable, I was quoting both a clinical been reflected in many sources to be deeply contro- and Syria. turn leads to depression and/or psychologist and the principal of one of the com- versial. It appears to me that the frustra- aggression. We are witnessing this tion is from the lack of economic aggression (frustration) in the IT’S TIME TO BE TESTED FOR GENETIC DISEASE DATABASE progress in general and the lack of “Arab Spring”. jobs for the people in the 20- to 30- South Africa has a similar prob- ONE IN four South African Jews is a carrier of a associated with the knowledge of being a carrier. year age group, in particular. lem with unemployment, but we genetic disease. Tay Sachs and cystic fibrosis are the This also obviates the need to disclose this status to Blame it on the Far East. The have a safety valve by way of elec- best known and most common. Others include a prospective match. Instead, one is registered in the world production facilities are tions. Whether the capacity of the Fanconi’s Anaemia, Canavan’s disease, Niemann- Dor Yeshorim database and given a number. presently divided into two camps. safety valve is sufficient to cope Pick etc. There is no implication whatsoever to being When a prospective match comes up, this Dor Hi-tech manufacture (for instance with the pressure being created by a carrier of such a disease. These genes can be Yeshorim number, as well as that of the prospective computers, aircraft, luxury cars, (ANC Youth League President passed on from generation to generation without a partner, are phoned in to the Dor Yeshorim hotline. etc) takes place in the USA, Europe Julius) Malema and company, only sick child ever being born. They can confirm within minutes that both are not and Japan. Low-tech manufacture time will tell. However, if one carrier marries someone who is a carriers of the same disease. (clothing, shoes, houseware etc) carrier of the same disease as him/her, there is a In the unlikely event that both parties are carriers takes place in the Far East. The John Brenner one in four chance (for each pregnancy) that the of the same disease, advice is given on how to pro- Arab countries (and South Africa Cyrildene children will be affected by this disease. These are ceed and a referral is made to medical professionals for that matter) don’t have the skills Johannesburg devastating diseases. Affected children die within a and rabbis for guidance. few years of birth, or live with pain, suffering and Dor Yeshorim tests will be available in with decreased quality of life forever. Johannesburg on this Sunday (June 26) from 14:00 to ISAACS AND GEFFEN DON’T PRACTISE HUMAN RIGHTS Halachic authorities throughout the world have 17:00 at the Oxford Shul, 20 North Avenue, Riviera. I REFER to Doron Isaac’s and not a “human right”. Is their propa- ruled that young people should be tested prior to The cost for these tests is R1 250, which may be Nathan Geffen’s “Open Shuhada ganda so weak that it cannot for one marriage so that occurrences of these diseases can recovered from your Medical Savings Account (or Street” website and sadly note that moment survive the oxygen of an be eradicated. Above Threshold Benefits) if you are on Discovery there is no opportunity to post com- alternative view? Dor Yeshorim (Committee for Prevention of Health. ments on any of the published arti- Moreover, if they are so reluctant Genetic Diseases), an organisation based in I may be contacted on (011) 646-6020 or cles. to afford a right of reply on their Brooklyn, New York, provides the option of anony- [email protected] for further details. The ominous “comments off” is blog, should they really be given such mous testing. Through a simple blood test they can now automatically appended to all freedom to regularly express their determine if one is a carrier of any of nine diseases Rabbi Yossi Chaikin of their anti-Israel offerings. views on the pages of the SAJR. prevalent among Ashkenazi Jews. Dor Yeshorim South Africa In such circumstances, I ask our Results are not disclosed, sparing the anguish Johannesburg South African “human rights” Anthony Posner activists, if freedom of expression is Johannesburg BEWARE OF BARACK OBAMA’S ROYAL ‘WE’ NOT TRUE to say that President Barack Obama is out of existence. This only a major power would MANAGEMENT AT METZUYAN NEEDS TO LEARN ABOUT MANNERS not milking the death of his near-namesake Osama ever be able to do. IT ISN’T very often that I have found idiot”, causing the other manager to bin Laden for its propaganda value, as claimed by Flushed with his success over Osama, this must myself having a bad meal or leaving just laugh it off. noted Time magazine columnist Joe Klein, not when be the opportunity that Obama has been seeking. Metzuyan disappointed. But last I guess Metzuyan is one of those Klein’s pet, Obama is, in fact, creaming the event as So, this is to strong-arm Israel to bow to his will week Thursday night my views about places that believes the customer is a victory - a victory with which to cow Israel into and accommodate his aspiration to go from success- the restaurant changed completely. always wrong. Never have I seen such submission and surrender. to-success and for Israel to surrender to terrorism, My brother and I had arrived earli- childish and disgusting behaviour by (This is) submission at the hands of terrorists, in order to accord him a second term as US presi- er than the rest of my family and so management in any other establish- and surrender of its territorial viability that com- dent. Time magazine is already priming itself for we sat around and waited. There was ment - this would never happen in a prises its ability to defend itself against precisely this campaign with its chronic pictures of Obama only one other family there, at the non-kosher restaurant! that threat to its existence posed by Osama and his always striding alone, (whether on the Great Wall of time in the middle of their meal. The As I walked out, I bumped into ever-present, rampant surrogates. China or on the red carpet of the White House, in waitress had made some sort of mis- friends of mine on their way in, who Almost as though such submission would some- tribute to the ego, that is really his credo). take and one of the two managers at after I told them the story, cancelled how compensate those surrogate terrorists for their (This is accompanied) by the reinvention of his the restaurant began to shout at the their table and left. loss of Osama with a counter-loss inflicted on the first election credo with its successor, along the lines waitress as if she wasn’t worth the I would strongly recommend that prime fighters of terrorism, Israel, which submis- of “I am the one I have been walking for” and its fol- dust she was standing on. the owners of Metzuyan have a word sion and surrender would go a long way towards low-up in “I am the one whose feet I seek”. The customer then asked the man- or two with their management, making the defeat and death of top terrorist and sui- Just to show that not everybody has been fooled by ager to please stop shouting at the because this incident definitely did cide-bomber-in-chief, Osama, almost bearable, and his initial credos of “We are the ones we have been waitress and that he should talk to not enhance their reputation. And possibly even worthwhile, for his supporters. waiting for” and “We are the ones we seek”, that are his staff with respect. The manager even though it might not make a huge Battling for decades now, without success, to simply inversions (if not actual perversions) of the told the customer to “mind your own impact on their profits, they are for- defeat Israel into surrendering its statehood, these more common personal singular pronoun “I” with (inappropriate phrase) business”. ever down, at least, eight customers - Osama-surrogates - and lately proxies of militant the assumption of the more royal plural “we”. He stormed off from the cus- my family of five and the “idiot” and Islam’s Iran, dedicated to reviving Hitler’s’ promise tomer’s table, turning to the other his wife and son. to exterminate Jews as a nation - must be secretly Julius Levin manager in the dining hall as he congratulating themselves on the extinction of their Killarney, Johannesburg passed my table, calling the customer Joshua Brook leader who achieved in death what he had been “a (once again, colourful language) Sandton unable to accomplish in life, namely to force Israel The letter has been shortened. - Editor 24 June - 01 July 2011 SA JEWISH REPORT 15 LETTERS COMMUNITY COLUMNS

VERACITY OF TRIBUNAL FOR FORMER YUGOSLAVIA ABOVE SAJBD represents SA Jewry at WJC QUESTIONED ously established relationships. ular speakers on Judaism in the YOUR EDITORIAL of June 2, and “chief prosecutors”. BOARD Among the latter was with outgoing world today. They learned how the refers: As far as I know, a good So, it is more than logical not to Zev Krengel, World Jewish Congress CEO Michael eternal values and wisdom of the judge is an objective judge, who believe stories “established” in, or National Chairman Schneider, of the most illustrious Torah provide a fail-safe guidebook doesn’t call defendants by names suspected by, that “tribunal”. products of South African Jewry. for daily living, providing us with until they are proven guilty Suppose Serbia, or any Serbian A column of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies Michael will be the keynote confidence, direction and trust in beyond any doubt, in an objective state, suspected somebody of com- speaker at our forthcoming Na- the future. and professional court. mitting war crimes, why couldn’t THIS WEEK an SAJBD delegation, tional Conference on August 27 and An especially encouraging aspect A good journalist too, is one who it try the suspect in his/her own including National Director Wendy will be one of the speakers in the of the seminar was how participants refrains from calling people country? Why does a trial of that Kahn, two of our national vice- main conference the following day. were drawn from so wide a range of names, until they are proven to be kind has to happen in a country chairpersons Mary Kluk and Li The WJC and Presidents’ Con- constituencies, encompassing not guilty, beyond doubt by an objec- whose descendents are not given Boiskin and African Jewish Con- ference and what was discussed and just all streams of Orthodoxy but tive and professional court. the right to return there from gress President Mervyn Smith, decided upon, will be dealt with in a individuals not affiliated to any par- But for some reason, when it South Africa? were in Israel to participate in the later column, once our delegates ticular religious congregation. comes to Serbs (and others, such Trials of Serbian “suspected World Jewish Congress conference have returned and reported back. This spirit of unity and broad as, maybe, Afrikaners), it is com- war criminals” are similar to the and in the President’s Conference acceptance of all Jews, has long mon for unprofessional and trial of French leaders in the afterwards. Sinai-Indaba reveals continued been one of the outstanding unethical jurists and journalists to Vichy part of France in 1942, and The Board is very much commit- strength of SA Jewry strengths of our community and is be promoted according to the to General Mihailovich’s “trial” by ted to maintaining close working The resounding success of last something overseas Jewish visitors amount of insults they level the Tito regime after the Second links with global Jewry and to weekend’s Sinai-Indaba in Johan- have frequently commented on. against Serbian leaders and mili- World War - not the Nuremberg ensuring that the community it re- nesburg and Cape Town and in This can only have been further tary officers. trials, and certainly not Eich- presents plays its part in interna- Durban on Monday, showed once strengthened by this latest coming I am aware of two main sources mann’s trial - when every main- tional Jewish affairs. again the remarkable vibrancy of together to celebrate our common of detailed information regarding stream newspaper and news chan- The relationships we have built our Jewish community. Jewish heritage. Kol Hakavod to the question how trials proceed in nel provided the public with every up have proven to be mutually To say that in Johannesburg there Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein and the International Criminal Tri- bit of information regarding the extremely beneficial, enabling us to was standing room only, would be all the organisations and individu- bunal for the Former Yugoslavia. trial. pool our respective expertise and incorrect. If fact, the organisers als responsible for bringing off this They are: www.slobodan-milose- And just in case anyone didn’t resources in dealing with issues were eventually compelled to close outstandingly event, and to the vic.org/ and www.tenc.net/. understand, I firmly believe Gen affecting Jewish communities the doors to the venue, little as they many members of our community Other sources just confirm the Ratko Mladic and others are everywhere. wished to turn people away. whose enthusiastic presence picture that emerges regarding absolutely innocent. In attending this important gather- Those who were able to attend, helped make it such a memorable this “tribunal” and it doesn’t hint ing, our representatives had the were conducted on an enthralling success. at any professionalism or ethics Avner Eliyahu Romm opportunity of forging valuable new spiritual and intellectual journey by practised there by the “judges” Sea Point, Cape Town contacts as well as building on previ- some of the most dynamic and pop- This column is paid for by the SAJBD 16 SA JEWISH REPORT 24 June - 01 July 2011

YOUTH TALK Alison Goldberg [email protected] Habonim’s 2011 machaneh theme is ‘Building a Future’ STORY AND PHOTOGRAPH: GEMMA COWAN

THE NAME for this year’s machaneh is Machaneh Bonim Atid – “Building a Future”. It encapsulates the values of our movement as a whole and also relates to the society and world in which we live. Building a future is all about set- ting the foundations that will spark change in society. Involvement in Habonim can make a significant change to people’s lives, but what really counts is the differences that people make in the world after their time in the movement. If those who leave Habonim fail to strive towards change in society, the movement has not fulfilled its goals. Madrichim and channichim stand to sing the anthems at the opening Habonim aims to build critical ceremony of Machaneh Koach Le’Shanot 2010. thinkers, activists, caring, humane and thoughtful people. But the movement is nothing Often our value system is based on the injustices of if these people do not use their knowledge as a posi- the world. We see what is wrong in the world and look tive influence in society. for ways to make it right. Machaneh Bonim Atid is There are many challenges in our world. We cannot about the actions we take on as individuals in this pur- build the future, it is too vast and incomprehensible. suit of justice, peace and freedom. This means active But we can build a future - a future for ourselves involvement in South African civil society. based on the values that have been entrenched in us It means standing up for that which we know to be by our families, friends and the movement. true. It means constantly and actively working The word “build” is one that demands action. It is towards a just Israel. It means being proud and confi- not “dream” or “inspire” - these are intangible con- dent of our left-wing opinions and refusing to be silent cepts. - or silenced - in an increasingly conservative environ- We will not affect change merely by talking and ment. dreaming about things, but by doing them. The Last year’s machaneh was Machaneh Koach importance of dreaming is not to be underestimated, Le’Shanot – “Power to Change”. This year we acknowl- but it is futile if it is all that we do. edge that this change can only come through educated, The concept of “building” harks back to Habonim’s meaningful and positive action. PRINCIPAL – NOAM SCHOOL, Labour Zionist roots, too. It is reminiscent of getting Our three-week machaneh aims to instil in every our hands dirty to create that which we love, that channich, the values and foundations on which this ZURICH, SWITZERLAND which is just and that which stands tall as the epito- type of action can be pursued. We’ll see you at Salary: CHF 150 000 – 180 000 me of our values. Machaneh Bonim Atid – Building a Future. We are a highly regarded, innovative, modern-orthodox Jewish day school in the heart of Zurich. Established over 30 years ago, we provide full time Jewish and secular education to 150 children in our primary (grades 1 – 6) and junior high (middle) (grades 7 – 9) schools, with 22 Jewish and Youth Day at Yeshiva College non-Jewish teachers.

Secular subjects are taught under the state curriculum, to which we add a detailed Jewish educational programme. a dignified commemoration As one of the leading Jewish schools in Europe operating the TaL Am project (Ivrit b’Ivrit), almost all our pupils speak fluent Hebrew by the end OWN CORRESPONDENT of grade 6. For more about Noam, see www.noam.ch PHOTOGRAPH SUPPLIED

We are looking for a dynamic Principal to start in August 2012, ON WEDNESDAY June 15, the learn- or earlier if possible, to take us to the next level in our quest for ers of Yeshiva College Primary educational excellence. School, commemorated Youth Day - June 16 - in a very proud and dignified The successful candidate will manner. The assembly began with a • Lead both primary and junior high schools in educational, personnel special Dvar Torah from CEO Rabbi and administration matters, guiding the school according to modern-orthodox principles and Zionist values. Laurence Perez, expressing the • Further develop the school syllabus and the school in co-operation importance of youth according to the with the Board. Torah. • Act as the primary contact for pupils, teachers, parents and the Primary School Principal Joseph education authorities. Beer, conducted the assembly and • Work closely on strategy with a highly committed and engaged explained to the parents present that school Board. in honour of Youth Day the learners John Biyase addressing the parents and learners of Yeshiva College, • Contribute practically to the education of pupils on a regular basis. of the primary school learnt the words pictured with Principal Joseph Beer. of the South African national anthem We are looking for someone who is as well as the history as to how the anthem developed. youth to be educated. • Observant (modern-orthodox), and shares our belief that Jewish A very special guest speaker, John Biyase, addressed The assembly concluded with the singing of the South education is essential to our community. the children and the parents. Biyase was born and African national anthem and of course, as a Jewish day • Convinced that high ethical standards as well as social and moral raised in Soweto and in addition to giving the children school we acknowledged Eretz Yisrael by singing responsibility are an essential part of Jewish development. the background to June 16, his message was one of Hatikvah. • Ready to take the initiative, with good communication skills; also hope, positivity and love for the youth of our country. All those present at the assembly felt proud to be solutions-driven, flexible and a team player. The grade six class then presented a short play on South African Jews living in this country and proud of • A good speaker of German, English and Hebrew, or be prepared to the history of June 16, highlighting the will of our our heritage. improve these skills to an acceptable level. • Experienced in Jewish education, with teaching qualifications and experience or training in senior management of a school or other senior educational experience. • Prepared to work closely with the Board to realise our high religious and Betar’s winter camp - bigger secular pedagogic standards and expectations.

We offer • An attractive, stimulating and challenging position with significant and better than ever before freedom in a dynamic Jewish community. ROBYN UNTERSLAK provide knowledge and education on Israel and • A great team of experienced and motivated teachers and a fully engaged Zionistic ideas, as well as Israeli culture and the and supportive Board. • A competitive Swiss compensation package to live in a city consistently WE CANNOT believe how quickly this year has flown Betar ideology to the youth of our movement. rated as one of the world’s best for quality of life. by, with last year’s Soccer World Cup now just a dis- Winter camp promises to be tremendous fun, with tant memory. Following our hugely successful lead- a full programme for each shichvah (group) from ership seminar in December 2010, we are thrilled to grade 2 all the way to grade 11. Our madrichim are all For further information, please contact Prof Dr Ulla Kleinberger introduce Betar Winter Camp 2011 - Machaneh fully trained and ready to ensure your child has the ([email protected]) Ha’atid Matchil - bigger and better than ever before! best winter vacation ever. Applications, including references and indicating your nationality, should be sent Machaneh Ha’atid Matchil - The Future Begins - Looking forward to seeing you all there, to Prof. Dr Ulla Kleinberger by e-mail or by post to Sternenstrasse 21, CH-8002 unravels our vision for the future of Betar, as we • For more information, phone (011) 645-2589 or 082- Zürich, Switzerland. move forward into an exciting new era. We aim to 851-3963. 24 June - 01 July 2011 SA JEWISH REPORT 17 Guest speaker Bronya Shaffer RABBI ARI KIEVMAN It takes place on Shabbat, June 24 and 25, DIRECTOR, CHAI SENIORS at the Garden Court, Sandton City. It starts at 17:00 with candle-lighting and an inspira- THE SOFT glow of Shabbat candles, the tional workshop with international guest piquant taste of Kiddush wine, the aroma of speaker Bronya Shaffer. chicken soup, the warmth of sharing time At 18:00 all will join together for an electri- with family and friends... Most people would fying Kabbalat Shabbat Service sprinkled agree that as much knowledge and inspira- with insights into the prayers to transition tion that teachers and textbooks can impart into Shabbat. At 19:00 a Shabbat dinner will to students in a classroom, nothing can be served accompanied by songs, stories, replace an authentic Shabbat experience. and camaraderie. Chabad House is offering an exciting Chabad House has also arranged for spe- opportunity to experience a “Taste of cial discounted hotel rates for anyone wish- Shabbat”. Celebrate Shabbat evening with ing to stay over. To reserve for this Shabbat family and friends, a delight for the body and experience, e-mail me at [email protected] soul. Be part of an unforgettable event with or call (011) 440-6600. Join us for an uplifting camaraderie, spirit, songs and stories. experience. Good music, good cause RONEL ZEFF

THE KING David Schools’ Foundation and the Brest family this Sunday, June 26, host former Davidians Mark Samowitz (KDHSVP 1996) and Kevin Greenberg (KDHSL 2006), where the two will warm hearts on a winter’s morning by performing melodies from musicals. “Warm Your Heart on a Winter’s Morning with Musical Wonders” takes place at 10:00 for 10:30 at 38B Adrienne Street, Sandown Ext 24. There is an entry fee donation of R150 per person, which includes brunch, entertainment and prizes. To book, please contact Felicité Brest +27 82 333 7961. This concert is in aid of the Samantha Amy Brest Endowment Fund, which perpetuates the memory of Mark Samowitz Samantha Amy Brest, a former Davidian who passed away from meningitis at the age of 19. Samantha’s mother, Felicité, started this fund to help King David matriculants who need financial assistance for the requirements of their matric dance. The fund is now in its sev- enth year and has helped dozens of learners celebrate the cul- mination of their high school career. Samowitz is a well-known chazzan, singer and composer who has performed throughout America, Australia, England, Israel and South Africa. Greenberg is a talented pianist who has performed in Tshwane University of Technology’s Rent and Janice Honeyman’s pantomine Robinson Crusoe & the Caribbean Pirates. There are many prizes up for grabs, plus the chance to win a Kevin Greenberg two night stay at the Melrose Arch Protea Hotel Fire&Ice! Huge happy smiles at Orange Farm RABBI DOVID HAZDAN donated during the course of the Lag GREAT PARK SHUL B’Omer event. In addition, the headline sponsor of the LAST WEEK, just in time for the cold of evening - Norwood Mall - donated R5 000 winter, hundreds of blankets and warm of blankets to the cause. A further dona- jackets were handed out to needy children tion of hundreds of jackets was made at the Early Childhood Centre - Areko- available by Benjy Duchen of the Great- paneng - in Orange Farm, south of Park Synagogue. Johannesburg. With the assistance of Afrika Tikkun One of the highlights at the community- who opened the Arekopaneng Centre last wide Lag B’Omer celebration at the year, hundreds of children waited in line to Great-Park forest, is the collection of receive their answer to the cold of winter. blankets to be distributed to the less for- It was a great nachas to see the joy that tunate. The response was heartwarming our Jewish community brought to so as hundreds of blankets were bought and many little faces. 18 SA JEWISH REPORT 24 June - 01 July 2011

WHAT’S ON Barry Bilewitz [email protected]

ORGANISATIONS, VENUES, CONTACT DETAILS, COST • HOD - Hebrew Order of David International, HOD Centre Oaklands Road, [email protected], tel (011) 883-4210. Shul. Contact Sylvia Shull, (011) 783-5600. Meetings on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd Orchards. Office, (011) 640 3017 or [email protected] • Second Innings, Jhb - Jewish Community Services - Donald Gordon Wednesday each month at Sandton Shul at 10:00 unless stated otherwise. • Beit Emanuel Progressive Synagogue, 38 Oxford Road, Parktown. • JAFFA - Jewish Accommodation for Fellow Aged, tel (012) 346-2007/8, 42 Centre, 85 George Ave Sandringham. At the Gerald Horwitz Lounge, • United Sisterhood, 38 Oxford Rd Parktown. Contact Marian (011) 646- • JJRC - Johannesburg Jewish Resource Centre (Formerly Beyachad Mackie St, Bailey’s Muckleneuck. Golden Acres, every Sunday morning for tea at 10:00, followed by the 2409. Website: www.unitedsisterhood.co.za. Resource Centre/Library), 2 Elray St, Raedene. Norma Shulman, (011) • Johannesburg Holocaust & Genocide Centre (JHGC), tel (011) 640-3100, meeting at 10:30. Contact Grecia Gabriel (011) 532-9718. Cost: R20 • Tiyulim (Jewish Outdoor Club). Contact Martin 082-965-7419 or Greg 645-2567, e-mail: [email protected] e-mail: [email protected] members, R40 non-members. 082-959-9026. • Bikkur Cholim - Jewish Society for Visiting the Sick, 7A Chester Road, • KDSF - King David Schools’ Foundation. King David Alumni • SA Friends of Beit Halochem: Beyachad, 2 Elray St, Raedene. Contact • Union of Jewish Women (UJW), Jhb, 1 Oak Street Houghton. Contact Greenside East, Jhb. Joy Gafin (011) 447-6689. [email protected], (011) 480-4723. Leanne (011) 645 2553, e-mail: [email protected] (011) 648-1053, fax 086 273-3044. Cost R15 for the Friendship Luncheon • CAJE - College of Adult Jewish Education, Sydenham Highlands North • Nechama Bereavement Counselling Centre - Room A304, 3rd Floor, • South African Jewish Board of Deputies (Johannesburg) - Beyachad, 2 Club and a R20 donation for lectures unless otherwise stated. Shul, (011) 640-5021. Hospital Wing, Sandringham Gardens, 85 George Ave, Sandringham. Elray St, Raedene. Contact (011) 645-2500 or (011) 645-2523. • Union of Jewish Women (UJW), CT, e-mail [email protected] or • CARE (Chabad Addiction Rehabilitation Centre) Cell: 079-882-6776. Fax: Contact (011) 640-1322. • SA Zionist Federation (SAZF), Johannesburg - Beyachad, 2 Elray St, (021) 434-9555. 086 551 4485, e-mail: [email protected], hotline: 0861 111 770. • New Friendship Ladies’ Group - a group for single women. Contact Lucille Raedene. Contact Froma, (011) 645-2505. • UJW CT AED Programme at Stonehaven, Albany Road, Sea Point, 10:00 • CSO - Emergency phone number 086 18 000 18. (011) 791-5226 or 082-927-5786. • Israel Centre. Contact Debbie (011) 645-2560. for 10:30. Entrance: R20 (incl refreshments). • ELBM - Emunah Ladies Beit Midrash, 60 Mejon St Glenhazel, (011) 887- • ORT and ORT JET South Africa - 44 Central Street, Cnr 10th Ave, • Jewish National Fund (JNF), Beyachad, 2 Elray St, Raedene. Contact • United Zionist Luncheon Club (UZLC), Jhb - Our Parents Home. Contact 2910. “Lessons of our Lives” course on Wednesdays at 10:00. R350 for Houghton, contact (011) 728-7154. Crystal Kaplan, 083-376-5999. Gloria, (011) 485-4851 or 072-127-9421. the course or R50 per shiur. • Preview Theatre - 9 Valerie Crescent, Bagleyston, (011) 640-1061. • Jewish Outlook. Contact Ryan Cane, e-mail [email protected]. • UOS - Union of Orthodox Synagogues, (011) 485-4865, e-mail: • FFHS - Friendship Forum for Holocaust Survivors, Second Generation • Rabbi Cyril Harris Community Centre (RCHCC) and Great Park Shul, Support line: 27 76 215 8600, website www.jewishoutlook.org.za. [email protected], fax 086-610-3442. and Members of the Community Affected by the Holocaust. Oaklands, Jhb. Contact Hazel, (011) 728-8088 or Rene Sidley (011) 728- • Jewish Women’s Benevolent Society (JWBS) - Sandringham Gardens, 85 • WIZO Jhb - Beyachad, 2 Elray St Raedene, Contact Joyce Chodos Presentations held at the Gerald Horwitz Lounge, Golden Acres, 85 8378. Cost usually R50, including refreshments. George Ave Sandringham. Contact Carolyn Sabbagh, (011) 485-5232. (011) 645-2548 or Sandy Kramer (011) 645-2515 or e-mail: George Ave, Sandringham. • SAIJE - Sandton Adult Institute of Jewish Education, Sandton Shul, e-mail: • Simcha Friendship and Cultural Circle (SFCC), Johannesburg - Sandton [email protected].

NOTE: Deadline for all entries is 12:00 on the Friday Tuesday (June 28) Sunday (July 3) Arab Spring” at 19:30 at Beyachad. Cost: R20. Book prior to publication. on [email protected] or (011) 645-2510. • RCHCC is hosting a conversation between Joanne • Second Innings presents Hilary Semple on “War and Today Friday (June 24) Jowell and Dori Weil on Jowell’s latest book, “Finding Peace in Shakespeare and Tolstoy”. Friday (July 15) Sarah” at 19:30. • UZLC presents Ivor Davis on “What is happening in Monday (July 4) • UZLC presents Karen Lazar on her book - the Arab World”. Wednesday (June 29) “Hemispheres: inside a Stroke”. • UJW Johannesburg presents Prof Steven Friedman Sunday (June 26) • Second Innings outing - a guided tour of Gecko World on “A Voice in the Wilderness” at 09:30. Thursday (July 21) of Gemstones. Meet the bus at 09:00 at Oxford Shul Tuesday (July 5) • UJW Cape Town Constantia Group will hold a cooking • Rosh Chodesh Ladies Club presents “Female Health parking. Cost: R120, includes the bus, tour and lunch. and Sexuality” with Dr Trudy Smith and Judy Alter at demonstration, “Cook Now, Dine Later” at the Pick n • The JHGC, The United Nations Information Centre and 09:30 at Pine Street Shul hall. Cost R60. Contact Kiki • UJW Cape Town presents Prof Theo Shippey on Pay Centre at 10:00. The Liliesleaf Trust, invite you to the opening of the 083-692-6399. “Winnie Mandela: The Enigma”. exhibition “Lessons from Rwanda”, at Liliesleaf Farm in Sunday (July 24) • WIZO Meir Szold branch is screening “Cast a Giant • Balfour Park Parkinson’s Disease Support Group Rivonia. RSVP Thuli (011) 640-3100 or email thuli@jhb- • The Chev will be entering a team into the Discovery Shadow” at 10:00 at Beyachad. For bookings phone meeting at 10:00 in the boardroom, Randjes Estate, holocaust.co.za. The exhibition runs until July 26. 702 Walk the Talk 5km event. R180 for adults, R90 for Sandy on (011) 645-2548. Randjeslaagte Road, Highlands North. Ashley Wednesday (July 6) children under 18. Contact Michelle Falk on (011) 532- Goldstein will give a demonstration of a safety device • Second Innings presents Karl Jensen on “A Flying 9789. useful to people living alone, followed by Qede Zwane, • SFCC presents Judy Alter on “Strengthening Family Safari In a 70-Year-Old Dakota”. speaking on constipation. Contact Rosemary Burke on Relationships” at 10:00 at Sandton Shul. • Second Innings presents Ilan Ossendryver on “The • JAFFA in Pretoria is holding its AGM at 10:00. (011) 640-3919. Ethiopian Jews, Living in the Promised Land”. • UJW Cape Town presents Prof Susan Bourne on “The • KDSF and the Brest family invite you to “A • RCHCC is hosting a dramatisation by the Klass Act Many Half Lives of Marie Curie”. Wednesday (July 27) Winter’s Morning of Musical Wonders” fundraiser Ensemble of Dean Simon’s calendar pages “From Hurt • WIZO Glenlinks branch are selling tickets for the • Second Innings outing to Petits Four Deli and Décor. at 10:00 for 10:30. Venue: 38B Adrienne Street, to Hope” at 19:30. Cost: R80. Bolshoi Ballet, “The Nutcracker” at the Johannesburg Meet the bus at Oxford Shul parking at 09:15. Cost: Sandown ext 24. Cost: R150. RSVP Felicité Brest Thursday (June 30) Theatre for the evening performance. Phone Alice for R120 includes tea and bus. Book with Roz Berman on on 082-333-7961. (011) 880-6864. • Johannesburg Cultural Circle is screening “Strangers tickets on 083-336-1193. Sunday (July 31) • RCHCC is screening a documentary, “Stanley No More” at the Sandton Library on the Square at Friday (July 8) Kubrick: A life in Pictures” at 19:30. 16:00. Tickets: R50 - students and pensioners R30. • Beyond the Dress presents “The Doctors: All you • UZLC presents Ronnie Mink on “Jewish Berlin & Dor Yeshorim genetic screening Booking: Naomi 082-496-1111. Need to Know About Conceiving and Being Happily • (check if you are a Warsaw in 2011”. carrier of Tay Sachs and eight other diseases) at • Sasfin Bank Annual Sports Quiz 2011 at the Maroela Pregnant” at 09:30 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel. Cost Oxford Shul, 14:00-17:00. Cost R1 250 (reimbursed Room, Sandton Sun at 19:00 for 19:30. Cost R12 000 Sunday (July 10) R200. Information and bookings on 083-344-6729 or from your MSA if on Discovery). Contact Rabbi Yossi per table. Contact Danny Blumberg on (011) 646- • WIZO Glenlinks branch is selling tickets for the [email protected]. Chaikin on (011) 646-6020. 7340, Fax: 086-632-4903, or e-mail him on Bolshoi Ballet, “The Nutcracker” at the Johannesburg • Second Innings presents Bruce Fordyce on “Going for Monday (June 27) [email protected] Theatre for the matinee performance. Phone Alice for Gold”. tickets on 083-336-1193. • UJW Johannesburg presents Tali Nates on “Creating Friday (July 1) Wednesday (August 1) the First Holocaust and Genocide Centre in Africa” at • UZLC presents Kevin Fine on “Radio and the Power to Wednesday (July 13) • SFCC presents Sharon Lurie on “What Made Me Do It” 09:30. Galvanise a Community”. • SAZF presents former diplomat Tom Wheeler on “The at 10:00 at Sandton Shul. THE BRIDGE LOUNGE by Jeff Sapire CROSSWORD NO 215 Today’s hand reminds me of something the sumption that the positive would have an BY LEAH SIMON late Terence Reese wrote about, called the ace plus other values. ACROSS: 15. Chin out awkwardly, but in regular “advance trance”. The best defenders are Declarer won the lead in dummy, East sig- 1. Lies about German woman (4) communication (2, 5) always thinking well ahead, and give very lit- nalling with the eight of diamonds, and 3. Boasts about cancellation of perform- 16. Makes everything sow badly, but per- tle information away when a crucial suit is drew two trumps. With 11 tricks it was a ance (5, 3) mits it (6) played. matter of how the club suit might produce 8. Beloved – but very pricey (4) 18. Briefly, Albert gives limb to siren (5) The moment they see dummy they zone in the twelfth. 9. Fusses, but has the right to male siblings 19. Draw in market changes (4) quickly on the problems, and prepare them- So declarer played ace and another club, (8) selves for all eventualities, with constant and West inserted the queen, trying vainly 11. Rights to poker games somehow get SOLUTION TO CROSSWORD NO 214 readjustments as the play progresses. to fool declarer - but that was the end of the ahead (4, 8) INSERT It wasn’t easy, but West missed his chance hand. Declarer continued with the 10 of 13. Make Ian end another way for girl (6) simply because he wasn’t “ready” in time. clubs from the dummy, pitching his losing 14. I fall about one relating to a son or ACROSS: Fact; 3. Jump to it; 8. Abba; 9. diamond, and the nine of clubs was now North dealer, both vul daughter (6) Alarmist; 11. First of April; 13. On time; established, with the seven of hearts as an NORTH 17. How the electrician laughs it off ? (5, 5, 14. Zealot; 17. Vice-chairmen; 20. Rations; entry, to see declarer home. J1095 2) 21. Toga; 22. Triggers; 23. Toad. It wasn’t easy, but West should have done 754 20. Put cart into new structure for DOWN: 1. Flat foot; 2. Cabaret; 4. Uplift; 5. his thinking the time the ace of clubs was A10 orthopaedic bone-healing pulleys (8) Paraplegic; 6. Oribi; 7. Tutu; 10. played. At that point where declarer had K1097 21. A penny for your Afrikaans martial art Stampede; 12. Standard; 15. Limpopo; 16. drawn two trumps and played the ace of WEST EAST (4) Shiner; 18. Iraqi; 19. Cost. clubs, West should have known that declar- Q63 K874 22. Mouth is right about er had 11 tricks (seven trumps, one dia- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 63 comedian (8) mond, two clubs, and the ace of spades). Q93 KJ8642 23. Take off outbuilding (4) QJ8654 3 By playing the queen of clubs, West forced declarer into the simple winning SOUTH DOWN: line. But what if West had played a low club 8 9 A2 1. Somehow made din in smoothly? AKQJ1092 north, being sought after 10 Now, to make it declarer would have had 75 (2, 6) to finesse the nine of clubs immediately. It A2 2. Southerner put vehicle 11 would have worked here, but would have lost into garage – and trig- when East had a doubleton honour (Qx or West North East South gered something (7) 12 Jx) or QJx. In fact the percentage play is P P 2H 4. Loath to give right to clearly to play for one of the latter three 13 14 15 P 3H P 3S prostitute (6) combinations. P 4C P 4NT 5. They could help kids fly One has to plan well ahead sometimes and 16 P 5C P 5NT overseas – safely! (5, 5) then stick to one’s guns. Thinking in these P 6H All pass Opening lead: D3 6. The ends of a cricket situations gives the game away. 17 18 match? (5) The opening bid was strong and after the 7. Rapid, as surrounded by 19 raise and two cue bids, south used Keycard. Every Tuesday (Intermediate) and Wednesday measure (4) 5C showed one ace and 5NT was looking for a (Advanced) I run bridge workshops from 10:00 10. Public communication 20 21 grand (a bit aggressive facing a passed part- – 12:00 at the Great Park Shul - alternating from Peter to Len, ner). play hands one week and a bidding lecture on somehow (4, 6) North had nothing extra, so he signed off in the other. Corner Glenhove Road and 4th 12. Steep rock face breaks 6H. South’s decision to use Blackwood with Avenue, Houghton. For more information, e- 22 23 rod for the boy (8) two small diamonds was based on the pre- mail me at [email protected]. 24 June - 01 July 2011 SA JEWISH REPORT 19

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Winner, winner, (kosher) chicken for dinner! JACK MILNER makes up for in heart”. While they are all true, they are, in a way, an insult. David has RUGBY FINALS can often be boring affairs a rare gift. His enthusiasm is infectious and where teams play not to lose, rather than to his team feed off it. King David win. That was not the case in the Gauteng He does not know how to quit and even Linksfield rugby Schools Kudu League where King David when lying on the field cramping in agony as captain David Linksfield managed a one-point victory over he did at one point, he refused to leave his Feinberg holds CBC Boksburg in the final, played at King team in the lurch. the trophy he David last week Wednesday. Most importantly when all looked lost and received from It could not have been more exciting as they needed that flash of inspiration, David the two schools played their hearts out. was there to provide it, scoring the convert- former Springbok Sadly, there had to be a loser but fortunate- ed try in the dying moments that gave his great Syd Nomis, ly, it was not King David, who won it 24-23. team that one-point lead. with principal It was one of the biggest rugby days ever But David would be the first to admit that Marc Falconer in seen at the school, with King David earning it is all about the team and while he may be attendance. the honour of hosting the finals after their the cohesive element, this victory was a 1st XV topped the log. A large crowd came to great team effort. To make matters worse, the impetus lead, all King David had left to do was see out the school to support the various teams who CBC struck first with a penalty, but King stayed with CBC early in the second half and the remaining minute of the game and a lit- played in their respective age-group finals. David responded quickly when the bounce when they went over for their second try, tle injury time. Also in the crowd were two great expo- of the ball fell well for fullback Jason again converted by their flyhalf, the teams However, the drama was not over and the nents of the sport - former Springbok wing Sostack who went over for the first try of were placed at 17-17. impossible happened - King David conceded Syd Nomis and current Lions centre Waylon the match, which was converted by Ryan The situation worsened further when a penalty with the last kick of the game. The Murray. Gordon. King David conceded two kickable penalties CBC flyhalf had been in devastating form, King David has never been regarded in Jason is another player who can turn a and once again the opposition flyhalf made but kicking at the beginning of a match is rugby echelons as a leading exponent of the game on its head. When he got the ball he no mistake as CBC moved into a 23-17 lead. one thing, kicking to win a match has its own game, but anyone present would have ques- made things happen and it is interesting to The home side earned a penalty but kicker distinct pressure. tioned the truth of that belief. The stands note that for many years he preferred to play Ryan Gordon had sustained a leg injury. He Some of the King David boys could not were full and the excitement high as captain soccer. Fortunately he changed his mind and still took the kick, but missed and then left even look as he lined up the penalty, but the David Feinberg led his team on to the field. his speed, agility and quick thinking, is an the field. A second penalty, in front of the anxiety turned to elation as the ball drifted When it comes to size, there are probably asset to the team. posts, was missed and time was quickly run- wide of the upright. a few junior schools who have tighthead The same combination struck again 10 ning out for King David. King David had it won and Syd Nomis pre- props bigger than David, but there are very minutes before half time and it looked as if But David and his boys refused to be sented the teams with their medals and the few on a rugby field who play with more King David would go into the break with a denied and with just a couple of minutes left trophy. This team has been together since spirit, heart and commitment, than this 17-3 lead. on the clock, David went over to score and their under-14 days and could well rival the bunch of “diminutive” youngsters. However, a poor period of play saw the the conversion was made. With a one-point so-called “great” team of 1987. One can use all the clichés in the book to home team concede a series of penalties describe David, from “dynamite comes in which led to their opponents scoring a con- small packages” to “what he lacks in size he verted try to make it 17-10. Santoro World Cup has successful launch SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

LAST WEEK Sunday saw the launch of the Jorge Santoro Action Soccer World Cup. Some 80 participants, making up 10 coun- tries, featured in a competitive and exciting day of soccer at the Italian Club in Bedfordview. The tournament is named after the Brazilian-born soccer legend Jorge Santoro who inspired generations of football follow- ers and players in South Africa. After the gruelling round robin games, the semifinals saw favourites Holland up against a defiant and determined Israel side. Brazilian-born soccer great Jorge Santoro The Dutch, however, were too strong and (right) when he played for Highlands Park. Israel bowed out of the tournament. The other semifinal was between the Organiser Yonatan Herrmann, son of the day’s most skilful team, Brazil, and a late Santoro, said that the day was an over- fired-up Portugal. A tense encounter whelming success and would be repeated ensued but the Brazilians eventually annually. “We hope to expand the event on a cruised through 4-1. much broader and wider scale next year”, he After going ahead 2-1 in the final, Brazil said. “The name Santoro also means a great was caught napping and Holland punished deal to many supporters and followers of them. As the game progressed both teams football in the country who want to partici- attacked with the Dutch proving to be the pate and be involved in a tribute to a truly better side and ended up winning 7-4. remarkable soccer legend.” Rugby journalist Dan Retief at Maccabi Stag AS MENTIONED previously, ruby journal- in September. ist Dan Retief will be the guest speaker at The talk will be held at Beyachad, 2 Elray this month’s Maccabi Stag, which will take Street, Raedene at 17:30 for 18:00, where a place on Tuesday June 28. light meal and drinks will be included in the Retief will discuss his new book, “The cost of R100 per person Springboks And The Holy Grail”, and will • RSVP to confirm to Max Klass on (011) also talk about South Africa’s chances at 485-1485 or the Maccabi office: (011) 645-2557, this year’s Rugby World Cup, which kicks off e-mail: [email protected]