Yitzhak Shamir, Former Israeli Prime Minister, Dies at 96

Yitzhak Shamir, Former Israeli Prime Minister, Dies at 96

friday 06 july 2012 / 16 Tammuz 5772 volume 16 - number 24 news opinion letters tapestrycommunity columns youth sports south african Reparable future by jewish report Coovadia page 9 www.sajewishreport.co.za Yitzhak Shamir, former Israeli Former Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir, left, shown with former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, gestures during a Likud party conference in 1987. Shamir died on June 30, prime minister, dies at 96 2012. (Moshe Shai/FLASH90) SEE PAGE 13 Operation Building SA: Bolnick’s pas- SPORTS: Welcome to SAKS: Betrayal of Jewish Cosatu in scurrilous Hunger’s sion is helping the underdog the fold, ‘Meyer’ people by intelligentsia attack on Christian Ina Perlman: Bolnick’s infl uence in re- Balotelli “One of academia’s pro-Israel march the woman furbishing informal shacks greatest failings today who thought extends to national policy must surely be how the “Various overtly anti-Semitic tropes were in puddles, through the Informal Set- question of Israel and rehashed in different guises, including not ponds, tlements Network. “They its neighbours is now allegations that Judaism and Zionist have taken on this model being played out embody feelings of innate Jewish racial passes lock, stock and on campuses superiority.” away 4 barrel.” 4 16 worldwide.” 6 3 2 SA JEWISH REPORT News 06 - 13 July 2012 Shabbat Times July 6 /16 Tammuz Balaam the sorcerer, not a fool July 7 / 17 Tammuz Parshat Balak 17:12 18:04 Johannesburg 17:33 18:28 Cape Town If you were to ask most people, Jewish or non-Jewish, what they know of the story 16:52 17:45 Durban 17:13 18:06 Bloemfontein of Jonah, they will probably reply that Jonah was swallowed by a great fish (often 17:04 17:59 Port Elizabeth 16:58 17:52 East London erroneously described as a whale). Shivah Asar b’Tammuz Fast of 17 Tammuz Th e story of Balaam too, features a well- “It was Moses, after all, who had seen G-d known scene involving a non-human char- Parshat Balak at Mount Sinai and had spoken with G-d face July 8/17 Tammuz acter, in this case a donkey. Th e episode to face.” It was Moses who had brought forth Starts Ends Rabbi Dr Robert Ash 05:42 17:49 Johannesburg may be the only truly comic passage in the the “many waters” at Meribah that Balaam Torah. Balaam is a sorcerer, the greatest Beit Emanuel Progressive prophecies will sustain Israel. 06:32 18:10 Cape Town Synagogue 05:36 17:29 Durban magician of his day, a man of international Furthermore, after blessing Israel rath- 05:53 17:50 Bloemfontein reputation regarding his powers, yet the Johannesburg er than cursing them there is the irony that 06:03 17:41 Port Elizabeth Torah’s account of Balaam and his donkey “it is Balaam [who] will turn out to be the 05:52 17:35 East London depicts him as something of a fool. Word of Balaam son of Beor, cunning subverter of Israel’s relationship Balaam is a “seer”, yet three times fails Word of the man whose eye is true, with G-d”. Fast of Tammuz to see what his donkey plainly sees: the An- Word of him who hears G-d’s speech, Although there is no direct link made in This year, the fast of Shiva Asar B’Tammuz is com- gel standing before him with sword drawn. Who obtains knowledge from the Most the Torah narrative between Balaam’s ac- memorated on Sunday July 8 (see fasting times on this Th e comparison between the renowned High, tions and Israel’s falling into sin with Mo- page), because 17 Tammuz falls on a Shabbat. It is rab- seer who cannot see what a simple donkey And beholds visions from the Al-mighty, abite women immediately after Balaam’s binic fast day which commemorates many tragedies clearly perceives is both unfl attering to Ba- Prostrate, but with eyes unveiled: departure, Balaam’s oracles do link Israel’s that have befallen the Jews on this day. It also signifi es laam’s great reputation and a demonstra- What I see for them is not yet, blessing with its status as a people dwell- the beginning of the Three Weeks, the annual period of tion that Balaam can only see, or prophecy, What I behold will not be soon: ing alone. Balaam perceived that if Israel mourning over the destruction of the First and Second that which G-d allows him to see. A star rises from Jacob, ceased to keep apart from the nations, it Temples, which culminates in Tisha B’Av, which, this Th us three times Balaam utters a posi- A sceptre comes forth from Israel; could indeed be cursed. year, falls on July 29. tive oracle concerning Israel which angers It smashes the brow of Moab… Why does the narrative give pride of According to the Talmud, this fast commemorates his employer, Israel’s adversary, Balak king Israel is triumphant. place to Balaam, a passive vehicle of revela- the anniversary of Moses shattering the tablets on of Moab. Balaam can only plead that he A victor issues from Jacob… tion whose otherwise positive oracles also which the Ten Commandments were engraved; and the must prophecy in the words which G-d has James S Ackerman in Th e Literary Guide depict the circumstances in which Israel’s day a breach was made in the walls of the city of Jeru- given him to speak. to the Bible sees “An extraordinary twist in blessing may be undone? salem. In a post-biblical era, there are many other trag- Yet Balaam is not a fool. In response to the plot” of the story of Balaam which “as- Ackerman asks rhetorically: “Is it to edies: including the day of the looting and burning of the Balak’s anger, Balaam prophecies against signs the most far-reaching and positive vi- demonstrate that not even a Balaam, let Jewish Quarter of Prague in 1559; the death sentence Balak’s own kingdom, Moab. Th is time the sions of Israel’s future… to a Near Eastern alone a rebellious Israel, can defeat G-d’s of the entire Kovno ghetto community in 1944; and the words are from Balaam, not from G-d: diviner rather than to Moses. sovereign purposes?” Libyan confi scation of all Jewish property in 1970, to name a few. Shivah Asar B’Tammuz is a 12-hour fast, beginning Madiba’s 94th commemorated at Wits before day-break and ending after nightfall. Traditionally, observation of the Three Weeks is a period of semi- mourning in which entertainment, haircuts and buying ROBYN SASSEN Th is photograph was the source of a new clothes are avoided. - OWN CORRESPONDENT beaded artwork by the Makhubeles Last week saw a culmination of which is on show. News in Brief curatorial work, and the coming to- For the last several years, people SENATE AFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO IS gether of glitterati of the art world, have been observing 67 minutes of RAELI MILITARY’S QUALITATIVE EDGE academia and the legal frater- good deeds for the country in the WASHINGTON - The US Senate overwhelmingly passed nity in the opening of “Mandela @ name of Mandela, commemorat- bipartisan legislation that reaffi rms US security commit- 94_z_a”, an exhibition about Man- ing the 67 years, between 1942 ments to Israel. dela’s life and iconic status, curated and 2009 in which Mandela fought More specifi cally, the measure says that the US by Natalie Knight, at the art gallery for human rights in South Africa. will provide Israel with the capabilities to preserve its of the Origins Centre, Wits Univer- “But,” quipped Knight. “Wits has military’s qualitative edge, expand military and civilian sity in Braamfontein. the edge! And I invite all of you to cooperation, and encourage Israel’s neighbours to rec- Explaining the e-mail address- take part in ’94 minutes of kind- ognise Israel’s right to exist as the state of the Jewish like title of the exhibition, Knight ness for Mandela’ on his birthday, people. The Senate passed the measure by unanimous opened the evening remarking that July 18.” consent last Friday. Senators Barbara Boxer (Democrat the artists range are from South Th e event was further comple- California) and Johnny Isakson (Republican Georgia) au- Africa – ‘za’ in e-mail parlance, but Curator Natalie Knight speaking at the opening of the exhibition. mented by Wits’ Vice Chancellor thored the legislation, which had 69 co-sponsors. that they also draw from the alpha- (PHOTOGRAPH BY DEBBIE YAZBEK) Professor Loyiso Nongxo and Advo- In a joint news release, the bill’s authors praised the bet: from ‘z’ to ‘a’; from Zapiro to cate George Bizos sharing Mandela bipartisanship of the Senate to expeditiously pass the the anonymous Xhosa beadworker. 2012, but 1994 was also a highly signifi - anecdotes. Said head of law school legislation. Boxer said in the statement that the bill “re- “Th is exhibition is democracy in action,” she cant year in Mandela’s life and that of the at Wits, Prof Jonathan Klaaren, in declaring affi rms the important bond between the United States said, commenting on how it features newcom- country.” the exhibition open: “Storytelling shows eve- and Israel, and helps ensure that Israel has the neces- ers with well-established names. It’s an exhibi- While some of the work is for sale, other rything, the good and the bad, but above all, sary tools to defend itself in this time of dynamic change tion that doesn’t promise to be comprehen- pieces are on loan from public and private col- the richness of a situation.” in the Middle East.” sive, but off ers mixed and lively insight into lections, but “one I consider priceless.

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