Rosh Hashanah 2009 - South African Jewish Board of Deputies

VOL. 64 NO. 2 ROSH HASHANAH 2009Editor: David SaksSOUTH AFRICAN JEWS IN POLITICSJack Bloom – Life and Times of a Working Politician ....................................................................................... 4The Other “Doctor Ruth” – Ruth Rabinowitz and the Inkatha Freedom Party ............................................ 7Remembering Leo Lovell ...................................................................................................................................... 10Barbara BrownCAPE JEWRY – HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVESDid the Hottentots descend from the Jews? Early travellers debate the issue .............................................. 12Gwynne SchrireThe Cape Jewish Orphanage: Bes Yesoymim, 1911-1939 ................................................................................. 19Veronica BellingLament on the Death of Yehudah Leib Schrire ................................................................................................. 28Naomi Dison KaplanESSAYS AND REFLECTIONSFighting the Good Fight at the Durban Review Conference............................................................................ 30Wendy KahnScarred by the Holocaust: A Rhodesian Childhood with Hans Trixer and Other Relatives ...................... 34Dorothy KowenAugust in Latvia ..................................................................................................................................................... 36Bernard LevinsonA Brief Journey through Italian Jewish History ............................................................................................... 38Bernard KatzTruth-telling in Medical Practice: Ethical Dilemmas for Jewish Doctors and Patients ............................... 45Maurice SilbertA Golden Opportunity .......................................................................................................................................... 48Charlotte CohenFICTIONWho Goes to Heaven? ........................................................................................................................................... 50Barry SidelskyMr. Thomas Said.................................................................................................................................................... 52John YarbroughBOOK REVIEWSOld Arcadians Look Back: 100 Years of Arc Memories and More Arc Memories ......................................... 53David SaksRising Tide – How Freedom with Responsibility Uplifts Everyone ................................................................ 54David Saks

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009JACK BLOOM –LIFE AND TIMES OF A WORKING POLITICIAN*Jack Bloom has been his party’s spokesperson in the Gauteng Legislature on Health since 1994, firstfor the Democratic Party (DP) and thereafter for the Democratic Alliance (DA). He was Chief Whip untilassuming the role of Leader of the Opposition in December 2007, a position he held until April 2009.Today, he continues to hold the Health portfolio and is also the DA’s spokesperson on issues pertainingto corruption.This interview was conducted by the editor on 13 May 2009.When you were elected as City Councillor for thethen Democratic Party in 1991, you became just oneof many Jewish politicians then holding local ornational positions. Today, only two Jewish membersof the National Assembly remain while you are theonly Jewish Member of the Provincial Legislature(MPL) in all nine provinces. How do you explain thisdramatic falling off of Jewish involvement in politicsat all levels?Jews certainly used to be very active inJohannesburg local politics – every second or thirdmayor was Jewish. There remains a fair number ofJewish local councillors in Johannesburg – ShirleyAncer, Ray Wolder, John Mendelson, DarrenBergman, Allen Fuchs and Marcel Bloom-Ravid forthe DA, Sol Cowan and Joy Coplan in the ANC andMervyn Cirota for the Independent Democrats. Sothere is still a presence at the local level.It’s a slippery path to get from provincialgovernment to Parliament. There’s not that manyseats and you need to work your way up. Funnilyenough, there are more opportunities now, becausethere are more seats compared to in the past. In theold Johannesburg, for example, there were 51 seatsin total. Today the DA, even as the Opposition, hassome sixty seats.I wouldn’t say there’s a lack of civic action, butit’s not the kind of action that is channelled intopolitics. If you want to see massive civic activism byJews it’s in the Glenhazel Active Patrol, somethingpioneered by the CSO and Chief Rabbi. There’salmost a withdrawal from official institutions, and aprevailing attitude that we’ll look after ourselvesbecause the State isn’t looking after us. That’s reallywhat GAP and its allied bodies are all about.So far as creating alternatives outside the officialstructures goes, we also see initiatives like Hatzollah(Medical Rescue) and the fact that most Jewishchildren now attend private schools.Absolutely. So there’s been an opting out ofpublic education, health and security, and you can’tget more basic than that. There has certainly been aninward turn, which is part of the broader phenomenonof white withdrawal from active politics. We find incertain areas people vote massively for us at electiontime but don’t want to join the party and becomeinvolved. We also see that our most active branchesare in the townships. Politics is very real to theresidents there - they have grievances they wantaddressed. There are obviously grievances in the[mainly white] suburbs as well, but residents theredon’t see redress through politics but through selfhelpactivities. It’s really a failure of institutions –you shouldn’t, after all, have to set up private security,because it is the primary duty of the State to protectits citizens. So while there’s a lot of talent out there,we don’t see it being channelled into political actions.The DA won just under 17% of the national votein the last elections, increasing its overall support bynearly 4%, and with at least a third of supportcoming from non-white voters. How do you accountfor these gains?The proportion of non-white support was probablyeven higher than that, actually. It’s primarilyminorities who support the DA now. The ANC hasevidently lost virtually all its white support. Therewas a visible white support in 1994, largely Jewishin fact. It was all part of the Mandela enthusiasm of4

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009the time. There were important left-leaning Jewsrepresenting the ANC in Parliament, like Jeff Peiresand Andrew Feinstein, but all that’s tailed off. ANCwhite support was at its lowest-ever ebb in this lastelection.Feinstein was quite disillusioned with the ANC inthe end, writing a book to that effect after resigningfrom Parliament. 1Absolutely – disillusionment has very much takenroot. Minorities in general have turned away fromthe ANC, which has also lost significant colouredand Indian support and is becoming de facto auniracial party. They do, of course, appoint minoritiesto Cabinet posts, even if this can be seen as a form ofcooption, and they have a praiseworthy attitude todiversity, in which everyone gets a place in the sun.Turning to yourself and your own career, whatmotivated you to go into politics?Moral outrage against apartheid, actually – I feltit was the right thing to do. I went knocking on doorsfor Douglas Gibson of the Progressive Federal Partin the Bezuidenhout constituency in 1981. Then, Iwas not a member of the party, but a volunteer. (Onthat point, the PFP had a high calibre of peopleinvolved as volunteers in those days, giving time andexpertise for what they saw as a worthy cause). Iformally joined the PFP in 1987, and lost the councilseat to Howard Bloomberg of the National Party thefollowing year, by 28 votes. It was Bloomberg’sfather, Sam, who got me into politics in the firstplace, in fact – I was outraged that Jews werestanding for the National Party. But ultimately, Isuppose I am intrinsically a political animal.I was elected unopposed in the Highlands Northconstituency in August 1991, becoming the youngestmember of the DP in the Johannesburg caucus. After1994, I jumped over everyone’s heads to become oneof only five DP members in the Gauteng Legislatureand, because so few were elected in 1994, I am todaythe longest-serving DP-DA MPL in the country.The DP did very badly in the 1994 nationalelections, but already was performing somewhatmore strongly in the subsequent municipal elections.We did appallingly in 1994, winning only sevenparliamentary seats. We recovered to a degree in themunicipal elections, and still had a base inJohannesburg, but the real breakthrough came in1999. There we emerged as a much larger party, withmore opportunities. However, even in our smallishcaucus prior to that we had Jews like Peter Horwitzand Peter Leon. Today, even at branch level, there islittle Jewish participation, although I see Jews asbeing very active in civic activism – rate-payersassociations and so on – in Cape Town as well asJohannesburg. But it is very hard to get any whites,Jewish and non-Jewish, involved politicallynowadays.Could you tell us something about your rolewithin the Gauteng Legislature over the years – whatkind of issues you focused on and what you feel yourmain achievements have been?I’ve been Health spokesman since 1994. I wasnot particularly enamoured with doctors and hospitalsand suchlike, but was given the portfolio and ranwith it. Certainly, my name recognition today onhospitals is high. I pioneered hospital visits by politicalrepresentatives, and still visit hospitals very regularly,acting on complaints. The DA’s policy on health waslargely written by myself – I think it’s not enough forthe Opposition just to criticise; we have to havealternate policies as well.With regard to hospital visits, the then GautengHealth MEC Brian Hlongwa tried to bar me fromconducting them, but Advocate Jules Browde of theIntegrity Commission ruled in my favour, saying Icould visit whenever I felt it necessary without priornotice. So I have an official ruling, applicable to anyinstitution, which I regard as a victory for all publicrepresentatives.I also now have a new portfolio, called Corruption(which is all pervasive across the board and not justin the health sphere). Actually, I believe I havealready been very successful in exposing corruption,uncovering areas that people would prefer to remainhidden. I certainly was the one who brought downBrian Hlongwa, and can claim to have had some partin Paul Mashatile not being reappointed as GautengPremier.Over the past five years, I’ve asked 380 questionsin the Legislature, acquiring something of a reputationfor this. The ANC was very hostile to questionsinitially. We started off with the spirit of ‘nationalunity’, in which asking a question was regarded asbeing almost disloyal. I can probably claim to havebeen the highest profile member of the Legislaturesince 1994. The former Speaker even acknowledgedthis, calling me the ‘spokesperson for the Legislature’and saying that if it wasn’t for me people wouldn’tknow that the Legislature even existed.Presumably, one of the regular issues you’vebrought up has been the HIV/Aids question.Yes. I was the first politician in Gauteng to callfor anti-retrovirals for pregnant women and rapevictims. In fact, I was publicly credited in theLegislature by former Gauteng Premier MosiuoaShilowa with having influenced him in this regard. Iwas also the first to call on Mandela to make astatement on it. Looking back to the 1990s, we seehow late we were in mobilising on this. I got intosome controversy recently because I disapproved ofcondoms in schools, saying in general that condomswere not necessarily the answer (Gauteng hasdistributed over a billion condoms over the past tenyears and the HIV rate has hardly budged). I wasattacked for this by Zachie Achmat and NathanGeffen from the Treatment Action Campaign – was5

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009accused of all sorts of things. On HIV/Aids, I believeit is a question of behaviour change, and values haveto be a part of it. You cannot get away from the factthat the epidemic is spread as a result of masspromiscuity and multiple partners, something manypeople are denying.It was the late Chief Rabbi Harris who said thatthere is a 100%-effective moral vaccine for Aids. Itry to bring a moral dimension to politics, and thiswhole ethos of ‘moral neutrality’ is wrong. I thinkthat we need to make judgments – we may be a multifaithand diverse country, but I do think that there areobjective standards and that we do need to makemoral judgements. I certainly haven’t steered clearof making value judgments, and that can be awkwardin a country which is diverse.What other important areas do you think youhave helped to bring to public attention?Well, I was the one who raised the whole issue ofteenage pregnancies. I obtained the figures from theGauteng education department, and they reported aschool with over fifty pregnant students. Thatprovoked a huge public debate.That would tie in with the HIV/Aids question.Yes, because by definition teenage pregnanciesis unprotected sex. If the number of teenagepregnancies is large, that means there’s more highrisksex, so we should find out what’s going on inthese schools. It was quite pleasing to me [followingmy raising the issue] when I compared the relevantschools from one year to the next, and found thatbecause we had identified high-risk schools theywent in with a team and tried to improve things. Theschool that had had fifty pregnancies the one year didnot have the next, because some action was taken. Sothat’s one way of working as a politician - youexpose the information and affect debate that way.JA: You have been very active in countering anti-Israel propaganda and antisemitism in your privatecapacity. Has this impacted on you politically?JB: Pot-shots have certainly been taken at me inthe Legislature from time to time because I’m Jewish.The question of Israel will suddenly be raised, withoutany relevance to the topic at hand. Still, such incidentshave been few and far between.I must stress that I am a politician who happensto be Jewish and don’t represent Jews in my politicalcapacity. However, as a Jew I am very concernedabout antisemitism and anti-Zionism, and in myprivate capacity make available what expertise I can.The eye-opener for me was the 2001 WorldConference Against Racism in Durban, which Iattended and where I saw how minimal Jewishactivism was. That conference exposed the lack ofJewish preparedness very cruelly. Since then,fortunately, the community has built up impressiveresources in this area, websites such as Its AlmostSupernatural and the like.JA: You’ve authored three books to date. Couldyou tell us something about them?The first was called Black South Africans’Disinvestment Dilemma (published by Jonathan Ball),which I saw as a treatise on political ethics – whatsort of means you employ to attain what ends. It wasadapted as a political ethics model and used by theWits Business School for a course on labour relations,and the balancing of means and ends. I interviewedblack trade unionists and asked if they felt it wasworth putting their members out of work to forcepolitical change. It was an acute ethical dilemma thatI found very interesting and which they had variousways of responding to.Out of Step (2005) was really something I neededto get out of my system. It’s part autobiography andpart presenting my views on a whole range of issues,including religion. 2The most recent book, Rising Tide – How freedomwith responsibility uplifts everyone [reviewed in thisissue], is a book of essays on a whole range of issues,many of which had been previously published (mostlyin the Citizen, where I am now writing a regularcolumn). It comprises a fair mix of articles, originallyemails that went out every Monday to senior mediapeople and key opinion-formers. Two of theseattracted a fair amount of public attention, werediscussed on Radio 702 amongst other things. Somewere ultra-topical at the time, others were reflective.I believe in the concept of liberty withresponsibility concept, “How Freedom WithResponsibility Uplifts Anyone” as the subtitle of mynew book has it. There are two common themes –freedom but also responsibilities – constraints.DS: It’s a very Jewish approach, really - the ideathat true freedom is bound up with self-restraint andthe acceptance upon oneself of certain obligationsand standards of behaviour.JB: Very often I put out Jewish concepts – Torahconcepts - without explicitly saying so and have beenamazed at how positively many people react to whatthey see as fresh ideas. In the beginning of RisingTide, I include the famous quote from Hillel – “If Iam not for myself, who will be for me? And if I amonly for myself, what am I? And if not now, when?”That has been a guiding light to me, and it summarisesmuch of the book. So what do you do with yourfreedom and is your freedom going to impinge onothers? It’s Pesach leading up to Shavuot – freedomfollowed by the acceptance upon the nation of certainresponsibilities.NOTES1 Andrew Feinstein, After The Party: A Personal and PoliticalJourney inside the ANC, Jonathan Ball, 20072 Reviewed in the Pesach 2006 issue of Jewish Affairs.6

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009THE OTHER “DOCTOR RUTH” – RUTH RABINOWITZAND THE INKATHA FREEDOM PARTY*Dr. Ruth Rabinowitz, a medical doctor based in Johannesburg, represented the Inkatha Freedom Party inParliament for 15 years, initially in the Senate from 1994-1997 and thereafter as an MP until April 2009.During this time, she was an active member on the Portfolio Committees for Health, Science andTechnology and Energy. This interview was conducted by the editor on 26 May 2009.JA: You embarked on your political career in theearly 1990s. Could you tell me a little bit about yourbackground and activities prior to that?RR: I was born Ruth Zilibowitz in Springs. Myparents, like most of the Jews in South Africa, camefrom Lithuania, and my father was an active memberof the Springs Jewish community. I went on toqualify with an M.B.BCh. from Wits, and at the sametime got a diploma for teaching drama from theLondon Academy of Dramatic Art. (I roam betweenthe creative and scientific). I married one of myteachers, who was a surgeon at Baragwanath Hospital,and we had three children. It was at the same time mychildren were leaving the country to study overseas,that I went into politics. Being a Jewish mother, youhave to have something to care about, so I adoptedthe cause of putting out the real story of theConstitution. I started to write letters, organizeworkshops under the auspices of The DemocracyTrust and Dr. Buthelezi sent me an appreciative letterthanking me for my efforts. That was the start of ourrelationship.JA: It was unusual for any member of the Jewishcommunity to join the Inkatha Freedom Party, letalone play a significant role within it. How did thiscome about in your case?RR: It made perfect sense to me. My sonorganized a debate at wits when mandela was released.The legal issue of the time was the Constitution,which was the subject of many family discussions..My daughter, who was the chairperson of the WitsLaw Society, organised a conference to discuss theInterim Constitution in 1993. Kadar Asmal and TonyLeon, amongst others, attended it. I went and wasfascinated by the ifp’s proposals , which were federalin nature, similar to the US and ideal for SouthAfrica. I asked the IFP speaker why we heard so littleabout their ideas and he told me about the propagandacampaign to smear INKATHA. I have since carriedhis story with me like an albatross. People did not tellthe IFP story. Buthelezi was the best alternativeleader for this country – he had international supportand White support. The communists targeted him –smartly. They vilified him and sidelined him,undermined him with death threats andmisrepresentation. They did so because he wasdangerous – he was the one thing that could spoiltheir agenda. The more I found out about it, the moreit inspired me to uncover the truth. I’ve alwaystended towards exposing myths. Anthea Jeffreys,whom I admire tremendously for her courage, hasjust released a marvelous book that bears testimonyto this strategy.JA: You started to come to public attention in thelead-up to the inaugural non-racial elections in1994. What were your activities during this period?RR: I worked with an organization, TheDemocracy Trust, that was lobbying for a federalconstitution, and through that I organized a workshopto expose the truth about where the IFP was positionedpre elections. It was through that event, in which allparties participated, that international mediation [inresolving the impasse between the IFP and ANCover the forthcoming elections] came about. Isuggested to Bobby Godsell that the businesscommunity, by throwing themselves so completelybehind the ANC, was not doing enough to resolve thedeadlock. He was not very happy with me, but he didthen say that the business community would supportinternational mediation if that was the way out of thecrisis. It turned out that this was indeed the mechanismthrough which the IFP was brought back on board. Itdidn’t resolve the constitutional crisis, but it avertedmore bloodshed. The breakthrough was achieved byKenyan academic Washington Okumuo, a friend ofButhelezi, who was in South Africa for the mediation.7

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009who had lived in the Cape at the same time as he had.But unlike Hemmy, he did not swallow it hook, lineand sinker. Mentzel was so dismayed at what Kolbehad written that he sat down and wrote his ownaccount, accusing Kolbe of superficiality,slovenliness, affectation and plagiarism. 26Berlin-born, Mentzel was well read and a keenobserver with an insatiable curiosity. He arrived inCape Town in 1732 and lived happily there as a tutorfor children until one unfortunate day in 1741, eagerto catch the mail, he boarded a ship to deliver a lastminute letter. The wind came up suddenly andprevented him from returning to shore that night sohe had no choice but to sleep over. When he awokethe next morning, he found that the captain hadforgotten he was there and that he was on his wayback to Holland, sans all his clothes and possessions.He was never able to return. Back in Europe, heentered the Prussian Civil Service in the recentlyacquired Province of Silesia, rising to become Chiefof Police at Neustädtel in Lower Silesia and dyingthere in 1801.Infuriated by what Kolbe had written, Mentzelwrote his own book, A Complete and AuthenticGeographical and Topographical Description of theFamous and (All Things Considered) RemarkableAfrican Cape of Good Hope. many years after hisunexpected return. 27 He felt that his eight years spentin the Cape made him more qualified than those whohad not been in Cape Town as long as he had and hedid not hesitate to correct other writers when theirstatements conflicted with his own personalobservations. Mentzel ends his author’s preface tothe Second Volume as follows:My work still has to be judged and I submit it toevery intelligent and critical reader to whom Ioffer my best respects, and whom I commend tothe grace and protection of God. O.F. Mentzel,26 February 1787 on my 78 th birthday.I can say with certainty that everything thatKolbe and several others on his authority havewritten over and above what I have mentioned,is inconsistent with the truth, in so far as theyhave written down exaggerations of unimportantthings to lengthen their accounts, and one cantruthfully say of them: It is easy to tell falsehoodsabout distant countries… I do not wish to concernmyself with any more refutations. It is enoughthat I have shown what Kolbe’s work is worth. 28Mentzel did not, like Kolbe, write for publicsuccess but out of a desire to spread the truth as hesaw it. Unfortunately, unlike Kolbe’s work, Mentzel’sbook attracted little notice and fell into obscurity.This is a pity, because his book is a primary sourceon what he saw and a critical commentary on thewritings of his contemporaries. It is interesting andreadable and he comes across as somebody who issympathetic and the possessor of sound commonsense, insight and humanity. 29 He had enjoyed meetingand talking to all sorts of people and had a finelydeveloped sense of curiosity. It is obvious from hiswork that he had read literature on the Hottentots, butthat he had also obtained information from talking tothem, as well as to people who knew them fromelephant hunters to farmers. 30Mentzel has a long chapter on the Hottentots,which is essentially a criticism of Kolbe. Here, helooks at the question troubling all of the early visitors:“What is the origin of the Hottentots? From whatnation are they descended? And how did they get tothe most Southerly point of Africa?” Mentzel saysthat “up to now, only a great deal of silly nonsensehas been the outcome of these questions”.The practical Mentzel reasons that the Hottentotscould not possibly have come down from Asia “wherewithout any doubt man first lived after the Deluge”because the terrible deserts, mountain chains and bigrivers that lay between these two continents “almostexclude the possibility of believing in an emigrationto such a remote place”. He concludes that it wouldbe futile to trace their descent, “but when a fewscholars theorise about or even try to determine fromwhich nations the Hottentots are descended, such asthe Carthaginian tribes of Africa, or the troglodytes,or even the Jews; surely the few customs they havein common with these prove nothing: for these mayhave come about accidentally”. 31Mentzel spends considerable space demolishingKolbe’s comparison between the Jews and Hottentots.“Kolbe takes great pains to prove that the Hottentotshave much in common with the Jews; but this theorydoes not hold. I shall give his reasons and my opinionin parallel columns”. 32Mentzel then proceeded to draw up a businessliketable to refute Kolbe’s list of similarities betweenJews and Hottentots, placing Kolbe’s statement onone side of the page, and his own rebuttal on theother. He balances Kolbe’s opinions with factual,and sometimes sarcastic, rebuttals that showconsiderable knowledge of the customs of bothpeople. The whole table is included for interest.Kolbe’s supposed evidence for the comparisonwas based on the following claims:(1) Since they [Hottentots] often make offerings;(2) since they calculate their days and especiallytheir festivals by the new and full moon; (3) sincethey are not allowed to cohabit with their wives atcertain times; (4) since, if caught in non-observanceof this custom, they have to sacrifice again; (5) since,just as the Jews often eat unleavened bread andunsalted food, they may never eat salt, unless theyare among the Christians; (6) since they have toundergo a definite kind of circumcision; (7) sincethey eat nothing that has died of suffocation; (8)since they eat no scaleless fish; (9) since they neverallow their wives to attend their meetings dealingwith public affairs and (10) since they may divorcetheir wives.To each of these, Mentzel responded as follows:(1) Hottentots never make sacrifices in honourof a God; but for a different purpose, that is they15

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009slaughter cattle to cure a patient with the freshfat. The meat, entrails and hide are eaten by theentire village as a common food, but none offeredto the Gods by fire(2) All Indian tribes reckon the seasons accordingto the changes of the moon. The Hottentotshowever have no festivals calculated and fixedaccording to changes of the moon; indeed, theyhave no festivals at all. Their dancing at or aboutfull moon is no festive act which they have toperform, but merely a merry-making which theyhave in common with many tribes and whichthey omit if the weather is unpleasant or rainy(3) At such times the men of no nation touchtheir wives.(4) Not sacrifice, but present the kraal with ahead of cattle as at weddings or the birth of achild, especially a son.(5) O! Sancta Simplicitus! Hottentots have nobread and are accustomed to lack of salt fromtheir childhood since most Hottentots live inregions where salt is unobtainable. But whenthey visit the colonists, leavened bread and foodspiced with salt taste excellent to them, and theymay also eat it. Is it then in abstinence ordered bya law when I have to do without something I donot possess?(6) The excision of a testicle and the practice ofcutting out a testicle or the circumcision of theforeskin are radically different: and all theHottentot tribes have at least nowadays doneaway with the initiation into manhood. Only theGreat Namaquas still retain it.(7) By suffocation the Jews mean anything thathas died a natural death, retaining its blood. If ananimal belonging to a Hottentot dies, it isconsumed.(8) This (if true, but unknown to me) mustoriginate from a natural aversion.(9) Since, of all uncivilised nations, they thinkleast of their wives; and I do not rememberhaving read in a single book of travels, thatwomen of other nations are permitted in suchassemblies.(10) This should read “may separate from them”or no longer cohabit with them. This is done byall uncivilised nations; they take wives and leavethem again if they believe they have a reason.They are not married under oath and since thewoman’s father reserves the right to take backhis daughter (according to Kolbe’s own account),the man may also separate from her.Mentzel concludes that “the reasons broughtforward appear far-fetched” and points out that if onelooked for similarities between people, one couldjust as easily find similarities between the Jews andthe Germans!” He then lists the similarities of Jewsand Germans. “We Germans too have a good deal incommon with the Jews: we respect the Sabbath, wekeep the Ten Commandments, we still retain muchof what Moses prescribed in Marriage andPolicematter; in a word we still have the Jewish OldTestament, Moses and the Prophets”, but ends bysaying “but what intelligent person would on thataccount imagine that we are descended from theJews?”He then points out that the Hottentots could nothave been descended from the Jews because nomatter where Jews settle, they never forsake theircustoms and faith.The Jewish nation has been scattered all over theworld and has since then been divided intocountless sections, but not one of these is knownto have discarded or forgotten the laws of Moses.Even supposing there are descendants of Jews,who live in far distant lands without Rabbis andwithout any written code, and thus had forgottenthe Mosaic Law in the course of time, yet theywould never forget the holiness of the Sabbath,circumcision and the aversion to shedding blood.Besides, the Mosaic ceremonial law is so deeprootedin all Jews in many respects that it wouldnot be improper to say that it has become secondnature to them. In additions one should onlyconsider this, that the Mosaic law enjoins nothingmore strictly than cleanliness, so that the Jewsdare not touch anything which in the smallestway is unclean in their eyes, according to thislaw; or if needs must, they wash themselvesagain, purify themselves or even have to remainunclean for a definite period; thus there is nogreater contrast between day and night thanbetween the cleanliness of the Jews of the OldTestament and the filthiness of the Hottentots,who live in constant squalor like a dung-beetle inthe dung… They not only touch but handleeverything that is intrinsically unclean and eatanimals that have perished of disease, even suchas have already begun to putrefy. 33Mentzel concludes that the Hottentots are in allrespects quite distinctive, with little in their nationalcustoms or religious rites comparable to others, andthat they probably had separated from the rest ofmankind “immediately after the Babylonishconfusion of languages”. His own theory of theirorigins is that hundreds or thousands of years before,people were shipwrecked along with their cattle andsheep at the furthest point of Africa after they hadbeen driven into the open sea by a storm. After all,“Carthaginians, Phoenicians from Tyre and Sidon,or even Solomon himself or King Hiram, had shipsthat sailed the seas.” What, he supposes, if thesurvivors then died, leaving behind some childrenwho had not yet learnt to speak properly, and these16

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009orphans grew up without education. This could thenexplain the unusual language and lack of educationof the Hottentots. He finally demolishes Kolbe bysaying:Almost all facts known about Hottentots have upto the present been taken from Kolbe, and Kolbewho in his time lived as long at the Cape as I didafterwards, namely eight years, describes thispeople to us as wearing long moustaches andwhiskers like half-shaven Jews. It is impossiblethat he should never have seen Hottentots duringhis eight years’ stay, but to judge from thisdescription of his, he cannot have seen any, forthere are rarely any traces on their faces of thewoolly hair of their heads, and as far as one cansee their naked bodies and those of their women,not a single hair can be noticed. (I can vouch forthe reliability of my account.)Unlike Georg Meister, Johannes de Grevenbroek,Pierre Kolbe or Gysbert Hammy, Otto Mentzel’sstatements imply a basic knowledge of Jewish beliefsand practices. Where would he have acquired suchknowledge? Mentzel grew up in a cultured andintellectually stimulating home. His father was aPrussian Hofrat and Court physician, whose extensivelibrary was later included in the Royal PrussianLibrary. It is possible that he met Jews in his parent’shome or read books about Jews in his father’s library.Neustädtel in Lower Silesia, where he became Chiefof Police, is now known as Nowe Miasteczko inPoland, and there in his position and with his openmindedcuriosity about people, he would have comeacross many Jews, on both sides of the law. Heprobably learned about them, as he had previouslylearned about the Hottentots, by talking to them andobserving their customs.The truth is now out. The Hottentots have comefrom Africa. So have the Jews. Indeed, so have theancestors of the Dutch and German travellers.Grevenbroek, Meister and Kolbe were right so far asthat goes and Mentzel wrong. The Hottentots and theJews are related, but then so are Grevenbroek, Meisterand Kolbe. So, in fact, are all human beings. We allcarry within our genes the same mitochondrial DNAthat can be traced back to a single woman living inAfrica over 150 000 years ago. 34 Despite beliefs inracial superiority, 80% of modern Europeans aredescended from the old African hunter-gatherers. Somuch for their much vaunted cultural superiority!The writer of this article had her DNA tested. Hermitochondrial DNA shows that her ancestors leftAfrica, between 60 000 - 80 000 years ago, findinga foothold during the ice age in Asia, Australia andparts of Europe. It is the mitochondrial DNAassociated with Eurasian groups and is shared withmany people living along the Mediterranean,including many Ashkenazim.To answer Willem Ten Rhyne of Deventer’squestion 400 years later: The KhoiSan did not springfrom Ham, with the exception of some Arabs of thestock of Shem who entered Africa later on. Ham andShem sprang from the KhoiSan and exited Africalater on.NOTES1 Basil Davidson, ‘African Kingdoms’, Great Ages of Man, AHistory of the World’s Cultures, 1967,172 Andrew Smith, ‘Different Facets of the Crystal: EarlyEuropean Images of the Khoikhoi at the Cape, South Africa’,In South African Archaeological Society Goodwin Series7,1993,9-103 William ten Rhyne of Deventer, ‘A Short Account Of TheCape of Good Hope and of the Hottentots who Inhabit thatRegion’, Schaffhausen, 1686 in The Early Cape Hottentotsdescribed in the writings of Olfert Dapper (1668), WillemTen Rhyne (1686) and Johannes Gulielmus de Grevenbroek(1695) Van Riebeeck Society, 1933, 934 Mbeki states that the quote was cited in: Africa: A Biographyof the Continent, John Reader, Hamish Hamilton, London,1997.5 From The Natural History of Pliny The Elder, book 7http:/oaks.nvg.org/pliny.html. Smith op cit, 96 Stanley Casson, The Discovery of Man: The Story of theInquiry into Human Origin, 1940, 77-87 Originally so called by early travellers because of the soundof their language, the term is now regarded as insulting andthe preferred word is Khoisan. In this article the languageused in the historical period under discussion is retained.8 Smith, op cit, 129 Yvonne Brink, ‘Figuring the Cultural Landscape, Land,Identity and Material Culture at the Cape in the EighteenthCentury’, South African Archaeological Bulletin, 1997, 52,108-10910 He was a gardener from Thuringia at the Duke of Saxonycourt, went on to Amsterdam and spent three weeks at theCape, where he was taken on as a cadet11 Georg Meister, Orientalisch-Indisch Gartner, Dresden, 1692,translated, R Raven-Hart, R Raven-Hart. Cape Good Hope,1652-1702, The First 50 Years of Dutch Colonisation asSeen By Callers, Cape Town, 1971, pp 203 and 20612 NG Grevenbroek, ‘An Elegant and Accurate Account of TheAfrican Race Living Round the Cape of Good HopeCommonly Called Hottentots’, from a letter written by JGGrevenbroek in the year 1695, Translated by B Farrington,Van Riebeeck Society, 1933, edited by I Schapera pp 209and 28713 His name is variously spelled Kolb, Kolbe, Kolben andKolbius. I have standardised it to Kolbe. His first name isgiven as Pierre or Peter.14 Schapera, ‘Introduction’, in The Early Cape Hottentotsdescribed in the writings of Olfert Dapper (1668). WillemTen Rhyne (1686) and Johannes Gulielmus de Grevenbroek(1695) Van Riebeeck Society, 1933, v15 Gysbert Hemmy from Africa, Oratorio Latina, DePromontorio Bonae Spei 1767, transl KD White. SA PublicLibrary, Cape town, 1959, 29-30.16 GS Nienaber and DH Varley, Ibid, 3917 Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1972, Vol. 7, 47418 Nahum Gidal, Jews in Germany from Roman Times to theWeimar Republic, Kõln 1998,112-11319 Franz Landsberger, Rembrandt, the Jews and the Bible,Philadelphia, 1946,15,1720 “I came to Amsterdam. The first thing I went to see was a17

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009Synagogue of the Jewes (it being Saturday) whose ceremonys,Ornaments, Lamps. Laws and Scholars afforded matter formy contemplation” ( John Evelyn 1641). “Here in thiscongregation, no good order, no great zeal and devotion hereappearing much time spent in singing and talking.”(SirWilliam Brereton 1634), “There was no good order. Weobserved some of the Jews to bow at times, they seemed verycareless, discovering and laughing with strangers in themidst of the service” (Philip Skippon, 1663). “There was toomuch laughing, talking and idly wandering, as if aboutprophane Affairs, though in a Presence so sacred” (JohnNorthleigh) IN Steven Nadler, Rembrandt’s Jews, Universityof Chicago Press, 2003 168 -17421 ibid, 173-17522 ibid, 90-9123 ibid, 9324 De la Caille was at the Cape from 17513 I Shapera, ForewordNG Grevenbroek, op cit, 162-425 Ibid.26 HJ Mandelbrote, Introduction, in Mentzel , A Complete andAuthentic Geographical and Topographical Description ofthe Famous and ( All Things Considered) RemarkableAfrican Cape of Good Hope, Part 11, Van Riebeeck Society,1925, xx127 Glogau, 1787, translated by GV Marais, Van RiebeeckSociety, Cape Town, 194428 OF Mentzel, Author’s Preface, Part 111, in Mentzel, VanRiebeeck Society, 1944, 929 An example of his even-handed humanitarianism: “It isquite true that the Hottentot is lazy, idle, improvident and soforth… But when it is said of the Germans that they are fondof drink, the question arises: Are all the Germans thereforedrunkards? … in the same way there are exceptions to therule among the Hottentots.”30 HJ Mandelbrote, Introductory Note in Part 111, in Mentzel, Van Riebeeck Society, 1944, xxv31 He also states that “the Hottentots do not form part of theKaffir nation has been competently proved by the learnedLudolf… and he has shown that the word Cafar was derivedfrom the Chaldean language in which Cafar means aninfidel. This being the reason too, why the Jewish rabbis callthose who deny G-d or abandon their religion Cafar. TheArabs have actually given this name to the entire Eastern partof Africa since it was inhabited by people ignorant of the trueGod and call them Cafers or Caffers.”, Mentzel, op cit, 266-26732 Mentzel, op cit, 267-26933 Mentzel, op cit, pp 206-271 He adds that he does not want totake the trouble to analyse Kolbe’s comparison of theHottentots with the troglodytes.34 Stephen Oppenheimer, The Real Eve: Modern Man’s JourneyOut of Africa, New York, 200318

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009Within a fortnight the first contribution of £8 17s 6dwas received. 1 Yet notwithstanding institutionalsupport and that of the wealthier patrons, it was notedat a meeting in May 1912 that the majority of thesubscribers came from the poorer section of thecommunity, proving how necessary this institutionwas to Cape Jewry at large. Anyone donating £50 ormore was eligible to endow a bed that would bear aplaque bearing the donor’s name. The beds, however,could only be endowed in the name of living people;the names of those deceased person would beinscribed on a Memorial Board at the entrance.The task of finding a suitable house was not easy.Committee President Joseph Kadish offered a housethat he owned in Mill Street, but it did not have anygrounds and with the shop attached could onlyaccommodate between 12 and 14 children. 2 A housein Hatfield Street belonging to the Cape Town HebrewCongregation that could accommodate fifty orphanswas initially favored, but it was considered to be toocentral and the congregation was not agreeable. 3 Acertain Louis Elias, a member of the Grand Order ofIsrael, offered a plot 80’ by 100’ in Upper MillStreet. 4 This offer, which was bound to the conditionthat the ground only be used for an orphanage, wasfinally abandoned. 5As no other houses were available, it was decidedto use Kadish’s Mill Street house from 11 December1911. 6 Renovations were immediately set in motionand the house was soon equipped by generousdonations of linoleum, furniture, beds linen, toys,and books. The Orphanage was opened in February1912 by Colonel David Harris. Colonel Harris, whilebeing deeply sensitive to the complement paid tohim, “regretted that such an institution was not keptby the state” and that, as it was sectarian, it wouldonly be supported by the Jewish community. Still he“hoped that they would receive outside support, asthe Jew had always proved himself to be a reliever ofhuman suffering.” 7By June 1913, the house in Mill Street wasrunning out of space. 8 It was proposed that plansshould be put forward for the erection of a buildingthat could accommodate fifty orphans. 9 Two plotswere considered: the first was in Upper Mill Streetthat could be leased from the Cape Town Municipalityat a nominal fee, and the second was in MontroseAvenue in Oranjezicht, that was far more expensivebut could be bought outright. Reservations wereexpressed about the possible penetration of Coloredsinto Upper Mill Street, as well as the possibility ofthe area becoming more industrial. It was decidedthat the Oranjezicht plot would be the better asset,and it was duly purchased. 10 South Africa GovernorGeneral Lord Buxton laid the foundation stone of thenew building. 11With the flue epidemic of 1918, an extension tothe building was envisaged. 12 The following year, itwas reported that there was space for another threemore boys and six more girls. 13 In January 1920, ascheme was outlined to build on two extra wings thatwould each be able to accommodate thirty sixchildren. 14 In February 1921, just before the arrivalof the Ukrainian orphans, it was reported that therewere 51 children from 19 different families in thehome. 15Even before advertisements were put in the paperfor applicants, the committee made sure to ascertainwhether there were any Jewish orphans who werebeing kept at any of the Christian orphan asylums inthe city, such as the St John’s Home, Nazareth Houseor the All Saints Home. One Jewish girl was locatedResidents of the Cape Jewish Orphanage, as they appeared in a Rosh Hashanah fundraising, 1920.20

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009at St Michaels Home. Rumors surfaced from time totime about Jewish children who were being kept byMalay or Colored families, but these did not alwaysprove to be accurate. 16A set of criteria for admission was devised. Firstand foremost, the child had to be halachically Jewish. 17Secondly, the child had to be an orphan. Before thearrival of the Ukraine orphans, there were relativelyfew cases of full orphans, with only one of theparents having passed away in most cases. Prioritywas given to a child who had lost both parents; nextcame the child with no father; and third in line was achild with no mother. 18 The criterion that the childhad to be an orphan was adhered to very strictly in theearly years and a child whose parents were both alivewas almost automatically rejected. 19 This principlewas upheld steadfastly until September 1920, when,because of the case of a young child from PortElizabeth whose parents were alive but who wereunable to care for her, it was first set aside, with thefollowing proviso:To make explicit the rule with regard to theadmission of children to this orphanage, whichshall include not only orphans in the ordinaryaccepted meaning of that term, but also suchdistressed children whose parents are in suchcircumstances that they may be considereddead. 20The threat of children becoming Christian wasalso an incentive for this principle to be waived. Fourchildren in Kimberley, whose father had desertedtheir mother and who were being supported by thecommunity in a Christian Home, were also admitted. 21On occasion, the reason for refusing to admit theCommittee of the Cape Jewish Orphanage, 1922.21

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009children of separated parents was that this would bean inducement for them to remain separated. 22Another determining factor was a means test. If aparent had the means to support the child, it wasunlikely to be accepted. 23 In all cases, parents wererequired to contribute towards the child’s upkeepaccording to their means. Grandparents and auntsand uncles were also exhorted to contribute.It is interesting that there were no applications forthe admission of children from unwed Jewish mothersduring this period. However a newborn male baby,found abandoned in a basket at the Home in April1933, could have been the exception to this rule. Thisanonymous child was unanimously declared to beJewish, circumcised and given the name of‘Abraham’, the first Jew in the Bible. (‘TheodorHerzl’, the first name suggested, was ultimatelyrejected). The baby was then put up for adoption bya Jewish couple. 24It was initially resolved that no more than twochildren from a single family should be admitted.This criterion was put to the test in the case of thevery first application received in December 1911,when only two of the four applicants were admitted, 25but was subsequently abandoned. 26 The home alsoinitially refused to accept children who were underfive years of age, 27 but this criterion too fell away. 28It was not until 1928, however, that the first set ofinfants were admitted - aged three and a half, two anda half, and six months - and a Nursery Departmentestablished. 29 Besides a minimum age, a maximumage was also determined, fourteen years for boys andfifteen for girls. 30 This could be extended if the boyor girl had not yet passed Standard Seven. 31 InJanuary 1925, the maximum age was increased tosixteen.Admissions were on the whole restricted to theCape Province. Children from elsewhere, such as theOrange Free State or Durban were refused, 32 althoughchildren from Bulawayo and from Elizabethville inthe Belgian Congo were accepted. 33 On the otherhand, three children from Beira in Mozambiquewere advised to apply to the SA Jewish Orphanage inJohannesburg. 34 Children who were physicallydisabled or retarded were also excluded and theirfamilies were referred to the community charities. 35Very early on, it was laid down that the home was forpoor and destitute orphans who were physicallyhealthy. 36The circumstances of the applications reflect theexigencies of the time. A particularly poignant casewas that of a woman who had arrived from Russiaonly seven months before to join her husband, whowas acting as a shoykhet in Sutherland, WesternCape. When he suddenly passed away, she wasforced to apply to the Orphanage to admit her twosons aged six and seven. 37 In another instance, a tenyear old boy whose mother had died in Vilna wasplaced in the orphanage by his father, who wasworking as an ice cream vendor and could not lookafter him. 38 Similarly another six year old, who hadbeen deserted by his mother in Russia, was admittedbecause his father was working as a bus conductor. 39The Ukrainian pogrom orphansThe number of orphans at the home was doubledwith the arrival of the Ukrainian pogrom orphans.The first mention of them appears in the minutes of8 August 1920, when Isaac Ochberg, by then Presidentof the Orphanage, reported that due to the war andpogroms, there were about 300 000 Jewish orphansin the Ukraine and stated that it was imperative thatsome of these be brought out to South Africa. By thetime that he approached the Committee, Ochberghad already made contact with Dr Jochelson of theFederation of Ukrainian Jews, who was willing tobring the orphans to London, and had obtained thepermission of the Minister of the Interior, PatrickDuncan, to bring them into the country. Ochberginitially envisaged bringing some 50-100 orphans ata time. He saw the Orphanage as acting as a clearinghouse, putting the children up for adoption andkeeping the remainder at the Orphanage. Lookingback, it was an amazingly romantic and heroic schemeand one that reflects the character of its originator.Isaac Ochberg, himself an immigrant from theUkraine, had become a very wealthy man in SouthAfrica. He was totally committed and involved withthe Orphanage, on one occasion describing it asbeing his “whole life”.It was suggested that £10 000 should be raised bythe Cape Relief Fund and that a public appeal shouldbe published in the press to adopt the orphans. TheSA Jewish Orphanage was also approached to cooperate.The Committee sent out appeals for funds aswell as to ascertain how many orphans would beadopted, so as to determine how many children tobring in the first batch. 40 The public was asked tosubscribe £25 000 towards the scheme and it wasdecided that Ochberg himself should travel to theUkraine to fetch the children. 41 By January 1921,fundraising tours to the country districts had raisedover 15000. The Johannesburg Committee had in themeanwhile succeeded in convincing General Smutsto agree to contribute towards the fund on a pound forpound basis. 42 Immediately on Ochberg’s return inSeptember, the campaign to raise £25 000 was set inmotion. 43Ochberg originally collected 233 orphans andbrought them to the Temporary Shelter in Warsaw,but 37 ran away while others took ill so that it wasimpossible to take them to London. He finallydeparted for South Africa with 167 on the EdinburghCastle, on which special accommodation for theorphans had been arranged. Various welcomingreceptions were arranged in Cape Town including aMemorial and Thanksgiving Service in thesynagogue. 44 It had been agreed that the children bedivided equally between Johannesburg and CapeTown, with seventy ultimately being sent to theformer while the balance was accommodated at theCape Jewish Orphanage. 45 Ochberg also broughtalong a Mr. and Mrs. Maman to act as the newprincipal and matron respectively, a Mrs. Zalkow tobe an assistant doctor and a Miss Bettman to teachHebrew. Fortunately, the incumbent matron had22

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009recently married and volunteered to retire.At the 8 th SA Zionist Conference in January1922, it was proposed to bring out more orphans andto take some of them to Palestine. 46 Although Ochberghad originally envisaged bringing 500 to 1000orphans, in May 1922 a resolution to bring in moreorphans from Eastern Europe was opposed in thelight of the upheavals on the Rand and the resultantwave of antisemitism throughout the country. 47Instead, it was decided to establish a temporary homefor a maximum of 100 Jewish pogrom war orphansin Eastern Europe, to be maintained by funds providedby the Cape Jewish Orphanage, until such time aswould be suitable to bring them out to South Africa. 48A sum of not less than £3000 would be donated to theOrphans Fund in Europe. 49Through the arrival of the Russian orphans in1922, numbers at the Orphanage peaked at 100. Atthe institution’s May 1922 AGM, it was reported that44 of these were South Africans (21 boys and 23girls) and 53 were Russians (20 boys and 33 girls).The question of the adoptions became urgent.Preference was to be given to couples who had nochildren and next to couples who had girls andwanted a boy, and vice versa. It was determined notto split families if possible. 50 By November 1921,twelve of the orphans had been adopted, with thenumber rising to 21 by the following month. 51 By1931, numbers in the Home had dropped to 64. 52 Inthe next two years, they increased slightly to 73 and77, 53 rising to 83 in September 1936 (39 boys and 44girls). 54The employment of a suitable matron proved tobe the biggest problem in the very early years.Advertisements were inserted in the local papers aswell as in London. While it was never specified, thematron had to be of the Jewish faith, hence theapplications of several Christian ladies who respondedwere not entertained. She further had to be educatedand able to maintain the home in a strictly koshermanner.Between January 1912 and April 1913, threedifferent matrons served the home. Standards werestrictly Victorian, and the first matron was dismissedafter three months, having been found with a man inher room at 9.45 p.m. 55 The second stayed only forsix months, leaving of her own accord to join herhusband. 56 The third, a Miss R. Davids, was avolunteer and a member of the committee, who stoodin between matrons and proved to be extremelypopular with the children. 57 Finally, in January 1913,Miss Lily Berliner, who came highly recommendedfrom London, was engaged. 58 Except for a periodfrom October 1914 to November 1915, she servedthe Orphanage continuously until June 1918. 59Generally, her service was considered exemplaryother than a complaint of excessive punishmentwhen she was accused of plastering the children’smouths! Her response was that this form ofpunishment was common in Europe, but if theCommittee objected she would not do it again. 60The administration of the Orphanage wascompletely changed with the arrival of the pogromorphans and the employment of the Mamams, whohad accompanied them from Warsaw. The Matronwas replaced by a Principal, Mr. Maman, who wouldalso supervise the Hebrew education and teach theboys for their barmitzvahs while his wife took chargeof the domestic side of things. However, the coupledid not prove that popular and when their contractexpired at the end of 1926, it was not renewed. InMarch 1927, a Mr. and Mrs Beresinski were employedin their place. Mr. Beresinski had been the principalof a large orphanage in Israel, where his wife hadbeen the Matron. He was also a competent Hebrewteacher and could replace the current incumbent,Mrs. Gordon.The Beresinskis remained for eight years until1935, when they resigned to return to Palestine. 61 InOctober of that year, they were replaced by a youngBritish couple, Mr. and Mrs. Hickman. They lastedfor five months before being summarily dismissed inApril 1936. It would seem that they were too rigid inapplying the rules of the home, on one occasionleaving a widowed mother of six who arrivedunexpectedly to visit her children, out in the groundsand in the corridor in a howling southeaster. MoreoverMr. Hickman was not a competent Hebrew teacher,a very important function that the former principalhad carried out. 62 In May 1936, the Beresinskis reappliedfor their former positions and were acceptedunanimously.Conditions at the HomeFirst and foremost, the Orphanage aimed to ensurethat the children were brought up as observant Jews,and Jewish law was strictly enforced at all times. Atthe outset, a member of the community was engagedto make the Friday night Kiddush, 63 and the Matronwas instructed to take the children to the synagogueon Saturday mornings. 64 A regular minyan was heldat the home and it was laid down that “No boys otherthan those who are not necessary to make a minyanshould be allowed to join any synagogue choir.” 65The children were to attend Reverend Bender’sSabbath afternoon services at Gardens Synagogue. 66Passover Seders were conducted at the home; theCape Town Jewish Philanthropic society donatedsuch necessities as matzos and wine, and donationswere received to buy the children new clothes. 67 Onthe High Holidays, services were generally conductedat the Home. Barmitzvahs were celebrated in thelocal synagogues, followed by a tea at the Orphanage.In September 1936, a Consecration Service for girlswas introduced. 68 The children were not allowed toattend amusements on Shabbat and Festivals 69 (aperformance of the Yiddish operetta, Shulamis, byGoldfaden, at the Opera House in May 1925 wasrefused because it was scheduled for a ‘yontef’). 70 Onthe very rare occasion when the children were invitedout on a picnic, they were not permitted to go unlessthe food was kosher. 71 Offers of domestic employmentfor orphan girls in homes that did not observe kashrutwere not entertained. 72To prevent parental interference, in January 191423

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009adapt to a foreign land. The Orphanage might notalways have been the warmest place, akin to a realfamily, but what was never lacking was a sense ofresponsibility and identification with the children, asbeing among their own, as eygene, as members of theJewish community, who would under nocircumstances be abandoned even after they had leftthe Home. To quote from the Minutes: “our childrenwere not treated as orphans but were happy in theirhome.” All in all the children were, “no worse and nobetter than the average child in decent homes.” 129The war years proved to be a watershed for theOrphanage, as it was for the community. Theimmigrants began to prosper, becoming moreestablished in their new homes. The Orphanagebecame less and less of a home for orphaned childrenthan a place of refuge for children from brokenfamilies. In due course, it became better known as theOranjia Jewish children’s home than as the CapeJewish Orphanage. Today, its official title is theOranjia Jewish Child and Youth Centre.NOTES1 Eric Rosenthal, The Story of the Cape Jewish Orphanage:Commemorating the Fiftieth Anniversary of Oranjia, CapeTown: Oranjia, Cape Jewish Orphanage, 1961, pp. 1-42 Minutes, 24 October 1911, Oranjia, Cape Jewish Orphanage,BC 918, Manuscripts and Archives, U.C.T. Libraries.3 Minutes, 17 October 1911.4 Minutes, 24 October 1911.5 It seems as if Elias regretted his initial offer as he progressivelyincreased his stipulations, and finally under the apparentinfluence of a Johannesburg committee member, even seemsto have questioned the need for an orphanage in Cape Town.Minutes, 3 January 1912.6 Minutes, 24 October 1911.7 Eric Rosenthal, 1961, p. 7.8 Minutes, 11 January 1914.9 Minutes, 1 June 1913.10 Minutes, 1 February 1914.11 Eric Rosenthal, 1961, p. 8.12 Minutes, 13 November 1918.13 Minutes, 13 July 1919.14 Minutes, 25 January 1920.15 Minutes, 12 February 1921.16 Minutes, 14 November 1911, 31 January , 14 February, 28February, 18 August , 31 October 1912, January 1913, 16January 1916, 25 June, 9 December 1917.17 Minutes, 20 March 1912.18 Minutes, 3 January 1912.19 Minutes, 22 September 1912, 4 May 1913.20 Minutes, 19 September 1920.21 Minutes, 27 May 1930, 1.4,22 Minutes, 29 July 1930, 29 December 1932.23 Minutes, 6 July 1913, 21 March 1920.24 Minutes, 4, 29 May 1933.25 Minutes, 20 December 1911, January 31, 1912, Also 24November 1912.26 Minutes, 10, 27 April, 1 May, 15 June 1919.27 Minutes, 8 February 1912.28 Minutes, 16 January 1916.29 Minutes, 21 August, 28 November 1928, 26 February 1929.30 Minutes, 6 April 1917.31 Minutes, 18 April 1920.32 Minutes, 16 June 1912 and 15 June 1919.33 Minutes, 31 May, 22 September 1912 and 15 August 1926.34 Minutes, 28 April 1931.35 Minutes, 30 November and 13 April 1913.36 Minutes, 6 April 1917.37 Minutes, 1 March 1913.38 Minutes, 31 March 1930.39 Minutes, 8 March 1932.40 Minutes, 19 September 1920,41 Minutes, 8, 19, 22, August 1920.42 Minutes, 12 January 1921,43 Minutes, 18 December 1921.44 Minutes, 19 June, 21 August, 1, 4, September 1921.45 Minutes, 19 June, 21 August, 1, 4, September 192146 Minutes, 24 January 1922.47 Minutes, 14 May 1922.48 Minutes, 12 May 1922.49 Minutes, 18 June 1922.50 Minutes, 9 September 1921.51 Minutes, 17 November and 18 December, 1921.52 Minutes, 27 October 1931.53 Minutes, 28 June 1932 and 31 January 1933.54 Minutes, 29 September 1936.55 She was also accused of sending the children out on messages,and not reporting a robbery that had been committed at theorphanage to the committee. When asked to resign she hadput her case in the hands of solicitors. Minutes, 27 March1912.56 Minutes, 31 October 1912.57 Minutes, 19 May, 16 June 1912.58 Minutes, 26 January 1913.59 Minutes, 16 June 1918.60 Minutes, 11 January 1914, 17 December 1916.61 Minutes, 26 March, 1934.62 When in April 1936, three boys who were due to celebratetheir barmitzvahs were found to be so unprepared that theirbarmitzvahs had to be postponed, it was unanimously decidedto dismiss the Hickmans. Minutes, 27 April 1936.63 Minutes, 19 October 1913.64 Minutes, 29 March 1914.65 Minutes, 24 September 1925.66 Minutes, 19 September 1926.67 Minutes, 29 March 1914.68 Minutes, 29 September 1936, 3 November 1937.69 Minutes, 22 September 1912.70 Minutes, 12 April 1925.71 Minutes, 13 January 1918.72 Minutes, 16 August 1926, 10 April 1927.73 Minutes, 11 January 1914.74 Minutes, 1 December 1912.75 Minutes, 13 April 1913.76 Minutes, 27 September 1914.77 Minutes, 19 February 1912.78 Minutes, 15 February, 8 March 1914.79 Minutes, 24 September 1925.80 Minutes, 25 June, 20 July 1929. A grocery investigationlater that year revealed that only 14lbs of meat a day wasbeing consumed for 72 people, that was considered to begrossly insufficient, 14 November, 1929.81 Minutes, 16 June 1912.82 Minutes, 27 December 1914.26

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 200983 Minutes, 31 January 1915.84 Minutes, 8 December 1925.85 Minutes, 29 August 1933.86 Minutes, 15 February 1914.87 Minutes, 27 September 1914.88 Minutes, 5 September 1915.89 Minutes, 18 June 1922.90 Minutes, 31 January 1933.91 Minutes, 29 May 1934.92 Minutes, 15 May 1921.93 Minutes, 16 June 1912, 19 October 1913, 9 November 1913.94 Minutes, 3 August, 14 September 1913.95 Minutes, 30 April 1914.96 Minutes, 3 June and 14 October, 1917.97 Minutes, 31 January 1939.98 Minutes, 25 July 1939.99 Minutes, 16 April 1922.100 Minutes, 12 February and 2 November 1921.101 Minutes, 29 March 1931.102 Minutes, 25 and 31 October 1932.103 Despite the girls’ poor reports, Van Gelderen, who did notbelieve in homework, absolutely refused to abide by therequest to provide the girls with extra arithmetic homework.Minutes, 25 July 1933.104 Rosa Van Gelderen’s educational experiments were veryprogressive and worked extremely well with the childrenfrom more advantaged backgrounds. However, they werenot always suited to children from deprived backgroundssuch as those at the Orphanage. The Orphanage After-School program devoted considerable time to supervisedhomework, which she refused to support, but which mighthave been advantageous to the children. Minutes, 28 June,30 August, 27 September 1932, Minutes, 29 August 1933.105 Minutes, 22 January 1929.106 Minutes, 14 November 1926, 17 July 1927.107 Minutes, 22 February 1937.108 Minutes, 24 November 1936.109 Minutes, 1 March 1938.110 Minutes, 30 January 1934.111 Minutes, 19 June 1921.112 Minutes, 3 August 1916, 11 February 1917.113 Minutes, 18 June 1922.114 Minutes, 28 December 1919.115 Minutes, 14 October 1917, 1 December 1918.116 Minutes, 15 May 1921.117 Minutes, 14 June, 12 July 1925.118 Minutes, 14 May 1922.119 Minutes, 23 October 1933.120 Minutes, 6 December 1926.121 Minutes, 27 February 1930.122 Minutes, 2 December 1930.123 Minutes 27 March 1927, 29 July 1930, 25 April 1933, 25July 1933.124 Minutes, 1 February 1938.125 Minutes, 1 March and 3 May 1938.126 Minutes, 28 July 1936.127 Minutes, 20 June and 2 August 1938.128 Minutes, 28 May 1940.129 Minutes, 25 February, 19 March and 30 June 1936.6 Vickers RoadCity DeepJohannesburgTel: (011) 623-1322Fax: (011) 623-2188E-mail: info@africaspice.co.zaP.O. Box 86268City Deep 2049Best Wishesfor theNew Year -Rosh HashanahSUPPLIERS OF: *Spices * Casings * PackagingMaterials and all Butcher Requisites27

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009A LAMENT ON THE DEATH OFYEHUDAH LEIB SCHRIRE*Naomi Dison KaplanIn the course of my research for my thesis onHebrew laments, I came across a poem, Al MotYehudah Leib Schrire - “Upon the Death of YehudaLeib Schrire” - by Benjamin Turtledove, written forhis late friend and teacher. I selected this poembecause I wanted to make it known that laments werebeing written in Hebrew in Cape Town, and tocounter criticism that academic work in South Africawas Eurocentric and not related to life in Africa.This lament was written in 1912 by Turtledove(whom, we can guess, had previously had a different,‘Yiddishe’, name), following the death of his friendYehudah Leib Schrire. His lament, in Hebrew, wasincluded in Nehemia Dov Hoffmann’s Book ofMemoirs (1916), the first Yiddish book ever publishedin South Africa. In 1996, this was translated from theYiddish into English by Lillian Dubb and into Hebrewby Sheila Barkusky, and published through the KaplanCentre for Jewish Studies and Research, Universityof Cape Town, making it available to a new generationof readers.Schrire was born into a scholarly family in Vilnaand died in Cape Town at the age of 61. He was a poetand writer in Hebrew and Yiddish, and wrote variousarticles for the Jewish press. He left many Hebrewbooks, poems and other writings and also devotedhimself to promoting secular and Hebrew scholarship.Benjamin Turtledove himself was born inMedzerich, Poland, in 1872, and studied at Yeshivotin Volozhin, Pressburg and Vienna. In Vienna, healso attended university as an “ExtraordinaryScholar”. He studied French in Paris, lived for awhile in Manchester and then came to Cape Town asprincipal of the Talmud Torah. He, too, was a Yiddishand Hebrew journalist, publishing under thepseudonym Ish Ploni (“Mr X”), and was recognisedas an excellent poet (Hoffmann, 1996:45).Turtledove’s lament addresses ‘listeners’, as ifthey are standing at a funeral, mentioned as thegrieving family, friends, co-workers in theinstitutions, scholars, young and old. The Hebrew iseloquently formal and constrained. The poet is sparingin metaphors and poetic devices. The poem includesreferences to traditional sources, and uses wordsinfluenced by the Aramaic of the Talmud.In each verse, either the verse itself or one of itsDr Naomi Dison Kaplan, was educated at theUniversities of the Witwatersrand and Cape Townand the Rabbi J L Zlotnick Hebrew Seminary. Shewas awarded her Ph.D. for her thesis, “The Powerof Laments in Alleviating Despair: Revisiting HebrewLaments” (U.C.T., 2003).lines starts with the word Ayei or Ayeihu, which isvery much like a refrain from Eichah (Book ofLamentations). The mainstay of the poem are theconstant rhetorical questions “where is he?” and“why did he die so young?” - Madu’a maheir azavcheled? (“Why did he hasten to leave this world/lifetime/duration of life”) and Halo yipaked m’komo 1bveiti, bein rei’a’v v’mosdim rabim (“Will he not bemissed in my house, [also] among his many friendsand many institutions?” 2 The poet goes on to say:“The work is much and there are no workers”. 3 Hereemphasises that Schrire died so young: Ha-omnammeit vayispe b’lo yomo … In Genesis 18:23, the wordtispe is used, Ha’af tispe tzaddik im rasha (“Will yousweep away the righteous, the tzaddik with thewicked?”) We are told in the poem that the greatlymissed Schrire was a righteous man, and the impliedreference seems to question again why the righteoushad to die as though wicked.V’et beito v’et rei’av azav la’atzavim – “He lefthis house and his friends to sorrow and pain”: Theword atzavim used here has many meanings andcould also mean “melancholy” or “toil”. In modernHebrew, etzev would probably be used.Schrire, ayeihu ha’askan v’hasafra? - “Schrire,where is he? The one who knows about books?”:Safra is an Aramaic word used in the expressionsafra v’sayafa, that is, a “knower of books and aswordsman”. This could be an intimation that he wasa fighter for what he believed in - not only was he a“knower of books”, but also an askan (“communalworker”). 4 He was also a “basket full of Torah,chochma v’da’at”.The poet continues: “Will not every one, thehoary head, the young and the child wait for hisadvice; he was like an eye to them”. Barkuskytranslates the last verse as: “Where is he? Listen andI will tell you!” although the original poem reads inarchaic Hebrew Ma’du’a? a’yei’hu? Sh’maa’shi’v’kha a’ma’rim - “Why? Where is he? Hearand I will answer your words”. The English versioncontinues, “He was a truly noble soul” 5 and then with“The vanities of this earth being too much for him/Heascended to a higher plane.” This latter quotation isa translation of Va’y’hi ki ozen v’cheiker ha’b’liiha’yitzurim vayikatz bam – va’ya’al hashamayim.(In using this unusual Hebrew, Turtledove tells thereader that Schrire hated idle conversation andgossip.) Herein there could be a hint that he is leavingthis plane and joining the angels, which is moresuitable for him.The speaker begins the exordium by arousing theempathy of the listeners and speaks of the relationship28

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009between the deceased and those left behind:Halo yipakeid m’komoB’veiti bein rei’av u’mosadim rabim(His many friends and associates feel his loss,Will he not be missed in my house and amongsthis friends and many institutions?)Questions are asked in refrains. The mournersays, “Where is his place? Ubi topos? Ubi sunt? Themourner finds the death difficult to accept.Where is Schrire? … Where is Schrire?Where is he?Is there an equal in this ungodly land of Africa?Where is he?Why was his departure so sudden …?Where is he?“Where is he?” is repeated five times. There isrhetorical repetition, the name of the deceased isfrequently mentioned, and a complaint about theshortness of life.His many friends and associates feel his loss,Leaving behind his grieving family and friends.AndWill he not be missed in my house,Among his many friends and among manyinstitutions?The ‘departure’ is repeated:He departed this world before his timeWhy was his departure so sudden?Words similar in intonation to eichah or eich,such as ayei? and ayeihu?, are repeated. These aremourning words. Distressed but restrained, themourner expresses praises of the deceased. He wasan encyclopaedia of knowledge and wisdom and anoble soul. As in the Book of Lamentations and otherlaments, references are made to the young and theold: “All will yearn for his counsel, young and old”.“Why did he die before his time” (b’lo yomo)? Hewas so young. The past and present are compared.Life was rich when Schrire was there. Who will behelping them now? There are no people to continuethe work. He was the watchful eye and adviser of thepeople. He was great among the living and now hehas gone to another sphere, to heaven. Life is void.Even though the pain is so great now, there is therecognition that this is derech olam, the way ofnature. In the poem, the mourner asks, “Why did heleave while the work is so much?” and there are nopeople to help (stanza 3). Pirkei Avot 2:2 says, “It isnot thy duty to complete the work, but neither artthou free to desist from it …”, but to the mourner itseems as if all is lost, and there are no people to takeover Schrire’s work. The reader knows life will takeits course and somebody will rise to the occasion todo it. From early times in history, it is not expectedof any human to finish the task, only to do as muchas possible. Life goes on; this is an outlook for thefuture.This poem is written from a background oftraditional learning and imbued with religious beliefand a belief in the importance of faith and prayer. Inaccordance with this belief, the poet would haveaccepted that Schrire would have been gathered tohis people (Gen. 25:8) and he would go to the OlamHaba. A comfort for those who are religious is thebelief that they will meet with their dear ones again.Death divides and death unites.The light comes in the answer, “listen and I willtell you”; the poet consoles the mourners by sayingthat the deceased was too noble for this world. Theidea that the deceased went to a better place, theOlam Haba, would provide comfort.This poem was written to express sorrow at theloss of a friend, and it tries to alleviate despair byproviding an answer to the mourner’s feelings ofwhy it had to happen. The poem praises Schrire’swisdom, scholarship and character and ends byproviding an answer to the questions of why thisdeath had to happen: He was too good for this world;he had to ascend to a higher place.The vanities of this earth being too much for him,He ascended to a higher plane.PostscriptOne of Yehuda Leib Schrire’s descendants isGwynne Schrire, a frequent contributor to this journaland a member of its editorial board. I asked her if herfamily was related to the prestigious Gaon Shrerer 6(c. 906 – 1006). She replied that the family traditionwas that it is so, although there have been manyvariations on the spelling of her great grandfather’sname, viz. Shriro, Schrire, Shrira and Sherira. Wecannot personally know about Sherira Gaon, as hedied about a thousand years ago, but what is in athousand years from Sherira to Schrire? Great people,like great ships, sail on.NOTES1 cf, 1 Sam. 20:27 and also 1 Sam. 20:18. Both of these versesare from the frequently recited Haftorah of Machar Chodesh.2 The Barkusky translation is: “He has left a void / His manyfriends and associates feel his loss”.3 This alludes to Rabbi Tarphon in Pirkei Avot 1:20 “The workis much and labourers are idle”.4 Ahad Ha’am also used the expression askan, “worker for thecommunal good” in conjunction with an expression relatingto working with books, as follows: Bayamim haheim loha’yiti od lo sofeir v’lo askan, in those days I was not yet awriter nor a worker for the public good”. The work askanwas also used in the Talmud, Chullin 57 in a slightly differentsense. Askan bid’varim meant a person of initiative, aninventive person.5 A more correct translation is Schrire haya ish na’a’le beinhachayim. “Schrire was a man elevated amongst the living”.6 Encyclopaedia Judaica, Vol. 14, p138129

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT AT THE DURBANREVIEW CONFERENCE*Wendy Kahn“Giving the Holocaust-denying Ahmadinejad aplatform to lecture the world about racism is likeinviting Bernie Madoff to head a global conferenceon business ethics”.This was one of the choice quotes doing therounds in Geneva during the UN Durban ReviewConference (DRC) from 20-24 April this year. It wasoccasioned by an inflammatory opening speech byIranian President Mahmud Ahmadinejad, whoserabid antisemitic rhetoric was all too reminiscent ofthe event’s notorious predecessor, the September2001 World Conference Against Racism in our veryown Durban.The purpose of the DRC was to follow up theDurban Declaration and Programme of Actionadopted at the 2001 conference. Much of the effortsof international Jewry in the build-up to the conferencehad been directed at persuading various countries topull out altogether, and around ten, including Canada,Italy and Australia, eventually did so. However, theviewpoint adopted by the SA Jewish Board ofDeputies and others was that this should not be doneat the expense of preparing properly for the conferenceitself, since this was going to go aheadnotwithstanding the boycotts.It was to ensure a strong, coordinated and effectiveparticipation by world Jewry at the DRC that theInternational Jewish Caucus (IJC) was set up.Throughout, the SAJBD had valuable input into theprocess, inter alia bringing to the table its experienceof what had been successful in the 2002 WorldSummit on Sustainable Development inJohannesburg. Also useful was its contacts with theSA government built up over the years, which enabledit to obtain important accurate information onconference procedure on behalf of the IJC once theDRC was underway.I was a member of the IJC in Geneva for theduration of the conference representing the SAJBD,which was participating as an accredited NGO andalso as part of the IJC.With me from South Africa was Marc Pozniak,who had participated (with former SAJBD GautengCouncil vice-chairman Gershon Hurwitz) in theprevious year’s African Preparatory Meeting for theDRC in Abuja, Nigeria. Both attended under theauspices of the World Jewish Diplomatic CorpsWendy Kahn is National Director of the SA JewishBoard of Deputies. She was extensively involved inthe UN Durban Review Conference, both prior andduring the event, working closely with internationalJewish organisations.division of the World Jewish Congress. Prior to mydeparture, I had worked with communications expertLouis Gavin to develop some key messaging andcommunication tools for the Caucus, and Louis’company designed some exquisite posters which Itook across with me. The following are the essentialmessages we formulated to convey what the DRCmeant to us as Jews:The underlying lesson of 3500 years of Jewishhistory is that respecting human rights is not anabstract ideal – it is a necessity.The history of the Jewish people is a story ofconstant struggle against persecution, whetherracially or religiously inspired. Jews have striven,and continue to strive, to uphold the fundamentalprinciples of human rights, dignity and equalitythat underpin their faith and national culture. Forso long exiled from their ancestral homeland anddispersed throughout the world, they have foughtto survive as a marginalised and powerlessminority in their host societies. They havesucceeded, but the price has been high.Informed by the lessons of their own history, theJewish people condemn all forms of prejudice,racism and injustice and commit themselves tofighting it wherever and whenever it occurs.The Geneva Jewish community truly rose to theoccasion, arranging a fully equipped Welcome Centrefor us at the entrance to the UN, where we had ourcaucus briefings and where we could buy koshersandwiches and salads. We were welcomed with asmile and treated with the warmest hospitalityThe author speaking with SA Minister of ForeignAffairs, Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma.30

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009throughout.Day One of the DRC on Monday, 20 April,started with a bang thanks to Ahmadinejad. As theonly Head of State present, the privilege of deliveringthe first of the speeches by participating countrieswas his. His address featured all the extremist anti-Israel language and antisemitic sentiment that hadmade the 2001 event so problematic. Ahmadinejadhad already acquired a well-deserved reputation as aHolocaust Denier, and now further confirmed it byaccusing Israel of occupying Palestinian territories“on the pretext of Jewish suffering”. Amongst otherincendiary statements, he further accused Israel ofestablishing a “cruel and repressive racist regime”over Palestinians.It was gratifying indeed to see the massive walkoutthat followed when Ahmadinejad began todemonise Israel and Zionists, resulting in a visiblyempty hall. Representatives of most EU countries, aswell as from Morocco, Jordan and even the PalestinianAuthority (almost certainly for political reasons,given Iran’s support for the rival Hamas faction,rather than as a protest over the anti-Israel sentiment)took part. The Foreign Minister of Norway stronglyrebuked the Ahmadinejad speech when it was histurn to speak and his condemnation was supportedby South African Foreign Minister Dlamini Zuma inher remarks. Other delegates and officials in thecourse of the next few days similarly criticizedAhmadinejad. It should be noted, however, thatwhile the walk out was effective; there were countriesthat applauded Ahmadinejad’s statements.The IJC was incensed that a man representing acountry inflicting such grotesque human rightsviolations (besides his Holocaust Denial and ‘wipeIsrael off the map’ pronouncements) could be allowedto be one of the introductory speakers at a conferencepurporting to be further the causes of human rightsand opposing racism. That a notorious HolocaustDenier had spoken on the very eve of Yom Hashoahcompounded the outrage we all felt.Encouraging from a South African point of viewwas Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Nkosazana DlaminiZuma’s support for the Norwegian Foreign Ministercondemnation of the Ahmadinejad speech, with hercomments that the forum was not a place for “hatredThe author and Marc Pozniak at the Yom Hashoahceremony, Geneva, 2009.and finger pointing” and her mention of the Shoah.Also interesting to us as South Africans was thereading of a message from Nelson Mandela about thevalues of anti- racism and the importance of thisconference. I was pleased that a senior South Africangovernment representative attended the three-hourYom Hashoah ceremony on the Monday night of theconference.The Yom Hashoah ceremony, organised by theGeneva Jewish community, with thousands gatheringin the square in front of the Palais de Nations(headquarters of the UN) for the occasion. Memorablemoments were the magnificent Yizkor loudlyproclaiming our grief outside the gates of the UN, theimpassioned speeches by Eli Wiesel, Irwin Cotlerand French philosopher Bernard Henri Levy and achildren’s choir singing the Partisans’ Song as thecrowd held up candles. It was an opportunity to focuson the real issues of human rights and to mourn a timewhen these were completely forgotten.The conference document was formally adoptedon Tuesday, Day Two of the DRC, and this wasfollowed by submissions by all the countries present.The government submissions included a long stringof condemnations of Ahmadinejad’s offensiveaddress, mainly coming from Argentina, Ukraine,the UK, France, Sweden and Spain, as well as fromAustria, Lithuania and the Holy See. The UNSecretary General and High Commissioner Pillaywere also highly critical.The last country to present their submission wasIran who, as anticipated, was quite unrepentant forits leader’s actions. Its representative heavilycriticized Norway and other countries that hadattacked Ahmadinejad, invoked ‘freedom ofexpression as a human right’ and called for countries31

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009Members of the International Jewish Caucus team inaction during the United Nations Durban ReviewConference.to cease from making ‘judgmental remarks’.In the final Declaration eventually adopted by theconference, the reference to Antisemitism wasretained (par. 12), and the reference to the Holocaustwas actually strengthened by urging all states toimplement the General Assembly resolutions callingfor Holocaust commemoration and condemningHolocaust denial (par. 66). The controversial“Defamation of Religion” clause, which was intendedby its sponsors as stifling criticism of Islam, wasexcluded. However, there was an indirect referenceto Israel in a paragraph calling for the need to addressthe problems arising from ‘foreign occupation’ (par.5), which is UN-speak for Gaza and the West Banksituation.Marc and I had two outstanding meetings onTuesday. First, we met with Advocate TselisoThipanyane, CEO of the SA Human RightsCommission, who was in Geneva to present thesubmission on behalf of similar Human Rightsadvocacy bodies from around the world. He spentconsiderable time briefing us on human rights andNGOs in South Africa, as well providing us withsome fascinating insights on the DRC itself.That evening, we met with the SA governmentdelegation for a very warm and informative session.Beulah Naidoo, a senior member of the delegationand Chairperson at the Regional Preparatory meetingfor the DRC in Abuja, gave us a full briefing on manyissues and allowed us an opportunity to ask questionsand receive clarification on issues of relevance to theIJC. We also had an opportunity to speak withMinister Dlamini Zuma and the SA Ambassador tothe UN.The Darfur protest rally, organized by theEuropean Jewish students in tandem with Darfurvictims, was one of the highlights of Day Two.Holding banners, wearing t-shirts and distributingmaterials, the protestors stood on the edge of thesquare in front of the Palais de Nations andcommunicated their messages to passing traffic andpedestrians. A lone anti-Israel protester sheepishlyleft after being confronted by the Darfuri participants.I attended a symposium in a venue next to thePlenary Hall entitled “Antisemitism and Intolerance:In the Here and Now”. Speakers included NobelLaureate Elie Wiesel, Professor Alan Dershowitz,the renowned actor Jon Voight, Professor Steele,Father Patrick Desbois (who works with EastEuropean countries to find Jewish bodies that did notreceive a suitable burial and seeks to remedy this)and Natan Sharansky. The venue was completelycrammed, to the extent that people had to be turnedaway. I chatted with Dershowitz afterwards, tellinghim of the row his statements re Tutu had caused inSA and asking for clarification. He confirmed that hehad called Tutu a “racist and a bigot” and that he fullystood by this.Geneva woke up to Day Three of the DRC whileSouth Africans were waking up to Election Day.Once again, there was great activity in the IJC caucusoffices as we frantically set about preparing statementsfor the session. One of these was an NGO sessionwith UN High Commissioner Navi Pillay, in whichaccredited NGOs would be asking questions. One ofthe questions was submitted on behalf of the SAJBD.A number of interesting points came out of thissession. It was notable that no overtly anti-Israelquestions were posed, which would certainly nothave been the case in 2001. A representative from aFrench African NGO asked a lengthily question inwhich he condemned pro-Palestinian groups forhijacking the conference and detracting from thevoices of the real victims. Sitting opposite us (anddoing exceptional networking at the conference)was a trio of Neturei Karta representatives sportingPalestinian flag badges. Thanks to UN regulations,they at least had to leave their trademark sandwichboards at home.Following extensive debates (and some seriousconfusion) it was determined that approximately 150NGOs would be making two-minute submissions atthe Plenary stage. Thanks to our interaction with theSA delegation, we were able to assist the IJC withinformation enabling it to secure slots and fourJewish NGOs ultimately made submissions. Oneslot was used on behalf of the IJC, and this submissionwas presented by the co-Chair of the Jewish HumanRights Coalition (UK), Rosalind Preston.Was the DRC like Durban 1?When drafting its International Jewish Coalitionstatement, the IJC included the comment, “The WorldConference Against Racism in 2001 is rememberedfor the antisemitism on the streets of Durban. TheDurban Review in Geneva will be remembered forthe antisemitism within the Assembly hall of the UN,as clearly spelt out by Iran’s President.” It must beremembered, however, that Ahmadinejad’s speechwas followed by unequivocal condemnation by manycountries, by the Secretary General of the UN and theHRC High Commissioner.None of the violent and overt antisemitism asseen in Durban in 2001 was evident in Geneva. Theevent was monitored closely by the authorities, whoshowed a zero tolerance for any unruly behavior orviolation of the rules. As for the anti-Israel or pro-32

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009Iran rallies, these were dismally attended and werecertainly in no way reminiscent of 2001.The comments of Ronald Eissens from the DutchMagenta Foundation are worth sharing:People ask us all the time if this conference islike Durban. No, it’s not. It is absolutelyincomparable. Foremost, there is the question ofsize. Only 314 accredited NGOs are here, with1073 NGO delegates, which is nothing likeDurban, but the atmosphere is also very different.It is mostly a well-behaved affair, with only afew incidents. Stickers and some flyers wereconfiscated by the UN Police. A small numberof side-events were cancelled because of contentnot in line with the DDPA and/or abuse language.A few NGO delegates and one journalist hadtheir accreditation revoked. Kudos to the UNpeople at the Palais de Nations for doing a greatjob, and special kudos to the UN Police andsecurity forces for keeping everybody on thestraight and narrow and handling it all withutmost care and friendliness.International Jewry was far better prepared forthis conference. Preparation had started early lastyear, and it could be clearly seen how more effectivethe responses were. The coalition provided acoordinated front at the DRC. It was wonderful to seeJewish NGO’s putting aside their egos and turfissues to work together for the common good. Ourcaucus office (situated in the World Jewish Congresssuites near the UN) was a constant buzz of activity,and was run in a professional and efficient way.I was able to leave Geneva feeling gratified thatinternational Jewry played a significant role inpreventing a repeat of 2001.Wishing all ourJewish friends aHappy New Yearand well over the fast012 319 8811 • 011 378 3200www.cityproperty.co.zawith complimentsTel: (011) 417 6600 Fax: (011) 622-5561PrestigeTV/VIDEO / HI-FI / FAX MACHINES / FRIDGES* MICROWAVE / CONVENTIONAL OVENS* STOVES * DISHWASHERS * WASHING MACHINES *TUMBLE DRYER * GEYSERS * PUMPS * WIRING *ELECTRICAL JOBS **** SECOND HAND APPLIANCES FOR SALE ***TANGO APPLIANCES53 2nd Road KewTel: (011) 022 4572Cell: 083 498 050033

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009SCARRED BY THE HOLOCAUST: A RHODESIANCHILDHOOD WITH HANS TRIXER AND OTHER RELATIVES*Dorothy KowenMy mother, the daughter of a rabbi in Germany,had escaped from Nazi Germany to Rhodesia andhad married a Lithuanian Jew.My mother and father did not communicate much,so the telephone became my mother’s intimate friend.She would speak ad nauseam to Minny, Sylvia orHilda about the latest bridge conventions and herchildren.One still Sunday evening, the night hung like adark blanket pierced by the brilliance of a roundAfrican moon. Suddenly, the shrill sound of thetelephone rent the air. I was relieved by the intrusioninto that too still night.My mother lifted the receiver.“Hello, hello, Thea! Is that you? How are you?Ach, this line is not very clear. Yes I’m fine. Salisburyis not Oldenberg – not as cultured, but I like it here.Tell me about yourself…”I had not heard mention of any Thea before. Ilistened to my mother’s voice from the adjoiningbathroom. There was something different about thiscall. Usually, my mother would habitually becomeso excited over a phone call that she would gush. Thefollowing morning, there would be light spittle in thetelephone cradle, a glistening testimony of theconversation of the previous night.But this time, her voice sounded tight, as thoughsomebody had put a fist around her throat. There wasa harsh tonality in her voice that I had never heardbefore.“Ja, Thea. So you have two sons… I have a sonand three daughters. We must speak again. Let mewrite down your number. OK, we must terminate…I mean end… this conversation – Thea, this call iscosting you too much. Auf wiedersehen. Thank youfor calling”.The phone crashed unceremoniously onto thecradle.“Mom, who was that?”“Never mind”, she said in her heavy Germanaccent.“No, I want to know. Was it somebody fromGermany?”“It’s better forgotten”.Dorothy Kowen is a teacher of French language andclassical literature and the author of a number offictional works, including Bobba’s little lies, A Giftof Gold (also translated into French and anthologizedin a French textbook) and Nyama’s Journey. Theabove article is an extract from The Rabbi’s Daughter,a novel in progress.“No, don’t tell me … let me guess. Was she atschool with you and then her parents stopped youvisiting because you were Jewish?”“No. Her parents were always warm andaccepting. She was my best friend... but I must cuther out. I must pretend Nazi Germany did notexist…You do understand, don’t you?”I did not.Then there was her cousin, Hans Trixer, amagician of international repute. When I was aboutfive or six, I thought he was so good looking anddistinguished. He had thinning grey hair and a broadtoothy smile, but his eyes – his eyes were sad anddistant, like the eyes in pictures by the old masters.I hated my birthday parties. I hated the smockeddresses and straw hats my mother made me wear. Idid not like the children who came to celebrate myparties. I thought birthdays were sad. I had not askedto be born, and now I was supposed to be happy.Uncle Hans did not enjoy my birthday partieseither. He also did not come willingly. He wasinvited as the magician.When he arrived in Rhodesia as a refugee fromNazi Germany, my Granny insisted that he performmagic tricks for the children at my parties. MyGranny, Annie de Haas, had been a rebbetzin inGermany. No one said ‘No’ to her.Rabbits popped out from Hans Trixer’s sleeves,cakes appeared out of burning newspaper. Wechildren watched the cakes, but he just watched theflames with a detached fascination. While he watchedthe flames, I watched him mesmerized. The childrenshrieked and clapped, egged on by my Granny.“How did you do it? How did you do that trick,Hans Trixer?” hollered one of the children, jumpinginto his arms. He disentangled himself with distastefrom the clinging child as though he were peeling offsome sticky brown toffee. Clearly he did not like her,nor any of the other children for that matter.Hans Trixer was not his real name. My mothertold me that when he was five years old, he was givena magic set, a gift she thought far too sophisticatedfor a child of that age. She thought his parents, Walterand Gerde, spoilt him. Walter Elsbach, of Dortmund,Germany, was my Granny’s brother. When he wasnot entertaining children at my parties, Hans ranKeayes Jewellers in Salisbury and made jewellery. Istill have some of the pieces he gave me.Years later, we learned his story. At the age offourteen, this spoilt only child had worked in thekitchens at Auschwitz. The Gestapo heard about histalents as a magician and forced him to perform34

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009before his tormentors. The penalty for failure toplease was the gas chamber, the reward for successa slice of bread. He survived because of his magic,unlike his parents, his uncle (who had been brutallykilled in a police station) and his friends.After the war, Hans advertised in the paper tryingto find family. My uncle, Joe de Haas, saw his nameand went to Holland to find him. Uncle Joe and myfather, Jack Lessem, brought Hans and his new wifeShelley out to Salisbury and found him a job.Many years later, my 16-year-old daughterDanielle went on the March of the Living to visit thedeath camps at Auschwitz and Dachau. She returnedno longer a child, but the grown daughter of a secondgeneration Holocaust survivor. Soon afterwards, shewent for a walk with “Uncle Hans” on Cape Town’sClifton Beach. After a long stroll, they watched thewaves pounding on the beach. For hours he did notspeak.Danielle hoped he would ask her about herexperiences. She hoped he would speak about theunspeakable. But he remained silent.So many questions: What was going through hismind when my Granny insisted that he do a commandperformance for an audience of spoiled children whodid not know or care about the numbers etched intohis skin under his long sleeves? The numbers he hid.Even on the hottest summer days he would not weara short sleeved shirt. What else was he hiding?When the children yelled for more, what was hethinking? Was he reliving the pleasure he had giventhe Gestapo when he performed his magic for them?Was he hearing the laughter of the children of the offdutyGestapo officers, who ruled the camp with suchbrutality? Did he envy the happiness in my friends’faces, the happiness of the “normal childhood” thathad eluded him because of the atrocities of NaziGermany? Why was he determined to have nochildren of his own?And still more questions. Did he know that in myeyes, he was special and talented? But how did he seehimself? Did he see himself just as a trickster, whohad tricked the Gestapo into sparing his life? Afterthe war, in another world, when he became famousfor his tricks, did he ask himself who he might havebecome had he not been born in Nazi Germany? Didhe get pleasure when he was made president of theMagic Circle of Los Angeles and when some of hiscard tricks, still named after him, entered into themagicians’ repertoire? Even then, he ignored thepraise. “When you steal one trick, they call itplagiarism”, he would say, “When you steal many,they call it research”. In the dark nights of his soul,did he ever ask himself why his magic wand hadspared only him and not his loved ones?My mother did not have the vitality of her cousinHans. She wore her suffering like a cloak around herall the time. She felt that my brother, sisters and I hadan idyllic childhood. After all, she had grown up inNazi Germany, suffering humiliations at the handsof the Nazis. Many of her friends had died in thecamps.“I am feeling depressed”, I once confided to her.“Depressed?” she said, “What do you knowabout depression? Did you grow up in NaziGermany?”That was very much it. Living in Salisbury, wewere not entitled to feel too much pain. Her sufferingin Germany was so monumental that our sufferingpaled into insignificance.I was discouraged from being too ambitious – lifeended the same way for everyone. In my mother’swords, “life was short and beshissen like a baby’snapkin”. Everything should be ‘downspilled’, not‘upspilled’. When a friend of mine told her shethought I was intelligent, my mother retorted, “Ja, inze kingdom of ze blind, ze one-eyed is king”.Like Hans, she would not accept or give praise.We were taught not to be too enthusiastic aboutanything, or anybody for that matter. I would returnfrom school with a new friend. When she had left, Iwould say to my mother, “Isn’t she wonderful?” Mymother would reply, “Ja, but somesing,somewhere…”There was always “something, somewhere” forher to disapprove. She would look at all my friendwith a jaundiced eye – projecting the darkness ofNazism onto the still unwritten narrative of theirlives.Another of her sayings, one I only appreciatedonce I entered adulthood, was:“Don’t envy people who seem to have a betterlife style than you. Life is lived in the valleys, not onthe mountains. You only go up to the mountain tobreathe.”My mother played a great deal of bridge. Herbridge allowed her to enter another world, a moreregulated one, one over which she had some control.We children used to say that she “bridged overtroubled waters.” When she was playing bridge, shehated to be interrupted - especially if we were“upspilling our pain.”When I was a teenager, I wrote this poem:I must have been seven, or was it eight?When I returned home from a party late.A motorcyclist who did not see meHad knocked me to the ground.When I came roundI ran home to blurt out my story.My mother involved in a game of bridgeWelcomed me with the warmth of a fridge,“Has blood been spilled?” she said.“Is someone perhaps dead?“Go straight to your bedroom.Don’t speak of doom and gloom.You have a cut and a graze,Nothing time will not erase.”Her scars, you see, would always last.She was a victim of the Holocaust.The author hereby thanks Gwynne Schrire forher encouragement and assistance with this article.35

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009AUGUST IN LATVIA(for Maja Abramowitch)*Bernard LevinsonIt is August in Latvia. The sun, echoing still thesummer’s heat, rises in a cloudless sky. There is stillthe soft woody scent of forests waking. The air iswarm and soft. Families eat their meals on the patiosin the warm afternoons.The Daugava River is alive with early autumn’sgold-flecked foliage. Trees, bridges and rows ofwooden houses shimmer on the surface.Lisa brushes my hair. Her hair is long and dark.She lets me braid her hair. I would love to brushmy Papa’s hair but he has so little hair. When Isit on his lap he nibbles my short, almost blond,hair on the back of my neck.My Papa owns two shops on the main street. Heteaches me French at night. Only a few words.We have visitors every night. My Mama andPapa speak so many languages. I can hear themtalking French and German. Papa’s alwaysaway in Paris. Mama loves all the health placesin Germany. They leave me with Lisa.The town of Daugavpils is almost asleep in theautumn heat. In the forest, the faintest blush of rustdances on the tips of the trees. The birds are singing.It is August and the birds are still singing. The crying– the silent underground crying – the endless darkshrieks of the dead have not begun. The birds will bethe first to hear it. They will hear it all. It will silencetheir singing for ever.My nanny’s name is Petronella. I can’tpronounce her name. I call her Lisa. Lisa sleepswith me. She’s an old lady. I think she is 50 yearsold. I love Lisa. She knows everything about me.She calls me her baby. She knows I am afraid ofstorms. When there is thunder she holds me. Sheloves my little black dog Mushka. Mushka ismosquito in Russian. We only speak Russian. Wego for long walks. Lisa, Mushka and I. Lisaalways holds my hand. I think we live in a forest.There are trees everywhere. Behind our housethere is a green space. I love lying on the grass,watching the birds float in the warm air.Bernard Levinson is a distinguished South Africanpoet whose work has appeared in numerous scholarlypublications and anthologies, including JewishAffairs. Professionally, he is a psychiatrist based inJohannesburg.The German invasion is lightning quick andbrutal. The year is 1941. Overnight the Russians whoannexed Latvia and became so strongly a part of theirlives have vanished. One moment all of Latvia belongsto them, then there is nothing. The Germans areeverywhere. All night the rumbling of heavy vehicles.The marching of men. The very core and fabric ofLatvia is suddenly seeped in this German tide.In Daugavpils there is a public hanging of asingle young woman. An ominous warning. A clearmessage for the entire town.Frauline Elsbeth is my German governess. Sheteaches me German. She talks to me while wewalk in the forest. I don’t like her. She stands sotall. She walks fast and l can’t keep up. I see hertwice a week. And twice a week Mr.Charmatzcomes to our house. He teaches me English.He’s a funny man. He only knows two things.One nursery rhyme and one book. Every time hecomes I repeat ‘There was a little girl who hada little curl right in the middle of her forehead….’The book he knows is about a Prince. He readsit to me. We do this again and again. I learn it byheart. We sit at the dining room table. He’s agrubby little man. He dresses so badly. And hesmells…Within a day of the German occupation a noticeappears: “All men from 16 to 60 must report to thetown square immediately. They must bring shovelsand pickaxes”.The rumor is that there is a need for work parties.There is much to clean up in Daugavpils…My Mama teaches me to play the piano. Sheplays really well. I love sitting on the piano stoolwith her. Once a week I go with my cousin toBallet school. It is run by Madam Mirceva. I’mafraid of her. Her hair is smoothed back into atight ball. It pulls her eyes sideways. Sometimesshe looks almost Chinese. She is very strict. Mycousin and I are the dolls in the Ballet Coppelia.I love the costumes. Mama had them madeespecially for us. I am very small for my age. Andthin. I think I look like a doll…We have the only double story brick house in ourstreet. Mama, Papa and me, and of course Lisa,live upstairs. Papa’s brother and his family livedownstairs. I go to school with my cousin. She isexactly my age. I knock on the floor with the36

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009broom handle to tell her that I am ready to leaveand she meets me downstairs. We walk to school.They say goodbye to Papa and his brother. Theyhave one shovel and one pickaxe between them.They gather with all the men in the town square.They are broken up into small groups and taken to therailway park. They dig their own graves. They all getundressed before being shot.The horse-drawn carts heavy with men’s clothingare seen blocking the streets. Everyone now knowsthe truth.It is Lisa who first sees our neighbour’s house onfire. It is made of wood. All the houses are madeof wood except our house. She shouts that wemust leave immediately. Mama grabs whatclothes she can find for us.The buildings are blown up. They burn furiously.The Dougava River is burning. The entire townis in flames. Maja is standing in front of their strickenhome. She is eleven years old. She is wearing achocolate brown fur coat and new shoes. Mushka isterrified and hides deep in the fur under her arms.Lisa envelops her with her own body. The groaningof burning walls drowns out their screams.My wrist watch is on the window sill of mybedroom. It was given to me by Papa on my lastbirthday. How can I go without it?The streets are deserted. The slow procession ofwomen wind their way between the charred streets.They slowly walk to the Citadel Fortress to start thebrief Ghetto stage before their final journey.Three months later, in November, the real killingswill begin. For the first time Jews will be brought intoLatvia to fill the mass graves. It is bitterly cold on thatfirst morning when the men and women are made toundress and stand before the open graves. The forestgroans with the weight of the dead.Now it is August. Late summer August. AnAugust of dreams and innocence. All of Latvia holdsits breath.The Summer When I Was TenI sat on the creek bandWatching the other kids swimSplashing and laughingThey called me a chickenBut if I took my pants offThey’d see the bruisesJohn YarbroughThe LessonWhat Will Happen to the World?In future years,We will spread tears,because many animals have become extinctThe world changed after I blinkedWhat about wars,when a rocket soars?This causes pollution,But is there a solutionBe careful with natural thingsand all they bring.Try to walk to school,And keep the house cool.Litter, pesticides and smoke, get rid!And become an Eco-kid.Laurie Reznik(Ms. Reznik, aged 11, was the recipient of the 2008Young Writer’s Award for this poem, which appearedin the anthology The Big Green Machine: Versesfrom London and the Home Countries 2009)The ghetto: dawn. A deathly lightDistempers, in the cobbled square,The spindly scarecrows, stiff with fright,Assembled at attention there.A truck, usurped for Nazi useBrings lumber, men who hammer, brace,Upraise a gallows, hang a noose,Depart. The kapitän, his faceA mask of granite, spits commands.A stick man, limp, in rags attiredIs frog-marched to the gibbet, stands,A flimsy puppet, tangle-wired– “loaf, a life [the hands make mime]Possess, in Warsaw, equal weight.That contrabandage is a crimeWho dares to question shares his fate!”The hangmen, by a finger cuedUpheave their victim, shoulder high;Too flaccid, he’s at last lassoed,By strangulation left to die.His neck, they could have broken first(It’s how they would have killed a hen),The crowds as quickly have dispersed,But where had been the lesson, then?Peter Austin37

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009A BRIEF JOURNEY THROUGHITALIAN JEWISH HISTORORY*Bernard KatzThe history of Italian Jewry (and more particularlyRoman Jewry) is of unique interest as it spans overtwenty centuries and more than half a dozencivilizations, namely the Roman Empire, the Papacy,the Renaissance, the Counter-Reformation, themedieval city republics, unified Italy, moderntotalitarianism and the present era.The Jewish historian Cecil Roth writes that Italyis the only European country which never knew ageneral persecution of the Jews, and in no other partof the world did such a feeling of friendliness prevailas in Italy between the people and the Jewishpopulation. 1 He has also written that there was noother country in Europe where the Jewish contributionto cultural life was proportionately so great.Rome’s Jewish community is probably the oldestin the world. 2 Rome is the only city in the Westernworld in which Jewish settlement remaineduninterrupted from remotest times to the present day.The first recorded presence of Jews in Rome wasin the year 161 BCE. After the Jews revolted againstthe Greeks, Judah Maccabee sent two ambassadors,Jason ben Eleazar and Eupolemos ben Johanan, on amission to Rome to establish friendly relations. Theyappeared before the Senate and received writtenassurances of friendship and protection. These arethe first Jews to be in Italy, or to visit Europe, who areknown to us by name. 3In 63 BCE, the Roman general Pompey invadedand conquered Judah and renamed it Judea. Pompeyentered the Holy of Holies, where the High Priestonly entered on Yom Kippur, and was surprised byits emptiness, having expected to find the grandeurhe was accustomed to in the Roman temples. In lateryears, the malicious rumour was spread that he hadfound there the central figure of Jewish adoration, anass’s head. 4 Henceforth, Judea effectively became aprovince of the Roman Empire and the firstcontingents of Jewish slaves were sent to Rome.The early Roman emperors became allies of theJews and accorded them special privileges. Jewsfavoured Julius Caesar in the civil war against Pompeyand Caesar returned the favour by permitting thewalls of Jerusalem to be rebuilt, allowing Jewsgreater autonomy in their communal affairs and bynot requiring Jews to worship the emperor as a deityas was required of Rome’s other citizens. 5 The TempleBernard Katz, a frequent contributor to JewishAffairs, is a Chartered Accountant who works for aninvestment bank in Johannesburg.of the Divine Julius houses the cremated remains ofJulius Caesar, who went to considerable trouble towin the sympathy of the Jews. When he wasassassinated in 44 BCE, Jews mourned his deathmore than any other section of the population. 6Julius Caesar’s benevolent policy was continuedby Augustus and Claudius. The only exception tothis early trend was Caligula, the emperor whoelevated his favourite horse to consul, and seriouslybelieved in his own divinity. Shortly after Caligula’saccession, he made an attempt to enforce the erectionof his statue in synagogues and even the Temple.This caused serious concern in the Jewish world andresulted in a Jewish delegation headed by the Jewishphilosopher Philo, being sent to Rome. Philo left avivid account of his impressions of Caligula’s court.At the beginning of the Christian era it has beenestimated, based on a medieval report of a censusconducted by Emperor Claudius in 48 CE, that sevenmillion Jews lived in the Roman Empire, including2.5 million in Judea and a million each in Asia Minor,Egypt and Syria. 7 This represented 10% of thepopulation of the Roman Empire.The Jewish revolt against Rome represented aclash between Jewish and Greek culture and with theadoption of hero worship, relations between the Jewsand the Romans deteriorated swiftly. The historianPaul Johnson thinks that the revolt may have comeduring the reign of Caligula (37 - 41 CE) who soughtto impose full blooded hero worship, had it not beenfor his assassination. 8The revolt of 66 CE was one of the most significantand horrifying events in Jewish history and isunfortunately badly recorded. Tacitus left a longaccount but only fragments survive. Virtually theonly authority for the war is Josephus, and he is, inthe words of Paul Johnson “tendentious, contradictoryand thoroughly unreliable”. 9 The war in Judea wasinitially conducted by Vespasian, but in 69 CE hewas made emperor and returned to Rome, leaving hisson, Titus, in charge of the campaign for Jerusalem.Alexander the Great had used 32 000 men tocreate his empire. Caesar had used fewer than 25 000and Hannibal less than 50 000. Titus needed 80 000soldiers and four years to subdue Jerusalem. 10 At thewar’s end, Vespasian and Titus were so proud oftheir achievement that they minted coins with theinscription “Judea Capta” - Judea is in captivity.Further contingents of Jewish slaves followed theRoman Jewish war of 66 - 70 CE, where it has beenstated that 97 000 Jewish slaves were brought backto Rome alone. 1138

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009The Bar Kochba revolt of 132 - 135 CE had itsseeds in the decision by Emperor Hadrian to buildover the ruins of Jerusalem a Roman city called AeliaCapitolina. 12 Its initial success was made possible bythe fact that on this occasion the Jews, or at least theirmilitant elements, were united under the leadershipof a single strong personality, Shimon bar Kosiba(known as Bar Kochba). The Roman historian Diosays 580 000 Jews died in the fighting and nearly theentire land was laid waste. 13 Of all the Roman conflictsagainst the Jews, the Bar Kochba revolt was the mostcostly to the Romans. Emperor Hadrian reporting tothe Senate after the war omitted the customary ending“I and my army are well”. 14 After the Bar Kochbarevolt there were so many Jewish slaves for sale thatthe price dropped to less than that of a horse. 15The two catastrophes, of 70 CE and 135 CE,effectively ended Jewish state history in antiquity.It is recorded that many of these Jewish slaves didnot remain slaves for long 16 and were redeemed byother Jews. Jews did not make good slaves and weredisliked by their owners, inter alia, because of theirindependent temperament, and more importantly,the fact that they would not work on the Sabbath andinsisted on special food. 17 The origin of Jewishsettlement in Europe was not due entirely to the slaveelement; commerce was also a potent factor, andJews were prominent in trade in the Mediterranean. 18The Romans conducted a liberal administrationand it is to their credit that they did not permit theJudean war to involve a universal religiouspersecution even though the Jewish position musthave been for some time highly uncomfortable. 19Even after the Jewish-Roman wars, Judaismcontinued to be tolerated 20 and in 212 CE EmperorCaracalla conferred full citizenship on the Jews.Judaism became popular, particularly amongstthe upper classes, and numerous persons discardedidolatry and began to observe some of the ceremoniesincluding the Sabbath. Nero’s empress, Poppaea,was one of them 21 and Emperor Augustus, in a letterto Tiberius wrote, “Not even a Jew observes theSabbath as faithfully as I do”. 22 Apparently,circumcision was a deterrent to proper conversionfor adult men but, as a humorist observed, their sonsbecame Jews in the fullest physical sense. 23In 313 CE, Emperor Constantine adoptedChristianity as the state religion and enactedlegislation prohibiting conversion to Judaism, Jewsmarrying Christian women and Jews owningChristian slaves. 24 The position of the Jews thusbegan changing for the worse 25 and this marked thetransition from an era of tolerance to one ofsubjection. 26 Legend has it that on the eve of animportant battle Emperor Constantine saw a cross oflight in the heavens bearing the inscription “Conquerby this”. 27 Contrary to popular belief, Constantinehimself did not adopt Christianity. 28 He was alsoresponsible for relocating the capital toConstantinople, named after him.The Roman Empire declined and finallysuccumbed to repeated Barbarian invasions. Romewas sacked by the Visigoths in 410, the Vandals in455 and in 476 the last emperor in the west, whosename ironically was Romulus, was deposed and theRoman Empire came to an end.The Papacy was established in Rome in the 6 thCentury and treatment of the Jews varied from popeto pope. For the next 1400 years, Jewish history wasin large measure determined by papal policy. Somepopes safeguarded the Jews and even had Jewishfinanciers and physicians whereas others were bitterlyantisemitic. Pope Gregory (590 – 604) set the examplewhich was followed by many of his successors andremained the norm until the close of the MiddleAges. While it was not a completely favourablepolicy, there was a certain sufferance and Jews wereprotected with some minimal legal rights. 29 Jewswere entitled to freedom of worship and to maintaintheir own synagogues but were not allowed to buildnew ones. Conversion was encouraged but throughpeaceable means, persecution was discouraged andJewish physicians were prohibited from havingChristian patients. But, as Cecil Roth writes, “Nicetiesof policy could hardly be appreciated by subordinateecclesiastics”. 30 The popes generally adhered to theprinciple of toleration and moderation and even theCrusades did not obtain a strong following in Italy(“Here religion was not taken quite so seriously”). 31An interesting story from the 11 th Century relatesto a wealthy Jew named Baruch, who converted toChristianity and adopted the name Benedict. Hemarried the daughter of a Roman noble and theycalled their son Leo. Leo’s son entered the Churchand became Pope Anacletus II in 1130 until his deathin 1138. 32The period of the Renaissance marked a highpoint for Jews in Italy. In Rome, the popes werestrong and were more influenced by political andcultural interests than by religious pressure.Furthermore every pope had a Jewish physician inhis employ. 33 Towards the end of the 13 th andbeginning of the 14 th Century, Italian Jewry embarkedon a new sphere of economic activity as small scalemoneylenders. The 14 th and 15 th Centuries saw theexpansion of these activities, which resulted less inlarge fortunes for a few than in modest fortunes formany. 34 The Spanish expulsion of 1492 resulted in alarge number of Jewish refugees arriving in Italy.The most important of these was Don Isaac Abravanel,who first settled in Naples before moving to Venice.After Martin Luther nailed his famous Theses onthe cathedral door at Wittenberg in 1517, the birthand dramatic growth of the Protestant movementresulted in Jewish life changing dramatically for theworse. The Catholic Church was threatened andbegan to put its house in order in a process known asthe Counter–Reformation. No longer wereenlightened popes elected; henceforth, popes wereelected with the requirements of the church beingparamount. 35 Hitherto the Papacy had generally actedas a protector of Jews, 36 but henceforth, though itnever tolerated violence, it instigated the severestrepression.In 1555, Paul IV became pope, and issued thefamous Bull starting with words “Cum nimis39

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009absurdum”. This addressed the ‘absurdity’ ofallowing the then present state of affairs with regardto the Jews to continue and led to the confinement ofJews to the ghetto. Jews were allowed only onesynagogue, ownership of real estate was outlawed,Jewish men were forced to wear a yellow hat andJewish physicians were no longer permitted to treatChristian patients. 37 The ghetto spread across Italyand ushered in a dark period for Italian Jews, lastingfor around 300 years.Paul IV had been an unpopular pope, and as helay dying in 1559 the mob dislodged a statue of himon Capitoline Hill, crowned its head with one of theyellow hats he had forced the Jews to wear and usedit as a football in the streets.Each ghetto had its own character. Some wereovercrowded and unhealthy, as was Rome’s. Otherswere more spacious and comfortable, as wasVenice’s. Cecil Roth wrote about conditions in theRome ghetto:Nowhere in the entire country – nowhere perhapsin all Europe – did the Jews live under worseconditions. The Ghetto was situated in the fetid,low-lying quarter on the left bank of the Tiber,frequently inundated by the overflowing of theriver and heavily visited at time of plague… 38It was necessary for the Jewish community togreet each new pope. This ceremony took place nearthe Arch of Titus. The Jewish community broughtwith them the Torah, which the pope returned tothem. In the 17 th Century, Pope Urban VIII added anew and hardly credible humiliation to the ceremonywhen he decreed that the Jews might no longer kissthe foot of the pope, but only the spot where it hadstood. 39In 1796, Napoleon Bonaparte commenced hisvictorious Italian campaign and was hailed by theJews as their saviour. After liberating the ghettos,Napoleon proclaimed equality for the Jews and PopePius left Rome as a captive never to return. Napoleon’sdefeat at Waterloo in 1815 was a disaster fordemocratic Italians and Jews; the popes were restoredand the Jews were driven back into the ghetto. 40The Risorgimento, or Reawakening, is thenational liberation movement to which modern Italyowes its being. Under the political leadership ofMazzini and the military leadership of Garibaldi, itsaim was to free Italy from papal and foreigndomination. This process commenced in 1848 andwas completed by 1870, with Rome becoming thecapital of a united Italy. The rabbis supported thecause and preached recruitment sermons from thepulpit; Jews took part in this movement and paid aprice out of all proportion to their numbers. 41Italian Jewry now became one of the bestintegrated Jewish communities in Europe. Roth wrotethat twenty two years had sufficed to bring theemancipation of Jews in Italy to fruition. In 1848,there was no European country (except Spain, fromwhere they were entirely excluded) where therestrictions placed upon them were more galling andmore humiliating, whereas after 1870, there was noland where conditions were better. 42Benito Mussolini oscillated all his life betweenphilo- and antisemitism. 43 When the Fascistmovement was formed in 1919 it initially showed notrace of antisemitism. Jews were in fact among theoriginal founders and were active in every branch ofit. Mussolini came to power in 1922 and in 1929observed that “The Jewish problem does not exist inItaly”. In 1930, he publicly denounced antisemitismas “Unworthy of a European nation…stupid andbarbarous”. 44 In 1933, he called for the establishmentof a Jewish State in Palestine and in 1934 describedhimself as a “Zionist” in a talk with NahumGoldmann. 45 It was only in 1938, with the formationof an alliance with Nazi Germany, that severediscriminatory laws modelled on the NurembergLaws were enacted in Italy. After the introduction ofthese laws, among those dismissed from theirpositions were no fewer than fifty high ranking navalofficials; in the army, the process of elimination wasno less drastic. Colonel Segre paraded his regimentand blew out his brains in their presence, whileGeneral Ascoli did the same, but in private.On 25 July 1943, Mussolini was dismissed fromoffice and on 8 September Italy surrendered to theAllies. However, the Germans reacted, and the greaterpart of the country, from Rome northwards fell undertheir control. Unfortunately for the Jews, over thepast four and a half centuries Jewish life in Italy hadshifted from the south to the north of the country;south of Rome, only a few hundred Jews lived.Prior to this Mussolini, despite enormous pressurefrom Germany, refused to have anything to do withthe Final Solution. 46 It was only now that Himmlerwas able to draw Italy into it. On 24 September 1943,he sent instructions to his SS boss in Rome, HerbertKappler, that all Jews were to be rounded up and sentto Germany. But the German ambassador in Rome,whose Italian mistress was hiding a family of Jews inher home with his approval, gave no help and themilitary commander said he needed the Jews to buildfortifications. Kappler used his order to blackmailthe Jewish community and demanded fifty kilogramsof gold within 36 hours otherwise 200 Jews woulddie. When the two leaders of the Jewish communityasked to be allowed to pay in Lira, Kappler sneered,“I can print as much of that as I want”. The gold wasdelivered within four days. 47Immediately prior to World War II 35 000 Jewswere living in Italy and roughly 80% survived thewar 48 (which, in occupied Europe, is the highestpercentage after Denmark). 49 Nevertheless, ItalianJewry suffered a crushing blow. In the words of CecilRoth, “…Not only had the habit of Jewish life beeninterrupted, but in many places its setting haddisappeared – the lovely old synagogues ruined, theartistic and literary treasures despoiled, the historicarchives dispersed. Such a blow could not fail toleave a lasting impression”. 50Roth further notes that many Jews owed theirlives to Christian neighbours and the active supportof the Christian Church. A great, or perhaps greater40

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009part, of the Italian people was unaffected by theunceasing torrent of propaganda. 51In recent times, considerable progress has beenmade in bettering Jewish-Catholic relations. In thedeclaration Nostra Aetate, at the 1965 Vatican CouncilII, Pope John XXIII officially condemned theaccusation of deicide made against the Jewish people.In 1986, Pope John Paul II became the first pope toattend a synagogue service, taking turns with thechief rabbi to read psalms. Pope John Paul II told thecongregation: “You are our dearly beloved brothers,and in a way you are our elder brothers”. 52Notable Italian Jews have included Luigi Luzzatti,who became Prime Minister in 1910, Camillo Olivetti,founder of Olivetti typewriters, the painter AmadeoModigliani, and Primo Levi, whose account of theHolocaust has received international acclaim.There are close to 70 synagogues in Italy datingfrom the Middle Ages to the 20 th Century. 53 It isestimated that 35000 Jews live in Italy at present, ofwhich 15000 live in Rome and 10 000 in Milan.Ancient Rome, the area around the Roman Forumand Coliseum contains many sites of Jewish interest.The Arch of Titus was erected in 81 CE to celebratethe victory of Titus (and Vespasian) in Judea. Itrecalls the destruction of the Temple and depictsRoman soldiers carrying the seven branched menorah.Apparently, the base of this menorah differs from thedimensions set out in the Torah and hence it is arguedthat it cannot be the original from Solomon’s Temple.Interestingly, Israel chose to use the same base forthe menorah which is its national emblem. Jewsrefused to walk under the Arch of Titus until Israelwas once again free, a condition which was fulfilledin 1948 with Israel’s independence. 54 However, abarrier is present around the Arch of Titus, so whileJewish law now permits walking under the arch,Italian law prohibit it.After Titus conquered Jerusalem, he went intothe Holy of Holies, an act which so offended the Jewsthat Titus was placed forever in their gallery of mostdespised enemies. 55 Jewish tradition has it that Tituswas punished through a mosquito flying into his noseand entering his ear, causing a buzzing sound. To thisday, a medical condition which causes a buzzingsound in one’s ear is named Tinnitus, after Titus. Thefamous Biblical commentator, Onkelos, was anephew of Titus and it is recorded in the Talmud thatwhen he was considering converting to Judaism heraised the spirit of Titus through necromancy. 56Vespasian is also mentioned in the Talmud, whichnarrates that as Vespasian’s advance on Jerusalemgained momentum, Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkaidecided to seek him out in order to try negotiate asettlement with him. He had himself smuggled out ofthe city by his students in a coffin and on meetingVespasian advised him that he was destined to beking. When soon afterwards a messenger arrivedfrom Rome to inform Vespasian that Nero had diedand that Vespasian was the new Caesar, Vespasianinquired off Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai what hewanted. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai answered “Giveme the town of Yavneh and its Sages”. 57 This actionby Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai is viewed by manyas being responsible for the survival of the Jewishpeople.RomeAt the top of Capitoline Hill, one of Rome’sseven hills, stands a bronze equestrian statue ofMarcus Aurelius (161 - 180 CE). Marcus Aurelius isremembered as a philosopher who had a low opinionof the Jews but a high opinion of their patriarch JudahhaNasi, and as having been a particularly ruthlesspersecutor of Christians.The Forum of Peace housed the Tzitz, the goldenplaque which adorned the head of the Kohen Gadol,after it was brought from the Temple. The Tzitz isreferred to in the Talmud Yerushalmi, where thequestion is asked whether the words “kadoshl’Hashem” written on the Tzitz were written on oneor two lines. Rabbi Eliezer ben Yose answered thathe had seen the Tzitz while in Rome and couldconfirm that it was written on one line. 58The Coliseum was built by Vespasian andcompleted in 80 CE. It is recorded that many Jewishslaves worked on its construction. 59For the second half of the First Century CE,evidence exists that there were twelve differentsynagogues in Rome 60 although notcontemporaneously. The ruins of one of thesesynagogues have been found at Ostia Antica, whichis about 30 kilometres south-east of Rome. In ancienttimes, it served as Rome’s port city for many centuriesuntil the course of the Tiber River changed, leavingOstia Antica “high and dry”. 61Ostia Antica was home to a sizeable and wealthyJewish community who built a synagogue in themiddle of the First Century. The ruins of thissynagogue, which was restored in the Fourth Century,were discovered in 1961. 62 The Aron Kodesh, whichfaces Jerusalem, and a seven armed menorah chiselledin the stone, can be seen. Also visible are a prayerroom, a women’s section, a mikveh and a kitchen.The kitchen contains an oven and a marble counter.The area where the Jewish Ghetto in Rome oncewas today contains the Great Synagogue, the JewishMuseum, Jewish schools and a number of kosherrestaurants. The ghetto period in Rome lasted from1555 until Passover night in 1846, when the ghettowas razed to the ground, never to be restored. 63Sweeping changes have occurred in the ghetto. Today,only as few streets give an idea of its originalappearance and only a few corners recall the oldunsanitary conditions. 64 The building containing fivesynagogues at No 37 Piazza delle Cinque Scole wasdemolished in order to build the Great Synagogue. 65The civic rules which prescribed that Jews couldonly have one synagogue had been circumvented bymaintaining the five synagogues under one roof. 66There are currently 13 synagogues in Rome mostof which are Sephardi. 67 The Great Synagogue, amagnificent edifice, was officially opened in 1904.Legend has it that King Emmanuele had been reluctantto attend the opening and only agreed after being41

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009of the city”. 74 The ghetto was situated in the areaaround what is today Piazza della Repubblica and aplaque in this piazza reads “The old centre of the citywas restored to new life after centuries of squalor”.The Florence Synagogue (which is Sephardi) isone of the most beautiful in Europe. Money wasdonated by David Levi to build a synagogue “worthyof Florence”. It was completed in 1882, and is ofMoorish design. Its central dome is sheathed incopper, which has since turned green. The doors ofthe ark still bear the scars inflicted by Fascist bayonets.Unlike in Rome, the Jewish community in Florencedecided to locate the synagogue away from the areawhere the ghetto existed. The synagogue has aninteresting South African connection. In 1944,servicemen Leon Dison and Hymie Bloch wereinstructed to check the building as it was feared thatit had been booby trapped by the Nazis. Bloch livedin Durban and passed away in 2004. As of last yearLeon Dison, aged 87, was living in Johannesburg. 75Michelangelo’s David is housed in the AccademiaGallery. Given that Michelangelo was supposedly sowell versed in Judaism, it is an interesting question asto why David is uncircumcised. The Sistene Secretsclaims that the simplest reason is that Michelangelohad never seen a circumcised organ. The other reasonit puts forward is that the Inquisition was still strongand Michelangelo did not want to be accused ofJudaizing. 76The Church of Santa Croce displays a prominentMagen David on its exterior. The façade was designedby a Jewish architect who, according to the TheSistine Secrets, was told that his name would notappear on the church, so insisted that a large MagenDavid be placed prominently on its front. 77 Jewswere forced to fulfil quotas to listen to sermons in thischurch, with the preacher’s fee having to be paid bythe Jewish community. 78The Jewish community of Florence todaynumbers around 900.VeniceVenice was for a long time intolerant of Jews,who were considered dangerous rivals in trade, butthis was more from commercial jealousy thanreligious zeal. No concrete proof of a Jewish presencein Venice can be traced prior to the 14 th Century,although many Jewish merchants and moneylendersvisited and worked in the city from the 10 th Centuryonwards. In 1298, the rate of interest charged by thelocal Christian usurers had become so severe thatJewish moneylenders were permitted. The prejudicewas so strong, however, that initially Jews had toconduct business from Mestre, the nearest point onthe mainland. In the end, three loan banks werepermitted to open in the city. 79 A condotta, whichregulated this arrangement, was periodically renewedand at times cancelled.Over time, the number and importance of theJews increased. In 1516, agitation for the expulsionof the Jews ultimately led to a decision to segregatethe entire community. The place which was chosenwas where a cannon foundry had been present.Venice was the first city in the world to force Jews tolive in a ghetto and indeed is the city that gave theworld that word. The word ghetto most probablyderives from the Italian word geto, which meansfoundry. 80 The ghetto had high walls and two gatesmanned by four Christian guards, six other guardsmanned two patrol boats to prevent nocturnalviolations, and all ten had to be paid by the Jewishcommunity. Although ostracized, Jews were safe inVenice. In the 17 th Century, its golden age, 5000Jews lived in the ghetto. Jewish scholarship andcommerce flourished, with Jews controlling most ofVenice’s foreign trade. According to a Jewish writerin the 17 th century, the Venetians were “more pleasingand kindly with the Jews than any other in theworld”. 81 Rabbis frequently complained about theluxury and worldliness of ghetto life, and thepreference for Italian over Hebrew. Many of themwould have liked the ghetto walls to be higher. 82 TheVenice ghetto was a relatively large quarter, and isone of the few that have survived in their originalform.The birth of Hebrew publishing in Venice tookplace contemporaneously with the birth of the ghetto.Hebrew publishing was important for its quantityand especially the quality of its output. 83 The gates ofthe ghetto were pulled down after the Napoleonicinvasion in 1797.There are five synagogues in the ghetto, twoAshkenazi (for German, and French Jews), one forItalian rites and two Sephardi (for Spanish and TurkishJews). These all date back to the 16 th Century. Onlytwo are still actively used, the Spanish synagoguebetween Pesach and Rosh Hashanah, as it is cool,and the Turkish synagogue between Rosh Hashanahand Pesach, as it has heating. The Spanish synagoguehas been described as the most immense and imposingof the Venetian synagogues 84 and may be the onlysynagogue in the world that has held servicescontinuously from 1550 to the present day. 85Shabbat meals are available at the Gam Gamrestaurant, which is hosted by Chabad Rabbi SchacharBanin and his wife Ramy. Rabbi Banin was born inItaly of Yemenite extraction and has been living inVenice for seventeen years.The Rialto commercial district was the setting forShakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice, and itdepended on Jewish merchants and moneylenders.Paul Johnson, in his History of the Jews, writes thatit was plausible in having Jessica say that her fatherShylock’s house was full of treasures. SuccessfulJewish moneylenders often accumulated quantitiesof unredeemed pledges, especially jewels. 86The Jewish population of Venice is less than 500,and of these, very few live in the ghetto.NOTES1 Roth, Cecil, The History of the Jews of Italy, The JewishPublication Society of America, 1946, p1562 Encyclopaedia Judaica, 1972, 14:240, hereafter cited as“EJ”43

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009TRUTH-TELLING IN MEDICAL PRACTICE:ETHICAL DILEMMAS FOR JEWISH DOCTORS AND PATIENTS*Maurice SilbertTo tell or not to tell, particularly when it appliesto breaking news to a patient regarding an illnessfeared to be serious or life threatening, has alwaysbeen a controversial issue in medical practice andsociety at large, and raises numerous ethical issues.Moreover, there are distinct differences in theapproach to this topic amongst various religious andcultural groups. This article attempts to define theJewish approach, and hopefully to create betterunderstanding of the subject amongst doctors and allhealth-care providers.Although there has been a universal shift towardsthe right to know, in keeping with the culture of theopen society, there is still a tendency to withhold thewhole truth of the ultimate prognosis of the illness.Reasons for this include “perceived lack of training[of doctors and other health care providers], no timeto attend to the patient’s [on-going] emotional needs,fear of negative impact on the patient, uncertaintyabout prognostications, requests from familymembers to withhold information, and a feeling ofhopelessness regarding further curative treatment”. 1The traditional view amongst doctors is that mostpatients do not want to know of the terminal natureof the illness, and have difficulty in coping with theemotional trauma of such disclosures. Alternatively,it is felt that the whole truth, and the way it is oftendisclosed by doctors, can be insensitive or evenbrutal, as such lacking compassion on the part of thedoctor, and thus being morally indefensible. Theimplication is that withholding some of the truth canbe justified.In a discourse on contemporary medical practiceRabbi Immanuel Jacobovits, former Chief Rabbi ofthe United Kingdom and noted bio-ethicist, stated inthe context of imparting bad news, ‘…we are opposedto divulging the whole truth if there is the slightestsuspicion that by doing so, we may cause a physicalor mental setback to the patient…peace of mindtakes priority over truth, and if necessary, for thesake of the health of the patient, we may play downand suppress the truth…[and] hope is not ultimatelyremoved from the patient… 2 . Within the ethos ofJudaism, it fulfils the Jewish recognition that thesanctity of life is paramount - very fraction of everysecond of life being of infinite value. Psalm 71, states‘…when my strength faileth, forsake me not…but asfor me, I will hope continually…’. 3Dr. Maurice Silbert is a family practitioner in CapeTown.Providing hope is not unique to Judaism. Easternreligions and Christianity profess their own particularapproaches to providing hope. Relief of pain andsuffering, for instance, provide the patient and familywith hope and meaning from which they gain strengthin the face of fear. Moreover, in the medical contextit is realistic to provide hope in view of the vastimprovement in the management and prognoses ofmalignant diseases.Providing hope is, therefore, universally seen tobe a central force between recovery, and belief inrecovery. Withholding the truth in order to providesuch hope is, however, fraught with problems anddilemmas for the doctor since ‘well-intentionedpractices of withholding information may havedetrimental consequences for patients, their familiesand friends, and the health-care team’. 4 There is adistinct possibility that the patient may lose trust inthe doctor when ultimately, and inevitably, s/hebecomes aware of the true nature of the illness and itsultimate prognosis. Consequently s/he may alsodisbelieve what s/he is told thereafter, and this mayseriously infringe on the doctor-patient relationship.It may also be regarded as paternalism on the partof the doctor, who takes it upon him/herself to decidewhat, and how much, the patient ought to know,thereby failing to recognize the autonomy of thepatient. There is a strong emphasis on patientautonomy and the right to know, which constitutesone of the most important ethical reasons for truthfuldisclosure. Patient autonomy is recognize by theSouth African Medical Association as an importantethic in doctor-patient relationship, and hasincorporated it in the Association’s credo and codeof conduct. The right to know enables the patient toshare in decision-making about treatment, and ineffect about his/her own life and destiny. Awarenessof the diagnosis and its prognosis also providesopportunities for the patient to discuss his/heruncertainties and fears, and share feelings such asdepression, anxiety, and isolation - not only with thedoctor but also with family members, friends andother significant individuals who can provide support.Research has also found that being honest withpatients rather than adopting an avoidance approachis a way of fostering hope. 5 From a temporalperspective, patients may want to attend to morepractical matters such as business or domestic affairs,and come to terms with personal relationships withfamily and friends. A large cross-cultural studyendorses the fact that patients can discuss the topicwithout it having a negative impact on them. 645

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009How then can the Jewish doctor resolve thedilemma between our moral obligations to showcompassion, in accordance with the aforementionedRabbinical injunctions, while at the same timefulfilling ethical commitment to disclosing the truth?Awareness by the doctor of the coping or defensemechanisms of the patient, and the psychologicalstages which patients diagnosed with serious or lifethreateningillness experience, provide a model orbasis for an approach by the doctor. In her widelyacclaimed, groundbreaking book On Death andDying, Elizabeth Kubler-Ross 7 describes the stagesof denial, anger, depression, and ultimate acceptance.Denial is the strongest human defense, and duringthis stage there is disbelief of the seriousness ofillness. By way of example, patients may want toblock out the fact that they have cancer and often itwould be appropriate for the doctor initially to useterminology such as ‘growth’ or ‘tumor’. Byinforming the patient of the diagnosis the doctor isfulfilling his/her commitment to telling the truth. Byinitially withholding information about possibleserious implications or prognosis of the illness, thedoctor allows the patient time to gather him/herself:by so doing, he/she respects the patient’s defenses ofdenial and shows compassion towards the patient.In the course of time, the patient’s defenses ofdenial gradually diminish and there is acceptance ofthe true nature of the illness. The general principle ofthe doctor’s approach, therefore, is that it is usuallypossible to temporise, and impart the news in stagesin keeping with the patient’s defenses, withholdingsome of the truth when necessary, and allowing thepatient time to set his/her own pace and mobilize lessradical defenses as s/he becomes adjusted to theseriousness of the illness. The social worker MargaretAbeles states that Rabbinic law says, “…one shouldnot divulge the truth”. She adds, however, “…thereare also sources that teach us that if the patient is sodisturbed by knowing it is permissible to tell him/her, as the knowledge will be a source of relief.Therefore, it seems that Jewish law says that we mustbe guided by our patients”. 8 Rabbi Jacobovits putsthe Jewish approach succinctly: “…the patient shouldbe allowed to buy time, gather himself and mobilizehis resources…” This demonstrates compassion andis in keeping with Jewish humanistic philosophy.The principles embodied in the above not onlyfacilitate doctors’ communication with their patients,but also help to resolve many of the moral, ethical,and religious dilemmas facing them.End of Life Decision-MakingDoctors’ undergraduate training emphasizes theimportance of making diagnoses and curing illness,be it heart attack, pneumonia, or for that matter anyillness, ailment, or injury. When cure is no longerpossible, such as in chronic refractory or terminalillness, and ultimately in the dying process, relief ofpain and suffering become preeminent. The adagecoined by John Fry, a veritable doyen of familypractice, to “cure sometimes, relieve often, andcomfort always”, becomes singularly appropriate.Caring for our patients’ medical problems and caringabout them as human beings, a paradigm for alldoctors in all disciplines of medicine, becomes thedefined role and elevates the role of curing to that ofhealing.In the case of Jewish patients, there is the addedresponsibility for the doctor to have insight andsensitive to religious practices and Halachicimperatives, particularly so in terminal illness, andwhere life and death decisions present difficultdilemmas. Two cases are here presented whichillustrate the role the doctor can play in resolvingsuch problems.Case no.1Mike, aged 76, suffered severe head injuries forwhich he was hospitalized and subjected to brainsurgery. Following the surgery, he remained deeplyunconscious and had to be supported by artificialventilation. The family who gathered around him ona daily basis suffered unendurable stress at observingtheir beloved Mike in so heart-rending a situation. Inthe company of their Rabbi, who was a close familyfriend, they would sit praying at Mike’s bedside.After two days, it was quite apparent that Mike’scomatose state was irreversible and he would notsurvive. The family’s agony had now reachedbreaking point and they were consulted aboutterminating life-support. This provoked a seriousdilemma in view of the Halachic constraintsexpressed by their friend, the Rabbi.The doctor consulted with the Rabbi, who withsublime generosity, insight and humanity, agreed todistance and recuse himself from any decisionmaking,while the same time reassuring the doctorthat he would accord Mike a traditional Orthodoxburial whatever decision would be taken by thedoctor and family. The doctor visited the family andcomforted them by relating the Rabbi’s sentiments,and advised them that the recommendation ofterminating life support rested on the doctor’sshoulders, and that the Rabbi could not be expectedto participate in such decision-making. The familyagreed to the medical advice and the painful decisionto turn off the ventilation was made. Within sixminutes of doing so their beloved Mike’s lifeterminated. The family left Mike’s bedside andreturned home in the comfort of their togetherness.Termination of life and euthanasia are anathemato Judaism. The debate on termination of life in theterminally ill has prevailed over centuries and as farback as the Talmud which states that to hasten thedeath of a dying person is prohibited. More recentRabbinic literature of the treatment of the terminallyillis that of Rabbi Feinstein, 9 a noted bioethicist, whostated that for a patient with pain and suffering whocannot be cured and cannot live much longer, it is notobligatory for physicians to administer medicationto prolong life and suffering, and nature may beallowed to its course. Therefore, although it isprohibited to administer medication to hasten death,46

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009it is not obligatory for doctors to administermedication to prolong life and suffering. In the caseof Mike, the artificial ventilation with oxygen canjustifiably be construed as administering medicationto prolong life of a patient who cannot be cured andcannot live much longer. Withdrawal of life supportwould therefore be justified, not only on humanitariangrounds but also within the context of RabbiFeinstein’s injunction.Case no. 2Sarah and her husband, Sam, had immigrated toSouth Africa from Germany in the mid-1930s. Aftersome years, Sarah contracted a malignant illness towhich she ultimately succumbed. She had stipulatedin her will that she wished to be cremated – ananathema to Orthodox Judaism. Her family, whopracticed Orthodox Judaism, expressed extremediscomfort about her request and insisted on atraditional burial. This was reinforced by the fact thatSarah’s father had been an Orthodox Rabbi. However,the request of an individual stipulated in a will isregarded as sacrosanct and should be respected.The doctor counseled the family at great length,ultimately drawing their attention to the fact thatmany of Sarah’s acquaintances and family membershad perished in the crematoria of the Nazi deathcamps, and that she was manifesting what was referredto as ‘survivor guilt’, and desired the same fate. Thefamily gained insight into this dynamic and agreed tothe cremation that was then to be conducted by analternative congregation.The term ‘survivor guilt’ has been documentedby Holocaust commentators, such as Andy Doullardin 2005 in a lecture course on ‘interdisciplinaryPerspectives in the Holocaust’. The dynamic whichoperates in such cases was verbalized in thesewords… “why am I still alive when others haveperished…?” Survivor guilt is also connected to anunconscious feeling of powerlessness in the face ofatrocities perpetrated against loved ones.For a Superior Service in:• Sectional Title Management• Rent Collection• Property ManagementWe care for your propertyClosed on Shabbat and Yom TovSIDNEY NEIMANNP.O. Box 46362, Orange Grove, Johannesburg, 2119Tel: (011) 485-5444 • Fax: (011) 485-5300Cell: 082-457-9764E-mail: sidney@linsid.co.zaNOTES1 Hancock, K et al, Palliative Medicine 2007, Vol. 21,pp507-5172 Jacobovits I. ‘Ethical and moral issues in contemporarymedical practice’. Proceedings of an in-house conference.Faculty of Medicine, University of Cape Town, 7-8 August,1985. Edited by Professor S R Benatar, p42.3 Ibid.4 Fallowfield, I J et al: Truth may hurt but deceit hurts more.Communication in palliative care. Palliative Medicine, 2002:16 (4): pp297 – 3035 Weinreich, et al. ‘Communication with dying patients withinthe spectrum of medical care from terminal diagnosis todeath’. Arch. Intern. Med. 2001: 161 (6): pp868 - 746 Hancock, K et al, Palliative Medicine 2007, Vol. 21,pp507-5177 MacMillan (N.Y.) 1969.8 M. Abeles. ‘Features of Judaism for careers when lookingafter Jewish patients’, Palliative Medicine, 1991, Vol. 5,pp. 201-2059 Feinstein, M, Responsa: Iggrot Moshe. Hebrew MishpatPart II. No. 73: 1, in Rosner Fred. ‘Rabbi Moshe Feinstein onthe Treatment of the Terminally ill’, Judaism. Vol. 37. No.21955. p191AFRICA'S ONLYJEWISH CULTURALJOURNALMAKES AWONDERFUL GIFTFOR ALL OCCASIONS.WHY NOT TAKE OUT AGIFTSUBSCRIPTION?47

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY*Charlotte CohenThe conversation was intelligent and stimulating.Spoken quite casually, and despite the fact that I hadnever heard it used in a sentence before, one wordseemed to fit perfectly. The word was‘anthropomorphic.’Upon asking what it meant, the explanation I wasgiven was that, in that context, it was: “when God isdescribed as a human being”. The dictionaryconfirmed the explanation: “attributing human formor personality to God”.I wondered whether I would ever have occasionto use such a word. The opportunity arose at aconference, when I used it to introduce two favoritestories to illustrate the topic of the day.The first story concerns an old man who pleads inhis prayers every day: “Please God, let me win thelottery! Please God! Please! Let me win the lottery!”This continues day in and day out for ages andeventually one of the angels goes to God and says:“Why don’t let him win the lottery? After all, he’sbeen praying like this for years, and he’s already 87years old; and really, how much longer has he got togo?”“Look,” says God, “I’d like him to win it. In fact,I want him to win it. But he never buys a ticket!”The second story finds us at the scene of a flood- a man is standing chest deep in water.Someone floats by on a log. “Take my hand” hesays to the man, “I’ll pull you onto the log.”“No, says the man, “I have faith. God will saveme.”When the water is up to his shoulders, a smallboat sails past.“We’re throwing you a life-belt!” shouts someonefrom the boat, “Swim towards it and we’ll pull youup on to the boat!”“No” says the man, “I have faith in God. He willsave me.”With the water already up to his chin, a helicopterflies by: “We’re lowering a rope-ladder! Grab it andwe’ll haul you up!”“No!” gurgles the man, “I have faith! God willsave me!”Eventually the water rises over his head and hedrowns.“I don’t understand” he complains bitterly toGod, “I led an exemplary life. I obeyed all Yourcommandments. Why didn’t You save me? Why didCharlotte Cohen is a frequent contributor of essays,poems and short stories to a wide range of SouthAfrican publications, both Jewish and general.You let me drown?“What’s the matter with you?” says God, “I sentyou a log and a boat and a helicopter!”What these stories illustrate is that, besides thefact that we often don’t make the opportunity; wedon’t even take it when it presents itself. Furthermore,many of us fail to even see the opportunity. However,what is worse, even when actually presented with theopportunity, we do not trouble to make use of it.A large sign in that conference room read: “Weare all faced with great opportunities – often disguisedas impossible situations or hard work.”They say some people make things happen, somepeople watch things happen and some people wonderwhat on earth happened. Success stories repeatthemselves constantly: Luck is where preparationand opportunity meet.An opportunity suggests something better in thefuture, but needing some sort of immediate change.To make an opportunity requires vision and ingenuity;to take one, needs courage and hard work. Sometimes,even while recognising the opportunity, we are toofrightened to take advantage of it – scared of failingor making fools of ourselves..Many of us are inclined to think of opportunity asa rare occurrence, a chance in a million, a ‘once in alifetime’. We miss the fact that every single day is, initself, a miniature lifetime in which we are presentedwith countless opportunities – to make a friend, finda new interest, gain a new perspective, experiencesomething which will enhance our life or discoversomething which will add dimension to it. Or to righta wrongIn an ‘anthropomorphic’ sense, opportunities arelike receiving personalised gifts from God. Howwould you feel if you gave someone a really valuablegift and it was never used (our talents also appear onthat list of gifts)? How would you feel if your giftwere never even acknowledged? Or the wrappingnot even removed to see what was inside? A diamondring does not always come in an elegant little box. Itcan also be wrapped in old newspaper.We know for certain that the Jewish religiouscalendar gives us, with faithful regularity, a veryspecial opportunity every single year. Every JewishNew Year allows us another opportunity to re-connectwith our past, re-affirm and re-evaluate our presentand re-assess our future. It provides us with theopportunity to reposition ourselves and to renew ourvalues It gives us an opportunity for introspectionbetween the New Year and the Day of Atonement -to think things through, to hold out a hand ofreconciliation and to put right mistakes of the past.It gives us the golden opportunity to apologise for48

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009things we may have done (inadvertently or not)which may have hurt someone; to show contritionfor being over-critical or judgmental; and to makepeace with ourselves, our fellow-man and with God.The only thing we do not know is whether thisopportunity will be the last we will have.There is a philosophy that truth is only perception.If, for example, I stand in front of a sculpture of ahead and you stand behind it, I will see a nose, eyesand mouth, while you will see the only the back of thehead. Were each of us to describe exactly what wehad seen, it would be hard to believe that we had beenlooking at the same object!Given different backgrounds, influences andexperiences, we reach conciliation when we try tosee things from another standpoint – instead ofinsisting that our view is absolute.Used by many spiritual and motivational groupsas part of their credo, are the words: “God, grant methe serenity to accept the things I cannot change; thecourage to change the things I can and the wisdom toknow the difference.”It takes more than a little courage to admit onewas wrong, to apologise, or simply even to make thefirst move. One risks a rebuff. Some people who holdon to old resentments feel empowered by continuingto ‘punish’ those who, wittingly or not, caused themany pain or embarrassment.In fact, putting the boot on the other foot, it maybe you who has held fast to an old resentmentresisting any overtures.From a prayer-book comes the line: “Don’t askGod for forgiveness until you yourself have forgivenyour neighbor.”And then there is a third foot (as there is no bootfor it, but given that there are three feet in a yard, letus use that as a yardstick.): If you have already madean approach, if you have tried to reconcile, and theresponse has been unrelenting, remember “to acceptthat which you cannot change” with equanimity. Atleast, you had the guts to try!But if you have not tried, now is the goldenopportunity to do so. Now is the time to break the ice;to express what you are feeling; to hold out aconciliatory hand …..The results might exceed your expectations!If God is “sitting in judgment” deciding whetheryou should be “inscribed in the Book of Life”, youwill surely be given a gold star for having made useof this precious opportunity! If you do not wish tolook at it as anthropomorphic, give yourself the star!Whatever the outcome, your endeavor deserves it.This is the time when the words Carpe Diem(seize the day!) become even more meaningful.This is the time to translate them into the magicwords: “Go ahead, make that call!”Thank you to alladvertisers whoidentified themselveswith thisRosh Hashanah Issue49

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009WHO GOES TO HEAVEN?*Barry SidelskyDavid had just arrived home and parked his caroutside their apartment building along the MarineDrive in Summerstrand, Port Elizabeth. He was in agood mood. The last two lessons he had taught thatday were in the class of the girls preparing for theirBat Mitzvah, and this was his favorite class at theTheodor Herzl School.“Hi David. Did you have a good day?” Yael wasjust putting glasses of orange juice and biscuits onthe small table in the kitchen and beckoned to herhusband to join her. He sat and looked through thewindow towards the beach. The wind was blowingalmost at gale force - typical of the “Windy City”.“Yes, Baruch Hashem. It was a great day. Mypupils paid attention during the lessons andparticipated in all the work and activities withenthusiasm. What about you? What can you tellme?”“Do you recall I told you that I have a new littleboy in my nursery school class - Alan Fink, the sonof Mark and Dawn? She converted about a year ago- just before we came to live in Port Elizabeth. Today,when Dawn came to fetch Bruce after school, sheasked me a very strange question: ‘Is it true thatJewish wives don’t go to heaven?’”David was astounded: “What did you answer?”Somewhat amused, Yael replied, “I told her tospeak to you. After all, you’re the Rabbi and I amonly the Rebbetzin”.Suddenly, David recalled the story DomesticIdyll by Yitzchak Leib Peretz. It was all about Hayimthe porter and his loving wife Hannah. At the Shabbatmeal, we are told that they look so lovingly and withsuch devotion into one another’s eyes that one wouldthink that they had just stepped from under thechuppah. After his Shabbat nap, Hayim goes to theBet Midrash to listen to the melamed’s shiur to thesimple people. After one of these shiurim, in aquavering voice, he asks the melamed: “Rebbe,could you be so kind as to advise me what I shoulddo in order to be worthy of the World to Come?”“Devote yourself to the study of Torah, my son,”the other counseled him.Barry Sidelsky is a former Rabbi of both the EastLondon Hebrew Congregation and the SummerstrandHebrew Congregation in Port Elizabeth and Hebrewand Jewish Studies teacher at the Theodor HerzlSchool. He holds a BA (Hons) from the University ofSouth Africa and an MA from the University of PortElizabeth“But I don’t know how”.“Then study the commentaries, the Aggadot, or,at least, Pirkei Avot”.“I don’t know even how to do that”.“Recite the Psalms, in that case”.“I can’t spend the time to do so”.“Pray with fervor and ardor then”.“But I don’t understand the words of the prayers!”The melamed regards him with loving kindnessand asks: “What is your trade? What do you do for aliving?”“I’m a porter”.“In that case, you can be of service to Talmudicscholars”.“How?”“Well, for one thing you could carry a few pailsof water to the Shul every afternoon for the scholarsto drink”.Hayim beams with joy, but then asks, “But whatabout my wife, Rebbe?”“If the husband finds a seat in Gan Eden, his wifebecomes his footstool”.When Hayim came home to chant Havdalah, andfound his wife reciting the prayer ‘God of Abraham’,he was stirred to the depths.“Hannah, I won’t stand for you being myfootstool!” he exclaimed as he embraced her, “I shallraise you up and take you alongside of me. We willsit together, like equals, as we do now. It is so goodto have you near me - do you hear, Hannah? Youmust sit right alongside of me. The Lord of theUniverse will simply have to sanction it”.David, still in his reverie, now saw hisgrandfather’s shul, the Shul of Grodno, and imaginedthat it was there that Hayim had gone to the shiur ofthe melamed on that Shabbat afternoon - that beautifulold shul made of wooden beams and its triple-tieredroof with its octagonal copula of wooden slats,whose vaulting inside was supported by the fourpillars surrounding the bimah, with its ornate latticeworkabove. He imagined the aron kodesh, also sogrand and ornate with three beautiful decorativeframes on each side of it, the magnificent rendition ofthe Ten Commandments above it, with its twodecorative frames on either side, above that, theillustration of the two hands of the Cohen, blessingthe congregation and with the whole surmounted bytwo sculptured lions. On the one side of the shulbelow the ezrat nashim - the women’s gallery - wasa little corner with a table and chairs. There, surely,the simple folk had sat to listen to the shiur of themelamed.50

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009When she was at school, Dawn had attended theHoly Rosary Convent. One day during the catechismclass, she said to the Mother Superior: “May I askyou a question?”“Certainly, my daughter”, the Mother Superiorreplied, looking at her with a sweet smile.Dawn opened her Bible and read fromDeuteronomy, Chapter 13:If there should rise among you a prophet or adreamer of dreams, and give thee a sign or awonder. And the sign or wonder come to pass, ofwhich he spoke unto thee saying. Let us go afterother gods, which thou hast not known, and letus serve them: Thou shalt not hearken to thewords of that prophet, or that dreamer of dreams;for the Lord your God puts you to the proof, toknow whether you love the Lord your God withall your heart and with all your soul. You shallwalk after the Lord your God, and fear him andobey his commandments, and obey his voice,and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.“Mother”, Dawn proclaimed loudly andconfidently, “I don’t understand - if these are thewords of God, our Father in heaven, how could ourso-called ‘Messiah’ come and revoke most of thecommandments of the Old Testament? According tothe words of God in Deuteronomy, he must havebeen a false prophet”.“You apostate, you heathen! Get out!”Dawn did get out. She never returned to theconvent and never stepped into a church again. Fromthat day onwards, she was engrossed in studying the‘Old Testament’, and a few weeks later she beganattending services at the Glendinningvale Synagogue.That was the beginning of her learning Judaism, andshe was soon befriended by other congregants. Shefound the sermons of the Rabbi inspiring and she alsowent to shiurim on Tanach. After two years ofapplying herself assiduously to Torah study shefinally, with the Rabbi’s recommendation, appearedbefore the Beth Din in Johannesburg. It was a longprocess, but after going to the Beth Din twice more,she finally went through the process of Giur -conversion to Judaism.Shortly after that, Dawn and Mark started dating.He was a regular attendee at shul, and she had seenhim in there and at shiurim. Dawn soon found outthat Mark was a loving and caring man, and when hefinally proposed to her, she felt that her new emunah(faith) in Hashem and her fulfillment of the Mitzvothad brought her the biggest brachah that any Jewishwoman could wish for…. and that was the way shealways felt, from the time of their Chuppah and whenAlan, their son, was born.What had triggered off Dawn’s question to theRebbetzin? That morning, after dropping Alan off atthe Theodor Herzl Nursery School, she had gone tothe Walmer library, where she worked as a librarian.In the middle of the morning, she suddenly saw a nunstanding at the reception desk. It was Sister Margaret,who had been her class teacher in the 11 th Grade. Sherecognized her immediately in her black habit andblack and white veil. Sister Margaret, after Dawnhad greeted her and written down the books she wastaking in the library register, suddenly showed a signof recognition.“My goodness Dawn, we haven’t seen you inchurch for a long time!”“That’s true, sister. I haven’t been to church fora very long time - not since I converted to Judaism”.“Oh, my dear! Don’t you know that Jewish wivesdon’t have a place in heaven?”Dawn suddenly felt dizzy and sat down,traumatized. Later, when she had calmed down andgotten over her shock somewhat, she asked two ofher colleagues if they, too, had heard that Jewishwives had no place in heaven.Winifred, the senior librarian, immediatelyresponded: “Of course sweetie. That’s why Jewishhusbands treat their wives so well - I guess they feelsorry for them”. Adding further to Dawn’s upset wasthat other Christian colleagues and friends confirmedwhat Sister Margaret and Winifred had said.It was 1.00 p.m. As Dawn entered Alan’sclassroom at the nursery school, Alan came runningto meet her and gave her a big hug. She thenapproached Yael, who said, “You have such awonderful little boy. Alan has been helping me totidy up”.“I have a question to ask you”, said Dawn, withobvious anxiety on her face.“Go ahead. How can I help you?”“Yael, is it true that Jewish wives don’t go toheaven?”Yael was taken aback.“How can you ask such a thing? Of course it’s nottrue! Who told you so?”“Do you think you could explain this to me -perhaps give me the source…?”Yael smiled warmly.“You know what? Speak to my husband, RabbiDavid, and ask him to explain this to you. After all,he is the Rabbi and I am just the Rebbetzin”.That night, Dawn called Rabbi David, who invitedher to come over the following afternoon. Yaelopened the front door and welcomed her. ThenRabbi David entered the room, holding a Tanach anda Chumash with commentaries.“Come and sit at the dining room table and thenI can show you the sources relating to your question”.Before he could begin his explanations, Yael hadalready come with a tray with coffee and cake.“I hope you don’t mind, but I am also curious tofind out the answer to your question” she said.“Well ladies, you will be delighted to know thatin relation to Dawn’s question, the Rabbis of the firstMishnah of Chapter 10 of Tractate Sanhedrin saidthe following: ‘All Israel have a share in the world tocome, as it is said: (Isaiah 60:21) Your people shallall be righteous; they shall possess the land forever;[in other words, in this world and the next] they area plant of my own, the work of my hands, wherein Imay glory’. The words ‘All of Israel’ obviouslyrefers both to men and women”.51

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009“But Rabbi, is there a Biblical source whichindicates that women have a part in the world to comeand therefore go to heaven?” (Dawn was thinking toherself, “I must show my Christian friends a prooffrom the ‘Old Testament’ that their assumptions andpresumptions about Jewish women are unfoundedand wrong”.)“There certainly is - not just one source, but eventwo. It is striking that both sources also form part ofthe Haftarahs on the two days of Rosh Hashanah. Inthe first Book of Samuel, Chapters One and Two, weread that when Chanah came to the sanctuary of theLord in Shiloh, bringing her little son Samuel, sheaddressed Eli the priest and said, ‘I prayed for thisboy, and the Lord has granted me what I asked’. Thenshe prayed to the Lord, saying, ‘The Lord causesdeath and bestows life, He lowers to the grave andbrings up’. Thus we learn from Chanah that Hashemresurrects the dead, and of course that includes all ofIsrael, both men and women”.“In the Haftarah of the second day of RoshHashanah, we read from Jeremiah, Chapter 31, ‘Thussaid the Lord: A voice is heard in Ramah - lamentation,bitter weeping; it is Rachel weeping for her children;she refuses to be comforted for they are away. Thussays the Lord: Restrain your voice from weeping,your eyes from tears; your work shall have its reward,says the Lord; they shall return from the land of theenemy. There is hope for your future, says the Lord;the children shall return to their own land’. Whatbetter proof is there that Jewish women have a placein Heaven? Here the Tanach records that many,many years after Rachel died and was buried in Efrat,her spirit revived and she wept for the Jewish peoplewho were going into exile in Babylon”.“Oh Rabbi, how grateful I am!” exclaimed Dawn,“I am so proud to have become one of Am Yisrael,and today you have strengthened my faith. I feel nowwhat Ruth spoke to Naomi: ‘Your people are mypeople and your God is my God’”.MR. THOMAS SAID*John YarbroughMr. Thomas said it was ok if I sat in the corner ofhis neighborhood grocery and read comic books aslong as I was careful not to bend the pages so theylooked used. Miss Wison who worked the cashregister said an eight-year-old boy shouldn’t be outrunning the streets unsupervised all summer even ifhe did have a dog which I did name Pokey who satoutside the store until I came out no matter how longthat was. Mr. Thomas said he would rather have a kidreading comics and not bothering anyone than onewho came in running and breaking things and lookingto steal candy bars. Miss Wilson said none of the kidshad to steal anything on account of Mr. Thomasletting us sell him coupons from the newspaper atone-half their value. Mr. Thomas said he only boughtcoupons for items he carried in stock so what was theharm. Freda Walker who had finished paying for ahalf gallon of milk and some potatoes said she wouldcome back and sit with me but first she had to take theJohn Yarbrough is an award-winning poet andshort story writer and a frequent contributor toJewish Affairs.groceries home because the milk needed to be put inthe ice box. Miss Wilson said its funny how kids callrefrigerators ice boxes when they never even saw anice box. Mr. Thomas said it’s just language kids pickup from their parents and grand-parents and that onetime Freda’s dad asked where were the goobers andit took a minute to remember that is what old peopleused to call peanuts. Freda came back and said mydog was still sitting outside the store which I alreadyknew. She said when I was alone looking at Lulu shewould like to see it and she sat down and folded herknees under her dress and started reading Nancy.Mr. Thomas said we could have a soda pop if wepromised to both bring in a coupon worth at least tencents because pops cost five cents each. Freda saidwe would and she drank a Mission Orange. I had aNehi Grape. Miss Wilson said don’t spill your drinkson the comic books and if your hands get sticky thereading is over for the day. Freda said we had readlong enough anyway, and I should walk her homebecause that’s what a gentleman would do. Mr.Thomas said come back and don’t forget about thosecoupons.52

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009TWO NEW COLLECTIONS OFOLD ARCADIAN MEMORIES*David SaksThe South African Jewish Orphanage, betterknown as Arcadia after the premises it occupied inParktown for most of its existence, has been a vitalpart of the Jewish communal fabric for over a century.By the time it celebrated its centenary in 2006, theinstitution could claim to have taken care of over3000 children in residence and assisted an evengreater number who were never in residence. It isestimated that at least one Jewish South African outof twenty would have a direct connection withArcadia, whether this be that they, their parents orgrandparents had lived there or received help from it.It is also estimated that at one time, 50% of SouthAfrican Jewish families would have been financialmembers of Arcadia.In 2006, some of the stories of ex-Arcadians weretold in 100 Years of Arc Memories: Arcadia – SouthAfrican Jewish Orphanage 1906-2006. A heftyvolume of essays, reminiscences and photographs, itwas compiled by ex-Arcadian David Sandler (aresident at the home from the age of four untilseventeen). Its publication resulted in such a flood ofreminiscences from other ex-Arcadians that a meretwo years later, Sandler has been able to bring out anequally comprehensive sequel, entitled More ArcMemories: South African Jewish Orphanage 1899-1908.Sandler, who has been living in Perth for the past25 years, is currently working on yet a third volume.This one will focus on the so-called “OchbergOrphans”, who were brought to South Africa fromthe war-torn Ukraine in the early 1920s and of whommore than half ended up in Arcadia. More ArcMemories includes a significant section on this subject(which has previously been featured in the Pesach2007 and Pesach 2009 issues of Jewish Affairs and isdealt with at some further length in Veronica Belling’sarticle in this current issue).The two books amount to a great deal more thanthe history of a single communal institution, andindeed can be seen as “people’s history” in the bestDavid Saks is Associate Director of the SA JewishBoard of Deputies and Editor of Jewish Affairs.sense of the term. Collectively amounting to wellover a thousand pages, the books include the storiesof some 250 individuals. Their enduring value lies intheir being compelling repositories of oral history,comprising as they do the memories of a wide arrayof members of the Jewish community at a formativestage of its development. Some of the contributorswent on to considerable fame and fortune whileothers led relatively quieter lives, but their respectivestories are accorded equal status.Within SA Jewish historiography, there has beena move away from writing what might be termed“Macher History”, that is history focusing exclusivelyon individuals who achieved a certain level ofprominence during their lives, towards ahistoriography of inclusivity. The two Arc Memoriesvolumes may not be telling the story of SA Jewry perse, but those reading the multiple individualtestimonies they contain will gain a very real andimmediate sense of what growing up as a JewishSouth African (albeit those of a particular socialbackground) was like at various times over the lasthundred years.A second area in which the books make a valuablecontribution is that of the growing field of Jewishgenealogical research. They are naturally repletewith names of family members, whether of spouses,descendants, cousins or relatives by marriage, andalso provide information on where such people nowlive (a very relevant feature of the South AfricanJewish story, given how dispersed around the globeits members are today).The books have been printed and paid for by Ex-Arcadians and are on sale in Canada, the US, UK,New Zealand and Israel, where many Old Arcs andtheir descendants now live. The full proceeds of thesales will go to Arcadia. Information on the booksand how to purchase them can be accessed atwww.arcadia.ca.com.au.100 Years of Arc Memories: Arcadia – South AfricanJewish Orphanage 1906-2006 (2006, 524pp) and MoreArc Memories: South African Jewish Orphanage 1899-1908 (2009, 588pp with index for both volumes), compiledand edited by David Solly Sandler.53

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009RISING TIDE : HOW FREEDOM WITHRESPONSIBILITY UPLIFTS EVERYONE*David SaksOver the past two decades Jack Bloom, a seniormember of the DA caucus in the Gauteng Legislature,has acquired for himself a well-founded reputationas an astute, incisive thinker, one whose views aretaken as seriously by his political opponents as theyare within his party. The high profile he enjoys in themedia is unusual for a regional-level politician,particularly for one in opposition, and is testimony tothe effort he makes to bring the matters he deals withto the public’s attention. His latest book, Rising Tide– How freedom with responsibility uplifts everyone,is the record of a working politician who cares aboutissues, and who wants others to care as well. As such,it is an antidote to the political apathy that characterisesall too much of South African society, particularlywithin the white minority.Rising Tide consists of 46 essays, comprising ayear’s worth of Bloom’s thoughts on a wide range ofrelevant contemporary issues. These range fromcritiques of South African democracy to bread andbutter matters such as public transport, health careand job creation. They were originally sent out as aweekly e-mail column to senior media people andkey opinion-formers, and a number weresubsequently published in the mainstream press(mainly in The Citizen, for which Bloom now writesa regular column). Several sparked off lively publicdebate over the airwaves, as well as generatingextensive email correspondence.The book contains a thoughtful foreword byProfessor Seepe, President of the SA Institute ofRace Relations, who commends Bloom for his energyand initiative in stimulating much needed publicdebate. For his part Radio 702’s John Robbie, quotedon the back cover, describes Bloom as “a perfectexample of what politicians should be”.What makes the essays easy to read, even whenthe subject matter might not be to a particularindividual’s taste, is Bloom’s lucid style of writing,combined with the skilful manner in which eachessay is structured. The author begins by introducinga problem or question and then proceeds to answer it,marshalling a series of facts and logical argumentand elegantly rounding the whole off at the end. Abrief item of interest – usually the author’s sardoniccomments on some of the more bizarre statements bypublic figures – is appended to each essay. It certainlyhelps that Bloom, while arguing strongly againstthose trends and ideas he opposes, never resorts topersonal attacks or crude invective.The book’s subtitle can be seen as Bloom’s credoas a convinced liberal who nevertheless believes thattrue liberalism does not mean evading responsibility.As he writes in the introduction, “I believe inindividual freedom, but I have come to appreciatethat it can only endure when there is a degree of selfcontrol, which is the capacity to defer instinctualgratification”. This theme – freedom withresponsibility – recurs throughout the collection.Rising Tide – How freedom with responsibility upliftseveryone by Jack Bloom, Johannesburg, 2009,138pp. Copiescan be obtained from the author at JBloom@jpl.gov.za.OUTWITTING HISTORY*Robert SchwarzFrom time to time, the media have been warningthe public of the peril of losing a number of animalspecies which had not even been on the endangeredlist for any length of time. It seems that modernhomosapiens begins to worry about the extinction oforganic life when it is, as it were, five minutes tomidnight.What is true for approaching the inevitable andRobert Schwarz, a regular contributor to JewishAffairs, is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy andEuropean History at Florida Atlantic University.irrevocable moment when the last polar bear, the lasttiger, the last feral African wild dog, is gone foreveris also true of such treasurers as languages, culturepatterns, and even whole tribes. We wake up when itis too late.I am referring in particular to the real threat thatYiddish, as a spoken or printed tongue, is in dangerof being a victim of the proverb “Use it or lose it”,unless people who care find a way of preventing itsdemise.What Outwitting History is all about is a splendidlywritten account of a team of dedicated Jewish young54

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009men and women whose objective in life is to rescueas many Yiddish books as possible from death byneglect. They find their purpose in life by the nobleproject of collecting volumes of Yiddish works byliterally going from house to house and apartment toapartment in Jewish neighbourhoods. There theyrequest permission to load their rented truck withtomes by famous authors, regardless of the conditionof their booty. Often, these books had been rotting inattics or basements for years, uncared for and mouldy,ready for the dumpster.Occasionally, these young people would comeupon real prizes: books by Sholem Aleichem, SholemAsch, I.L. Peretz, and other celebrated Jewish writers.Such ‘finds’ made the arduous work doublyworthwhile.According to Viktor Frankel and otherphilosophers, having a worthwhile goal in life is oneof the most important ingredients of living a moralexistence. Such existentialists as Karl Jaspers, Jean-Paul Sartre and Paul Tillich emphasize that the‘commitment’ or ‘project’ is paramount in choosingthe summum bonum. In fact, the atheist wing ofexistentialism considers the choice of a project theonly salvation open to man in an indifferent world.Thoughts of this kind come to mind as one reads thepages of this wonderful book.Nor does the reader have to be Jewish to appreciatethis inspiring tale. Just as it is not necessary to beJewish to like “gefilte fish” or to be Italian to care forpasta, so it is of no importance to be of the Jewishpersuasion to find value and great humour inOutwitting History. Yes, humour: for many of thevisits this team of cultural heroes paid to Jewishhomes are not only moving but also highly amusingbecause of the receptions they frequently experienced.The dialogue between the collectors and the donorsof the books, more often than not held in Yiddish, isalmost always funny. In such cases, it must beadmitted, some knowledge of the Yiddish language,with its hilarious jargon, is of course advantageous.The claims made in favour of the book on thepages preceding the Foreword are justifiablyimpressive. The reader will find them neitherextravagant nor prodigal - on the contrary. Theadventure the team undertook is both praiseworthyand heart-warming. Readers with a sentimentalfeeling for the Yiddish language will not only applaudthe cause behind the venture but also the pricelessstyle of the author. This reviewer favours publicrecognition of the young people who gave theirenergy and time to the effort of salvaging a culturaltreasure. No wonder the Israeli leadership, which atfirst sought to discourage Yiddish as allegedlycompeting with Hebrew, has begun to have secondthoughts.Aaron Lansky, Outwitting History, Algonquin Books ofChapel Hill, 2005, 245pp.ON THE CONTRARY - LEADING THE OPPOSITION IN ADEMOCRATIC SOUTH AFRICA*Ralph ZulmanAt a launch of this book in Johannesburg, theauthor Tony Leon said that, if nothing else, it wouldprove useful for throwing at an intruder. On theContrary - Leading the Opposition in a DemocraticSouth Africa is indeed a very bulky tome, running tosome 766 pages divided into five distinct parts,together with an introduction, appendix, notes,numerous photographs and an index. It is, however,certainly much more useful than simply as a bulkyobject to throw at a would-be intruder.On the Contrary provides a fascinating insightinto the very active career of Tony Leon, leader of theOfficial Opposition in South Africa for eight years.Destined from early life as the son of a High CourtJudge to make a major impact as an ironclad liberal,he has confronted the challenges of change head-on,leaving the political arena strewn with defeatedMr. Justice Ralph Zulman is a long-serving memberof the editorial board of and contributor to JewishAffairs.adversaries and of old-style conservatives content tolet human rights slip for the sake of an easy life.Nelson Mandela described Leon’s contributionto democracy as being enormous, writing to him:“…you have far more support for all you have donethen you might ever read about”. When Leon retiredfrom Parliament in February 2009, fellow MP, RyanCoetzee commented that history would rememberhim for his singular achievement in coming veryclose to being indispensable in the creation of acritical opposition in South Africa.In the introduction, headed “On GoldenNotebooks”, the author states that the title of thebook came to him as he pondered why it was that hehad spent all his political life in opposition, as it were,and that the book consisted of “a pulling together ofmy personal threads, background experiences,political impulses, and my rather definite views onSouth Africa and the wider world it shares, after my22 years in public life.”Part One, headed “The Path to Leadership”, is55

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009divided into five chapters (incidentally, each chapterof the book commences with an appropriate quotationfrom such well-known figures as Winston Churchill,Saul Bellow, Albert Camus, Karl M, TheodoreRoosevelt and Chief Justice Ismail Mahomed). Inthe first, Leon describes his origins and background.Himself a third generation South African, his rootsare firmly Litvak. Most of his forebears can tracetheir origins to the Pale of Settlement, created in1791 by Catherine the Great. His maternalgrandfather, Samuel Herman (Sam), was one of ninechildren born in Kovno, Lithuania. He arrived inCape Town in 1912. Shortly after the First WorldWar, the Hermans moved to Johannesburg. Sam andhis brother-in-law, Louis Traub, established asuccessful firm of wholesale wool merchants, Herman& Traub. The family first lived in Saratoga Avenuein Doornfontein, a suburb which at the time attractedmany Jewish immigrants. In 1923, Sam marriedRachel Kowarsky, whose family had immigrated toSouth Africa from Vilnius, Lithuania. In 1929 Leon’smother, Sheila Jean, was born. She married Leon’sfather, Ramon (Ray), in March 1954. Ray, then anadvocate, was later to become a judge in Natal. Hisforebears were not dissimilar in origin to those onLeon’s maternal side. Leon’s parents divorced in1965. His mother was married three times and hisfather twice. Leon married Michal, a divorcee, in2000.Leon attended King David High School,Linksfield, for a short time. Previous to this, he hadbeen exposed in Natal to a completely seculareducation. He had learned his barmitzvah portion byheart using a tape recorder and, on High Holidaysattended, largely unwillingly, the Durban synagogue.He says that he identified later in life with a famousBritish politician Lord Keith Joseph who, on beingasked about what sort of Jew he was, responded,“…minimally practising but maximallyacknowledging”. Leon certainly respondedmaximally as a Jew, vigorously defending Jewishcauses and fighting strongly against antisemitismwherever he encountered it. He was a frequent speakerat functions organised by the SA Jewish Board ofDeputies, amongst many other Jewish organisationsIn Chapter Two, entitled “Dancing withDialectics”, Leon describes his close on twenty-yearinvolvement with the University of the Witwatersrandand the rebuff of his attempts to become president ofthe Student’s Representative Council. He deals withhis brief entry into the practicing legal profession asan articled clerk, his interaction with leading membersof the Bar and his time in the South African army andnavy.Chapter Three begins with the author’s entry intopolitics. This commenced with his victory in aFebruary 1986 by-election for the JohannesburgCity Council. He stood against another Jew, SamBloomberg (National Party), and succeeded by amere 39 votes in a poll of 31%. His career inmunicipal politics culminated with his victory, againover another Jew, M Rosen, in October 1989, by anoverall majority of 1599 and his subsequent electionas leader of the Progressive Federal Party in theCouncil. The chapter also deals with Leon’s clasheswith the veteran, and greatly admired, Jewishpolitician, Harry Schwarz.Chapter Five chronicles some of the author’sactivities, flowing from what he describes as the “theBattle of Houghton” and ends with his unopposedelection, with acclamation, as the single leader of theDemocratic Party. He won the nomination to representthe Houghton constituency despite opposition fromthe late Helen Suzman. The latter had occupied theseat for many years and favoured Irene Menel for thenomination. Suzman complained that “Mr Leon’slobbying effort to achieve nomination madeTammany Hall look like a teddy bears’ picnic”. Sherepeated the remark in the 1994 update of hermemoirs. Leon never responded in public, butregarded her comment as “grossly unfair, inflatedand unjustified”. Although 1989 propelled him intonational and parliamentary politics, Leon continuedto immerse himself in his civic leadership role.Part Two of the book deals succinctly, in twochapters respectively headed “New South Africa,New Leader” and “Constitutional Palimpsest”. InPart Three, the reader is treated to the author’sincisive and detailed discussion of the followingtopics: Zimbabwe, corrosion in the corridors ofparliament, the judges, the media and “the Lady”(Winnie Madikizela-Mandela). Part Four describesLeon’s role as Leader of the Opposition and hiseventual handover to Helen Zille.In the final part of the book, Leon presents hisviews on the future. His comments on Jacob Zuma(bearing in that the book was written before thecharges against Zuma were withdrawn in April 2009)are of particular interest. He writes: “In the event ofZuma being prosecuted successfully, even his deathdefyingpolitical skills may well not be sufficient toensure his presidential candidacy in 2009. ShouldZuma prevail, most South Africans have no clearidea where he will lead the country. For some, thewords ‘President Zuma’ are an unnerving prospect”.It would be most interesting to hear Leon’s viewsupon the withdrawal of the charges.The author concludes the book with the followingprophetic words:Whatever shape South Africa’s new leadershiptakes, immense challenges have to be met. Dowe want to be nostalgically remembered as afading footnote in world history, commemoratedfor one big thing we got right in 1994 - but witha sense of aching possibility about opportunitieslost, dreams deferred and goals missed sincethen? Or will we become, perhaps, againstexpectation, a success story of renewal, takingour place in the front row of winning nations,applying thoughtful policies and best practiceswith equal measures of good governance andself- restraint, transcending the divisions andiniquities of our history? …The future isimperfect, but it is ours to make.56

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009Despite its length, On the Contrary makes easy,indeed ideal, bedside reading. Written in a clear andconcise style, it is unquestionably a monumentalwork of great significance and contains a mine ofuseful information. The book sheds a new light onmany figures, some of whom have become householdnames in this country and who, together with TonyLeon have helped to shape modern South Africa. Ihave no hesitation in commending it to anyoneinterested in South African politics and history.A J Leon, On the Contrary - Leading the Opposition in aDemocratic South Africa, Jonathan Ball, 2009, 766pp.ICON OF EVIL: HITLER’S MUFTI AND THE RISEOF RADICAL AL ISLAM*Gary SelikowThis revealing book outlines the life and career ofMufti Haj Al Husseini, a close collaborator of Hitlerand a violent hater of Jews and Zionism. It exploreshis legacy of hate and terror that permeates theIslamic jihad’s profound hatred of Jews and Israel upto and including today.The extent of the Mufti’s role in genocide againstJews and his collaboration with Nazi Germany haslong been suppressed but is now being exposed bybooks such as this one as well as Chuck Morse’s TheNazi Connection to Islamic Terrorism: Adolf Hitlerand Haj Amin al-Husseini.Amin Al Husseini was born in 1895. His hatredof Jews was nurtured at the Sheik Rashid RidaIslamic School in Cairo. Reading The Protocols ofthe Elders of Zion, which was being distributed byBritish officers among themselves and to the Arabsof Palestine, was a great influence in his ideologicaldevelopment.Al-Husseini took it upon himself to raise thebanner of jihad against the Jews. In April 1920, heorganised the pogrom that took place against theJews in Jerusalem. Posters were displayed across thecity with the slogan: “Kill the Jews, there is nopunishment for killing Jews”. Jews were attackedand killed and Jewish women raped. This was knownamong the Arabs as the First Intifada and caneffectively be used the date of the beginning of theArab jihad against Jews in the Land of Israel (ratherthan the War of Independence 28 years later).As the author explains: “The riots were the firstof many violent Islamic uprisings against the Jews inPalestine that would take place over the next eightand more decades, throughout the Twentieth Centuryand into the 21 st . In personally inciting the violentintifada of 1920, al-Husseini established a precedent,for the use of violence and terror that futuregenerations of radical Islam would emulate in theirfuture wars against the Jews and the West”.After further Arab pogroms against Jews in Jaffa,Gary Selikow is a researcher and media activist. Hisreviews of books of Jewish and Middle East interestappear regularly online and elsewhere.in which 47 Jews were murdered and hundreds moreinjured, the British blamed the attacks on what theytermed Arab anger over Jewish immigration.Immigration of Jews into Palestine was suspended,which convinced the Mufti that terror paid.The 1929 pogroms in Jerusalem, Safed andHebron were also a result of the Mufti’s perfidiouspropaganda, including allegations that the Jews wereabout to take control of the Temple Mount and thewide dissemination of The Protocols of the Elders ofZion.The so-called “Arab Revolt” (or Third Intifada)of 1936-1939 resulted in numerous attacks on Jewishhomes and farms, and the killing of hundreds ofJewish men, women and children. Despite this, anti-Israel propagandists accuse the Zionists of terroragainst the Arabs during this period.In 1941, the Mufti assisted in a Nazi-backed plotto overthrow the British government in Iraq. Whenthe plot failed, he fled to Iran and then to NaziGermany, where he formed a close friendship withAdolph Hitler and attended Nazi rallies as his honoredguest. At his meeting with Hitler, the Mufti pledgedthe allegiance of the Arabs to and cooperation withGermany, and thanked the latter for it support of thePalestinian Arab cause. He further assured Hitlerthat the Arabs were Germany’s natural friends asthey shared the same enemies, the Jews and theBritish. Hitler responded in strong and unequivocalterms, reiterating his violently anti-Jewish stand andunflinching support for the radical Arab cause. Hepledged to liquidate the Jews of Palestine once theannihilation of the Jews in Europe had beencompleted.al-Husseini personally visited Nazi death camps,including Auschwitz, and urged the Nazis to speedup their Final Solution. In 1943, he personallyinfluenced Reich Foreign Minister Ribbentrop toprevent four thousand Jewish children being sent toIsrael, instead diverting them to Hitler’s death campswhere they perished. He formed close alliances withseveral Nazi leaders and was promised by NaziForeign Minister Joachim Von Ribbentrop that noJew would be allowed to enter Palestine. Heinrich57

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009Himmler was the Nazi leader who the Mufti mostclosely worked with, and together they planned theextermination of Palestinian Jewry once the Axisforces had captured the Middle East.Himmler set forward the essence of their mutualobjectives in a telegram sent to the Mufti on 2November 1943, pledging Nazi Germany’s supportfor the struggle of the Palestinian Arabs to rid Palestineof the Jews and set up an Arab state there. Suchobjectives have since been echoed by Yasser Arafatand the PLO, Hamas, Hezbollah, the Khamenei/Ahmadinejad regime in Iran and their sundry alliesand supporters. The Mufti also organized the SSHanjar unit, made up of Bosnian Muslims, whichwas responsible for the liquidation of 90% of BosniansJews as well as thousands of Jews in Hungary.After the war, the Mufti escaped to France andthen Egypt, and for insidious reasons was not stoppedby the British and French authorities. It was he wholed ‘Palestinian’ Arab forces against the fledglingJewish state, and who mentored and taught hisnephew, later to be PLO leader Yasser Arafat, forwhom Al Husseini was a much admired and belovedfigure.Due to Al Hussein’s unceasing efforts, TheProtocols of the Elders of Zion would be publishedin Arabic many times and enjoy best-selling statusacross the Islamic world. As the author showsHamas, which evolved from the Muslim Brotherhoodwhich the Mufti had promoted enthusiastically sinceit’s inception, invokes the Protocols in variousArticles of its Charter, such as stating that the ongoingconspiratorial conduct of world Zionism, Israel andthe Jewish people “is the best proof of what is said[in the Protocols]”. Spokesmen of the governmentof Iran, from the era of Ayatollah Khomeini to thepresent, have embraced the forgery. (For example, itwas made available in English at the Iranian exhibitionbooth at the 2005 Frankfurt book fair).Not far behind in popularity in the Islamic worldis Hitler’s Mein Kampf, which has achieved bestsellerstatus throughout the Arab world. After the Six DayWar, Israeli soldiers discovered that thousands ofEgyptian prisoners had small paperback copies ofthe book, translated into Arabic by the Arabinformation center in Cairo. Mein Kampf waspublished in Arafat’s Palestinian Authority in 2001.Meanwhile, the film Schindler’s List, which depictsthe suffering of the Jews during the Holocaust, isbanned in most Arab countries.The blood libel accusing Jews of using the bloodof gentile children in their Passover rituals is alsopopular today in the Arab world, appearing regularlyin state-sponsored media in Egypt, Syria, Qatar,Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and Jordan andinvoked by, among others, Arafat, Syrian DefenseMinister Mustafa Tlall (in his 1984 book entitled TheMatzah of Zion) and in programmes and films thathave appeared on Egyptian, Syrian and PalestinianTV.Meanwhile, Holocaust denial is rife across theArab and Islamic world. In December 2005, IranianPresident Mahmoud Ahmadinejad declared hisdetermination to “wipe Israel off the map”, whilestating: “We do not accept the claim that Hitler killedmillions of Jews in furnaces”. This, according toAhmadinejad, is a ‘fairytale’ and “legend to protectIsrael”. Ahmadinejad further expressed Iran’s fullsupport for the leader of the Hamas terroristorganization, Khaled Meshaal. In December 2005,he hosted a Holocaust Denial conference, attendedby Jew-haters from across the world, including Neo-Nazis and radical pro-Palestinian and anti-Israelactivists.Comments the author, “For Ahmadinejad and hiscohorts, the Mufti’s infamous call to genocide: ‘Killthe Jews...this pleases God, history and religion’, hasremained an inescapably relevant and enduringmessage that they were dedicated to transmitting toa new generation”. In creating Hamas, Palestinianarch-terrorist Achmed Yassin, a devoted admirer ofAl-Husseini, espoused the concept of the Holy Landbecoming the central battlefield between Islamicjihad and the West, and a war of bloodshed toviolently destroy Israel and exterminate her Jews,building in its place a purely Arab ‘Palestine’.The author concludes that “From the Mufti’s All-Palestine government to the Hamas government inGaza of today, it is clear that the aims and goals ofradical Islam have remained consistent throughoutthe years”.David G. Dalin, Icon of Evil: Hitler’s Mufti and the Rise ofRadical Islam, Random House, 2008, 240pp.58

JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2009READERS’ LETTERS*How often I come across copies of Jewish Affairs, which indeed is always such a pleasure to read. It is sonostalgic for me because, as it happens, I worked at L E Joseph, at the time a prominent printing firm inFordsburg, as a letterpress Machine Minder in the 1945–1953 period. I was instrumental in printing JewishAffairs, which I so vividly remember, hand feeding the sheets of paper on the big ‘Optimus’ machine (if mymemory serves me right).The magazine then was a more condensed version, more like the ‘Readers’ Digest’ copy. Nowadays, it is ona much larger scale, but remains an interesting, innovative and compelling book to read. You have lasted along time. In these tough times it must be rather pressing economically, but I sincerely trust and hope that JAwill survive and continue serving the community as it has done for nearly 70 years.Below is a brief memoir of my early childhood spent in the great Medina of Bertrams, which I hope you willconsider publishing.I vividly remember the watering hole at the local hotel where, mainly on week-ends, the guys would relax,and partake or a pint or two and enjoy a game of snooker. At the time, there was the popular Quinn’s bakerynext door to Ellis Park, where you could buy a loaf of bread for 6d and a day-old bread for 3d. What aboutthe price of a burger? Two shillings. A newspaper cost you 2d. Those way-back prices were absolutely peanutscompared to today’s staggering figures.A very popular pastime was playing football at the Fuller Park soccer field. Unfortunately, our games wereoften marred by a gang of young African hoodlums who used to terrorise the locals, and rob them of theirsweets and petty cash. I myself was often the victim of their misdemeanors, and had a few of my own soccerballs stolen from me when those guys invaded the pitch. Nevertheless, criminals in those far-off days werea far cry from the modern day bunch of hardened gangsters and cutthroats.A well known spot in Bertrams was Joe’s Tearoom, corner of Derby and Bertrams Roads, which was verypopular with the local inhabitants and where you could buy bread, sweets, cold drinks and general items.Another famous landmark was the Ginsberg’s Hall, a popular venue for socials and wedding receptions.Our parents, being immigrants from Russia and having to start out a new life in a foreign land, battled in theearly days to eke out a living. Nevertheless, life was less stressful and undemanding, unlike the maddeningpressures and turbulence of modern-day living.As I drive through Bertrams these days, it is with a tinge of sadness as I observe the decline and deteriorationof this once lively and colorful suburb. Nevertheless, the fond memories from that memorable era long goneby still linger within me.Barney SegalJohannesburg59

Securing our Jewish FutureThe work of the SAJBD is made possiblethrough the support of the UnitedCommunal Fund.The UCF ensures the continuance of Jewishlife and values in South Africa andsimultaneously provides security andprotection for the local Jewish community.With the help of our generous supporters andcontributors, the UCF continually endeavors toprotect our local Jewish future and that of ourchildren. The UCF campaign is run by acommitted lay leadership and a dedicatedprofessional staff.The UCF is committed to helping its beneficiaries,and although they may vary from province toprovince, the main beneficiaries are:The SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD)The SAJBD protects the civil rights of the Jewishcommunity, monitoring and responding toantisemitism and building relationships withthe SA government and media.Community Security Organisation (CSO)Empowers the community and secures its futureby protecting all Jewish institutions against anythreat and offers emergency medical responsethrough Ezra.South African Jewish Students Union(SAUJS)Supports the needs of Jewish students andpromotes their Jewish identity and fightsantisemitism on the campuses.It is vital for these organizations to bemaintained within the community so thatit can grow and be secure.Contact us:Tel: 011 645-2554 Fax: 011 645-2576Email: iuaucf@beyachad.co.zaPrivate Bag X6, Sandringham 2131The UCF is linked administratively to the IsraelUnited Appeal (IUA) which is instrumentalin `saving Jewish Lives” wherever and wheneverthe need arises.Make a difference. Make a Donation.