Hashalom November 2017 Established 1923 Volume 22. No 4 March 2014 █ HASHALOM 1 Editorial 02 EDITORIAL Out of Perspective 03 Mishna Impossible 04 Israel 05 ZIONISM EQUALS EVIL Prof Antony Arkin Giant women’s peace rally calls for ending conflict 05 The Year That Wasn’t: The Top 10 Stories Of 5777 Over the past few months the Jewish community has been involved in That Didn’t Happen 06 counteracting the threats of an academic boycott by the University of Bibi Probes Enter Decisive Round 08 Cape Town and the downgrading of diplomatic relations at the ANC’s December conference. Jewish World 09 Jewish DNA 09 While a small Muslim minority, less than 2 percent of South Africa’s total Steven Spielberg: A Legend Behind The Camera 10 population drives the anti-Zionist agenda; hostility is widespread and President Trump Did the Right Thing by Walking deeply rooted in the largely black ANC and among the white progressive Away from UNESCO — for Now 11 intelligentsia. Holy Tembel: Iconic Israeli Hat, Now Recognized by MoMA 12 Of course anti-Semitism is not new in South Africa. As Prof Milton Shain Community News 13 argued in “A Perfect Storm”, it had shifted by 1930, from being a fringe phenomenon to the centre of public discourse. Jews were scapegoated Bubkes 13 as the cause of the country‘s economic plight, accused of excessive Past Tense 14 control of the economy and depicted as an alien, unassimilable element Durban Progressive Jewish Congregation 15 operating as the agents of foreign powers. While this agenda was Eden College 16 pushed aggressively by the National Party, such sentiments were Union of Jewish Women 17 common among many English speakers as well. DHC 18 Durban United Hebrew Congregation 19 Both the ANC in exile as well as progressive groups in South Africa Durban Jewish Social Services 20 broadly shared a “Third-World” view that identified with the Palestine Wotsup Wizo 21 Liberation Organization and saw Zionism as a form of colonialism, and Divoted 22 the exclusive ethnic state as “tribalism”. Israel as the state of the Jewish Limmud 23 people runs counter to the non-racial and inclusive outlook of the ANC Beth Shalom 24 and progressive formations in South Africa. Mazaltov Leah Suchet 25 Many South Africans today, including radical or leftist Jews view Israel Talmud Torah 26 then in the words of Tony Judt, as an “anachronistic, ethnic state”. Their Young Israel Center 26 view is that ethnicity as a principle of social organization is essentially KwaZulu Natal Zionist Council 27 irrational. As Hermann Gilomee argues in “Manipulating the past”, in UJC 28 Political Corrections in South Africa (SAIRR, 2000,pp 93-4) they believe Akiva College 29 that there is not much more to ethnic identification than the legacy Netzer 30 of apartheid classification. Zionism, as a liberation movement has Cooking with Judy and Linda 31 been ignored, the term has been associated only with exclusivism and Social and Personal 32 expansionism. In this worldview, Jewish suffering in the diaspora and Diary of Events 32 the dramatic rebirth of the Jewish state is of no importance. The views expressed in the pages of Hashalom are not necessarily those of the This anti-Israel hostility has been fuelled by the English-language press, Editorial Board or any other organisation or religious body unless otherwise largely owned by Tony O’Reilly’s Independent Group from 1993 to 2013 and thereafter by the ANC connected Iqbal Surve. individual. Of course hatred of Israel is not always synonymous with anti- Hashalom Editorial Board: Editor: Prof Antony Arkin Semitism. Nevertheless, rhetoric often betrays true feelings. Examples Sub Editor: Mr Colin Plen have included deputy Foreign Minister Fatima Hajaig’s public remarks at Editorial Board: Mrs Mikki Norton, Mrs Michelle Campbell the time of Operation Cast Lead. The US and the West were controlled Commitee: Dr Issy Fisher, Ms Diane McColl, Mrs Lauren Shapiro by “Jewish money power”. Similarly the Boycott, Divestment and Production Manager: Mrs Robyn Bradley Sanctions (BDS) movement disrupted a concert at the University of the Witwatersrand chanting “Dubela e Juda” (Shoot the Jews in Zulu). “Keep Notice to Organisations/Contributors: calm and kill the Jews” was posted on the ANC Youth League website. All material to be submitted by email to [email protected] On the whole, however, it is the classic left wing critique that pushes the DEADLINE FOR THE FEBRUARY ISSUE: 8 January anti-Zionism. SA Communist Party leader Blade Nzimonde told a mass rally in Johannesburg that the conflict was one of “western imperialism Advertisements in partnership with Zionism” against the indigenous Palestinians. Contact: Robyn Bradley P.O. Box 10797 Marine Parade 4056 Tel: (031) 335 4451 Fax: (031) 337 9600 Email: [email protected] To place this in perspective, South Africa is not awash with anti-Zionism. A Pew Poll in 2007 indicated that 28 percent of South Africans sided Hashalom is issued under the auspices of the SAJBD KZN Council, KwaZulu-Natal Zionist Council and the Durban Jewish Club. with Israel in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as opposed to 19 percent with the Palestinians. A 2016 survey by the Kaplan Centre indicates Typesetting Supplied. the conflict hardly registers among blacks. As the country grapples Designed by RBG Studios, email: [email protected] Printed by Fishwick Printers with state capture, a collapsing economy and high unemployment the community must ensure that this prejudice that Zionism is synonymous Visit our website: www.hashalom.co.za with evil remains a fringe phenomenon. 2 HASHALOM November 2017 OUT OF PERSPECTIVE Of public goods and naked body -surfing David Arkin Like everyone else, I use public goods like parks and beaches. I don’t often go to the mikvah, but when I do, I like to go “publicly”. Local mikve’ot are especially packed on Erev Rosh Hashanah and Erev Yom Kippur, making the ritual less pleasant. Over the years, I’ve had a long-standing tradition to get to a separate swimming beach in lieu of the local mikvah. The sea or ocean is considered like a natural spring, so immersing oneself completely in the Mediterranean fulfills the mitzvah. There are obvious privacy and modesty issues when swimming naked in the sea, but this is somewhat alleviated by the advent of separate swimming beaches in Israel. Separate swimming is quite common. Hotels often have separate swimming hours to cater for their modesty-conscious guests. Though, these are usually in peak holiday times and when there is a relatively high ratio of religious guests to cater for this service. Hotel swimming, though, remains in the private domain, and is relatively easy to facilitate. Beaches on the other hand, are what economists call public goods. That is, a public beach is a product or facility that one individual can consume or use, without reducing its availability to another individual (they are nonrivalrous), and from which no one is excluded (they are nonexcludable). So, according to economic theory, a public beach should be available to all members of the public equally, and not exclude any member. So this holds true for nearly Israel’s entire 187 km. coastline, except for isolated spots near Acco, Ashdod, Ashkelon, Bat Yam, Hadera, Haifa, Herzliya, Netanya, Rishon Lezion and Tel Aviv. There are also spots on the Kinneret (near Tiberias), the Dead Sea and Eilat. These isolated spots are separate swimming beaches of course. There is usually nothing special to demarcate a separate swimming beach, except for a sign announcing separate bathing hours for men and women. There may be some sort of partition around the designated beach area (sort of like a mechitza at a wedding to designate separate dancing). Since my only experience of separate swimming is usually limited to Erev Yom Kippur, I can’t say at all how frequently these beaches are used during the summer months. The men’s separate beach at Rishon Lezion is the place to be before the Day of Atonement. If ever one wants to see a cross-section of Jewish male Israeli society, one should visit the Rishon beach on this day. Secular, Religious, Haredim (Hasidim and Litvak), Breslav, Kipa Sruga, Hardal (Haredi-Dati Leumi), Temeni, Ethiopian, Sephardi, Ashkenazi, clean-shaven, bearded, with long payot, with short payot, tattooed, tall and short, skinny, puny and muscled. Everyone is there. It’s the end of summer and the water of the Mediterranean is its warmest. By late morning or early afternoon the beach is crowded, the atmosphere is festive, the beach-goers light-hearted and confident in their tshuva and Hashem’s grace for the impending fast. Before entry into the sea, it’s an opportunity to recite Tashlich too, if one hasn’t already on the afternoon of Rosh Hashanah. Finding a body of water with fish in the suburbs is tricky. There are no firm guidelines and techniques for getting into the sea. I have seen some younger males rhino-charge into the water. However, most prefer a more dignified entry. Walk in with your speedo until you are fully submerged, and then take it off, holding it firmly in your hands. One – two, and you are swimming just like the killer whale in that movie, Free Willy. Within the water it is tranquil, punctuated with some younger naked body-surfers cavorting and laughing (and even throwing their swimming trunks at each other). Before exiting the sea, tread water and carefully replace one’s speedo. Catch a shore-break back to the beach. En route back to the car, stop and pay respects at a memorial for 12 fallen naval commandoes from Shayetet 13, who fell in Lebanon in 1997.