South African Jewish Report Newspaper

07/07/2024

Of the 14 South African bridge aficionados selected to play in the World Bridge Championships in Argentina in October, seven are Jewish.

Former information technology consultant Sharon Izerel and financial analyst Diana Balkin were two of those who played their cards right for six gruelling days of bridge to qualify for the South African bridge team going to compete in Argentina.

Their fellow Johannesburg-based Jewish players in the team are bridge teachers Val Bloom and Sharon Lang, and ex-professional bridge, poker, and backgammon player Neville Eber. Cape Town-based entrepreneur Alon Apteker and his son, United States-based Noah, a qualified electrical engineer, also made the grade.

They competed in the trials for the South Africa men’s, women’s, and mixed teams. Eber and the Aptekers qualified for the men’s team. Izerel, Balkin, and Bloom qualified for the women’s team, while Lang qualified for the mixed team.

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Of the 14 South African bridge aficionados selected to play in the World Bridge Championships in Argentina in October, seven are Jewish.

07/07/2024

𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓: 𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟕 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐚𝐭 𝟏𝟗:𝟎𝟎 𝐒𝐀𝐒𝐓
𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒔 & ‘𝑺𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝑩𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆’
𝐍𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐧-𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 will explain how UN bodies, American universities, and countries like 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚 will pay a hefty price for their support for 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐦.
&
From former 𝐂𝐎𝐎 𝐨𝐟 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 to documentary filmmaker, we screen 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠’s movie 𝑺𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝑩𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 about Hamas' sexual assault on Israeli women.

𝐑𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐎𝐖: Bit.ly/jrlive170

05/07/2024

𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒔
𝐒𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝟕 𝐉𝐮𝐥𝐲 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒 𝐚𝐭 𝟏𝟗:𝟎𝟎 𝐒𝐀𝐒𝐓

𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐎𝐖: Bit.ly/jrlive170

On Sunday evening we will be screening 𝑺𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝑩𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆, the documentary film by former 𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤 𝐂𝐎𝐎 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠. The film explores the sexual violence by 𝐇𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬 during the Hamas invasion of Israel on 7 October 2023, including events at the massacre at the Nova festival and the abduction of hostages by Hamas into the Gaza Strip.

We will also be hosting 𝐍𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐧-𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫, founder of the 𝐈𝐬𝐫𝐚𝐞𝐥 𝐋𝐚𝐰 𝐂𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫, bringing legal action to bankrupt terrorists and antisemites one lawsuit at a time. In May 2024, Darshan-Leitner asked the United States government to investigate whether to sanction, pursuant to the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, the leaders of the African National Congress, including Cyril Ramaphosa, President; Paul Mashatile, Deputy President; Gwede Mantashe, National Chair; Fikile Mbalula, Secretary-General; Nomvula Mokonyane, Deputy Secretary-General; Maropene Ramokgopa, Second Deputy Secretary-General; Dr Gwen Ramokgopa, Treasurer-General; and Dr Grace Naledi Mandisa Pandor, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation.

𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐎𝐖: Bit.ly/jrlive170

05/07/2024

“He was, of course, late again. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s much awaited Cabinet announcement didn’t start on time, but no-one was surprised.

The announcement of the Cabinet signalled important messages. Democracy had withstood the onslaught of a bruising election and an African National Congress (ANC) loss. The ANC was willing to share power, and it was doing so with predominately “white” parties such as the Democratic Alliance (DA) and the Freedom Front Plus (FFP). More importantly, it demonstrated that the ANC would move the country away from the extremism and popularism of Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) and Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe (MK) party. Sanity had prevailed, and South Africa had avoided the iceberg, at least for now.

Looking tired, Ramaphosa rattled off the names of South Africa’s next executive, cobbled together as an unwieldy coalition of 11 parties, each pursuing their own positions, power, access to resources, and patronage for their supporters.

South Africa’s Government of National Unity (GNU) looked like a hybrid animal somewhere between a buffalo and an antelope, akin to a wildebeest or what the Khoisan refer to as a Gnu.”

- Howard Sackstein

READ MORE:

He was, of course, late again. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s much awaited Cabinet announcement didn’t start on time, but no-one was surprised.

04/07/2024

In spite of an alarming global increase in antisemitism, South Africa appears to have settled since the initial stages of the war in Gaza, which resulted in a dramatic and concerning rise in incidents.

Although the situation here is far from ideal, it contrasts with the disturbing cases of antisemitism, often violent, that continue to surface daily in many parts of the world.

“Since March, things have stabilised to the point where we can say we’re back to ‘normal’,” said David Saks, the associate director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD).

“This after reaching unprecedentedly high levels of antisemitism in the two months immediately following the 7 October attacks and over the ensuing three months still continuing to manifest at a much higher level than in previous years,” Saks said.

READ MORE:

In spite of an alarming global increase in antisemitism, South Africa appears to have settled since the initial stages of the war in Gaza

03/07/2024

🌟 Download our latest issue - free & online now! 🌟
Filled with news, opinions & insights you don’t want to miss, including…

🌍 Pandor out, Lamola in: same same, but different?
🇿🇦 Howard Sackstein: “So GNU, now what?”
🏘️ Kibbutz Nir Am calls on South Africans to help rebuild
📚 Extraordinary life story of ‘Joburg boy gone bad’ captured in new book
🏊‍♀️ SA freediver swims into new record at world championship

… and much more!

𝑫𝒐𝒘𝒏𝒍𝒐𝒂𝒅 𝒚𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆 𝒄𝒐𝒑𝒚:https://www.sajr.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/2024-07-05.pdf

03/07/2024

It’s normal for sociopolitical issues to spill into our environment, but the tension caused by strongly held opposing beliefs over the war between Israel and Hamas is fracturing once cohesive teams.

Jodi (43), a name used to protect her anonymity, is a therapist who has worked at a children’s hospital in Cape Town for 18 years. “Since 7 October, it’s been hard to be at work. Although no-one is allowed to discuss their personal views, simply being there is enough to make you feel as though you’re at a Palestinian support rally,” she says.

Mark Oppenheimer, an advocate on the Johannesburg Bar with a special interest in the boundary between freedom of expression and genuine hate speech, says, “It’s undoubtedly the case that since 7 October, we’ve had a huge escalation in antisemitism in South Africa.”

He says the onus is on businesses and organisations to establish a constructive framework in which to engage employees in courageous conversation.

READ MORE:

It’s normal for sociopolitical issues to spill into our environment, but the tension caused by strongly held opposing beliefs over the war between Israel

03/07/2024

It took grit and sacrifice for 12-year-old Herzlia student Rafael Palmer to rise through the tennis ranks to the point that he was finally selected for Western Province.

His tennis enthusiast dad, Gary, says these traits are some of the secrets behind his son’s progression to making the province’s under-13 tennis team and winning all his recent matches in George in the Western Cape.

“Tennis isn’t a team sport and can be hard and lonely on the court, especially when things aren’t going well,” says Gary. “Rafa’s friends all play soccer, so it was tough for him without his school friends at the tournaments. He also found it lonely because most of the kids at the tournaments speak Afrikaans as their first language. But over time, Rafa has made good friends from different cultures and backgrounds.”

Palmer played in quite a few tournaments to make the Western Province team, eventually playing against other top players in the Western Cape and being selected to play for the province.

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It took grit and sacrifice for 12-year-old Herzlia student Rafael Palmer to rise through the tennis ranks to the point that he was finally

02/07/2024

The last direct flight between Johannesburg and Tel Aviv left the runway on 29 March 2024, surrounded by an emotional team of EL AL employees, some of them bidding farewell to the job they had held for years.

In 2005, Gliad Sabah (40), an Israeli citizen, arrived in South Africa to work at EL AL. When he left the company to explore the private sector for a brief period, he was unhappy and returned to EL AL to slowly begin working his way up the ranks to the position of deputy manager of security.

“EL AL just felt like home, and having been in the Israeli army, the safety of my people is what’s in my heart,” Sabah said.

“The steady decline of flights started during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we never quite recovered. You had to be blind not to see closure coming for EL AL in South Africa.”

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The last direct flight between Johannesburg and Tel Aviv left the runway on 29 March 2024, surrounded by an emotional team of EL AL employees,

02/07/2024

South African Michael Levitt opened the batting for the Netherlands in its four T20 Cricket World Cup games in June, and set social media abuzz with the spectacular shot he played against Sri Lanka.

Levitt, a South African College High School alumnus who attended Herzlia Constantia until Grade 4, describes the World Cup in the United States and West Indies as “a great experience”.

“When you grow up watching the World Cup, you get a taste of what it is and how special it is,” Levitt told the SA Jewish Report. “To be part of the World Cup experience that you used to watch as a youngster on TV is pretty surreal and something that you can kind of get addicted to.”

Levitt qualified for a Dutch passport as his grandfather on his mother’s side was born in Harderwijk, Holland. He moved to Holland in March 2023 after joining Voorburg Cricket Club in Den Haag, where he’s currently staying. He made his international debut in February this year, scoring a half-century against Nepal to become the second Dutchman to achieve such a milestone on debut. In the following game, he scored a sensational 135 against Namibia to record the highest score by a Dutchman in T20s.

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South African Michael Levitt opened the batting for the Netherlands in its four T20 Cricket World Cup games in June,

01/07/2024

Do we have gett refusers in our community? You may think not, but unfortunately we do.

Rebbetzin Kayla Goldstein from New Jersey, the founder of the international rabbinic vaad (council) against gett refusal, spoke last week about how gett refusal is a form of abuse which can thrive only when a community fails to sanction gett refusers. She believes the only way to eliminate this and all other forms of abuse is for the entire community, from the top down, to have a zero-tolerance policy, to be a community that simply doesn’t tolerate abuse. This sounds easy, but what does no tolerance look like?

The truth is that we all fall foul of this in some way. There are emotional reasons why we fail to take action. We may not want to lose favour with the accused or be seen as impolite. We may not want to believe bad things about this person. We’re unwilling to confront the unpleasant elephant in the community. We pride ourselves on being people who give others the benefit of the doubt, who are kind and caring, and who believe in the power of repentance.

The danger of this is that we push things away, pretending that they don’t exist and ignoring the red flags. This is especially true when the alleged abuser is a friend or a colleague of ours. The real hard truth is that we just want to avoid being part of something unpleasant. We famously say, “I don’t want to get involved”, or “Let the professionals or police or anyone else deal with it.” Another argument often used to justify failure to take action is to ask, “If this was true, surely the rabbis or community leaders would have dealt with it?””

- Rebbetzin Wendy Hendler, Koleinu

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Do we have gett refusers in our community? You may think not, but unfortunately we do.

01/07/2024

𝐋𝐚𝐰𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞 & 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐟𝐚𝐫𝐞
𝑩𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑱𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒔
𝑆𝑢𝑛𝑑𝑎𝑦 7 𝐽𝑢𝑙𝑦 2024 𝑎𝑡 19:00 𝑆𝐴𝑆𝑇
𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐎𝐖: Bit.ly/jrlive170
𝐍𝐢𝐭𝐬𝐚𝐧𝐚 𝐃𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐡𝐚𝐧-𝐋𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐧𝐞𝐫 is the 𝘿𝙖𝙫𝙞𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, using the power of the law to 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗿𝗼𝗿𝗶𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗺𝗶𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗲. As founder and president of 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐚 𝐃𝐢𝐧, she commands an army of 600 lawyers in 17 countries battling against Hamas, Islamic Jihad, the Palestine Liberation Organization, The Palestinian Authority, Hezbollah, Iran, 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐀𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐜𝐚, Syria, Egypt, North Korea, the Red Cross, and biased United Nations Agencies. She has won $𝟑 𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 for terror victims and has had hundreds of millions of 𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐫 𝐝𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧.
𝐒𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐬: How do we bring justice to the victims?
We are also showing the 𝐒𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐥 𝐒𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐛𝐞𝐫𝐠 documentary on the sexual abuse of women by Hamas on 7 October –𝑺𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔 𝑩𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑺𝒊𝒍𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆.
𝐑𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐍𝐎𝐖: Bit.ly/jrlive170

30/06/2024

“Walking towards the place in Tel Aviv that has become known as Hostage Square on Saturday night, 22 June, I had a sinking feeling. Throngs of people holding signs and carrying Israeli flags were walking in the other direction. I thought I was too late for the weekly protest.

However, when I arrived at the huge square outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, I clearly wasn’t too late. Others had just had enough. Israelis in general have had enough of this devastation. Two hundred and fifty nine days (on Saturday night) after 7 October is just too long.

Nevertheless, I found more than 10 000 Israelis squeezed onto the square, so many with tears in their eyes as they listened to the family and friends of those still being held hostage in Gaza eight and a half months after being violently kidnapped and abducted across the border by marauding Hamas terrorists.

Witnessing the hollow eyes of their loved ones, their pain so evident, isn’t easy, but it’s a whole lot easier than what they are experiencing. The pain of the wait they speak about, not knowing what’s happening to their mother, father, son, daughter, sister, brother, grandchild, or best friends, is evident. They speak of not being able to sleep for eight months. They speak of their desperation and determination not to let the country forget about their loved ones.”

- Peta Krost, editor of the SA Jewish Report newspaper

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Walking towards the place in Tel Aviv that has become known as Hostage Square on Saturday night, 22 June,

28/06/2024

On 5 October 2023, retired Israeli Colonel Miri Eisin appeared on the i24 TV channel reflecting on 50 years since the Yom Kippur War. When asked whether the spectacular intelligence failure of 1973 could happen again, she replied, “Absolutely. It could happen tomorrow morning.” She was out by one day. And she believes a war with Hezbollah could be much worse than the one with Hamas in Gaza.

Eisin was speaking in a webinar hosted by the SA Jewish Report and the Jewish National Fund on 23 June. She spent 20 years in the Israel Defense Forces, and served as spokesperson for former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

On 7 October 2023, when they heard the sirens, Eisin and her family first thought that terror group Hezbollah in Lebanon had started a war with Israel. They soon learned it was a murderous attack by Hamas in the south. She said there were two factors that led to Israel missing the impending onslaught. “There was blindness, like the United States on 9/11. We had all the information. We’d seen it, but we didn’t put it all together. There was also unthinkability – we simply couldn’t imagine, predict, prevent, or foretell the genocidal atrocities of 7 October. They were unthinkable. They won’t be anymore.”

READ MORE:

On 5 October 2023, retired Israeli Colonel Miri Eisin appeared on the i24 TV channel reflecting on 50 years since the Yom Kippur War.

28/06/2024

The prestigious Encounters International Documentary Film Festival (Encounters), which runs from 20 to 30 June across the country, claims to believe in the power of documentary film to contribute to mutual understanding and dialogue.

However, it failed its mission this year by presenting a one-sided “Palestine focus”, including the screening of three anti-Israel films. It also held panel discussions about Israel that didn’t include any Jews who believed in the Jewish state, or Israelis. At no point in the programming were 7 October and Hamas’s atrocities even mentioned.

This was especially pertinent given the fact that new documentaries about the atrocities of 7 October have recently been released.

“We’re extremely disappointed that Encounters chose to feature only one side of the debate on Israel and Palestine,” said South African Zionist Federation spokesperson Rolene Marks. “True democracy and honest media require a range of viewpoints to be aired.

“We’re shocked that a film festival sponsored by many European governments, including Germany and the Netherlands, would be so biased against Israel and choose to have only pro-Palestinian documentaries and discussions.

“This would have been a perfect opportunity to screen ‘Screams Before Silence’, a documentary detailing the mass r**e of Israeli women and girls produced by American businesswomen and tech executive Sheryl Sandberg. Another film that could have been aired was the documentary Nova, which features details of the horrific massacre of 360 young music festival attendees on 7 October,” Marks said.

READ MORE:

The prestigious Encounters International Documentary Film Festival (Encounters),

27/06/2024

It has been a week since Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidential inauguration followed by days of high drama as the nation waits for him to reveal his Cabinet for the country’s seventh administration.

At the time of going to press, negotiations were continuing with parties in the Government of National Unity (GNU) about ministerial and other important positions.

This intense historic moment has delayed any announcement in a complex process involving multiple parties. There are now 10 parties that make up the GNU out of 18 parties in the National Assembly. They are the African National Congress (ANC), the Democratic Alliance (DA), Inkatha Freedom Party, Patriotic Alliance, Good, the Pan Africanist Congress, Freedom Front Plus, the United Democratic Movement, Rise Mzansi, and Al Jama-ah. The total number of National Assembly seats that the GNU can command is 287 out of 400, a solid majority.

Following a week of enthusiasm over the future possibilities of the GNU, a new reality has set which indicates that sustaining this coalition will demand continuous negotiation and strategic compromise. Though it doesn’t mean the coalition cannot remain intact, insiders predict it will undoubtedly be a difficult task. This is the first time the ANC has been forced to share power at national level, and it remains to be seen if it can.

Photo: DA MP Michael Bagraim at his office in Parliament

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It has been a week since Cyril Ramaphosa’s presidential inauguration followed by days of high drama as the nation waits for him to reveal his Cabinet

27/06/2024

The University of Cape Town’s (UCT’s) highest decision-making body has officially adopted resolutions to boycott Israeli academia and ensure that anti-Zionism cannot be not described as antisemitism.

This has caused consternation, especially with Jewish students having already been exposed to much anti-Israel antisemitism on campus this year.

“This is a sad day for UCT,” says Adam Mendelsohn, the director of the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies at UCT. “That an educational institution that purports to be the best in Africa promotes such an ill-informed and misguided position reflects poorly on its leadership.”

The decision “fosters a hostile environment for Jewish students and staff, increasing the likelihood of antisemitic incidents on campus”, says David Cohen, the chairperson of the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) Cape Council. “Singling out Israeli institutions implicitly targets the Jewish community, contradicting the values of inclusivity and safety that any academic institution should uphold.”

The resolutions were passed by the university’s council at a vote on Saturday, 22 June. It was the last sitting of its current council, which includes several extremist members.

READ MORE:

The University of Cape Town’s (UCT’s) highest decision-making body has officially adopted resolutions to boycott Israeli academia

26/06/2024

🌟 Download our latest issue - free & online now! 🌟
Filled with news, opinions & insights you don’t want to miss, including…

🇱🇧 Hezbollah is like Hamas on steroids, warns colonel + military expert on likelihood of northern war
💔 What is is like to visit Hostage Square
🎥 Encounters film festival puts Palestinians in spotlight while ignoring Israelis
✍️ Confronting the ‘elephant’ in the community: Gett refusers
🏏 Cape cricketer’s cup runneth over for Netherlands

… and much more!

Download your free copy here:https://www.sajr.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2024/06/2024-06-28.pdf

26/06/2024

“South Africa’s 29 May election produced a political earthquake. The great and assumed hegemon of our polity, the African National Congress (ANC) lost power by crashing down to just on 40% of the vote. Unlike the ANC, the Democratic Alliance (DA) didn’t shed 17% of its support, and went up marginally to 21.8%, finishing second, well ahead of Jacob Zuma’s uMkhonto weSizwe Party (MK) and Julius Malema’s Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF).

It was this extraordinary result which led me, 15 years after departing party leadership and Parliament, to join John Steenhuisen’s team in the negotiations that led to the agreement last Friday, 14 June, for a government of national unity (GNU).

While I found myself back in the arena alongside another former DA leader, Helen Zille, the terms of trade and political weather had changed considerably since my last immersion in the murky waters of politics.”

- Tony Leon

READ MORE:

South Africa’s 29 May election produced a political earthquake. The great and assumed hegemon of our polity, the African National Congress (ANC)

26/06/2024

Daron Chatz’s four-part wildlife docuseries ‘Wild Zambezi’ opened this month at Ster-Kinekor in celebration of World Wildlife Month. Chatz, who directed the series, gives us an insight into its magic.

“As film makers and storytellers, the Wild Zambezi project was about taking the audience on an adventure to fall in love and reconnect with nature, says Chatz. “After all, we’re all part of nature and the global ecosystem that gives us all life. The threats that we’re facing on this planet are real. As film makers, we’re compelled to tell our story from diverse perspectives and allow people to choose their options. Hopefully we inspire people along the way.”

READ MORE:

Daron Chatz’s four-part wildlife docuseries Wild Zambezi opened this month at Ster-Kinekor

25/06/2024

After two long days filled with Scrabble tiles on 17 and 18 June, political analyst and wordsmith Steven Gruzd came out on top at the South African Masters Scrabble Championships, securing the title for the second time in a row.

Gruzd played against the top-10 players, and after the first day of the tournament, the title seemed out of reach, having lost four of his first five games. However, he managed to recover quickly, and won all of his games the next day, sneaking to the top of the pool.

“Winning this tournament shows that people in their 50s can still be competitive,” Gruzd said, “I’ve been playing Scrabble for 40 years, and competitively since I was 12 years old. It’s gratifying to know that older people can still show the youngsters how it’s done. And it’s the sort of game you must work hard for.”

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After two long days filled with Scrabble tiles on 17 and 18 June, political analyst and wordsmith Steven Gruzd

25/06/2024

It’s not often that a Jewish South African boytjie is awarded an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) by King Charles III.

Hilton Freund, 55, who grew up in Johannesburg, has been recognised for helping thousands of prison inmates through a charity initiative called the Twinning Project. It helps reduce reoffending through sport by twinning prisons with their local football team.

“Not bad for someone from Sandown High School,” said a proud Freund this week who, in spite of living in the United Kingdom for 30 years, still has very strong ties to South Africa.

An MBE is given for an outstanding achievement or service to the community which has had a long-term, significant impact.

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It’s not often that a Jewish South African boytjie is awarded an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) by King Charles III.

24/06/2024

Many athletes in their late 40s have waved goodbye to their chances of representing their country at a World Cup. However, 46-year-old Hayley Landau will be playing for the over-35 Springbok team at the Touch Rugby World Cup in Nottingham, England, starting on 15 July.

This Capetonian and her teammates have made a lot of sacrifices to play at the highest level of touch rugby, a pay-to-play sport in South Africa. “We’re all married with kids, which makes it an even tougher situation because we’ve got families to look after,” Landau says. “We’ve taken the time to get ourselves fit but then also manage family and work.”

Landau, a Herzlia alumnus and teacher by profession, is one of the six or so players in their mid-to-late 40s who will be representing the over-35 Springbok team. Some of their teammates are about 10 years younger than them.

This will be Landau’s second World Cup, having played for the over-27 South Africa team at the 2019 edition in Malaysia.

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Many athletes in their late 40s have waved goodbye to their chances of representing their country at a World Cup.

24/06/2024

A stack of letters, perfectly preserved for more than 80 years since World War II, have finally made their way home after an extraordinary connection made between two Johannesburg Jewish families living just two minutes apart. Twenty-four hours after a Facebook post written just before Shabbat, the letters were in the hands of the recipient’s daughter and granddaughter.

It all started when Heather Superfain, who lives in Johannesburg, was spring cleaning her home at the beginning of June. She came across the stack of letters, tied together with a brown army shoelace, that she had once found in an antique set of drawers that she bought on auction more than 20 years ago. During those two decades, she moved and downsized numerous times, and each time, the letters had come with her.

“Every time, something told me not to throw them away,” says Superfain. “This time, they really were the only thing I still had that could have been thrown out.” Over the years, she had tried to find the family of the author and recipients of the letters, but had no luck.

Now, however, she had the power of social media at her fingertips, and spontaneously penned a post on the Facebook group Joburg Jewish Mommies asking if anyone was related to Philip Brom, the fact that he served in the British army in the 1940s, and that she had old letters of his.

As it was close to Shabbos, Superfain thought few people would see the post. But, nearby in Johannesburg, someone did. “My late grandfather was Philip Blom, not Brom. He was in the British army during World War II. Just checking it’s Brom, not Blom?” responded Jackie Raff.

Superfain realised she had made a mistake, and that the letters were indeed written to Philip Blom. At this point, both women felt excited knowing that this was a real connection. With a simple Facebook post, they had brought the letters home.

“I’m emigrating at the end of July to America,” Raff says. “I’ve been feeling emotional and worrying if I’m making the right decision. I was extremely close to my late grandfather, Philip, whom I called ‘oupa’, as he was Dutch. My oupa, or ‘pups’, and I travelled to America together when I was seven years old. He died shortly after that trip. So, at this big change in my life, I’ve been looking for a sign. Out of the blue, I saw the post. Having the letters is a huge source of comfort. It felt like he was sending me a message that he was still with me and I was doing the right thing.”

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A stack of letters, perfectly preserved for more than 80 years since World War II, have finally made their way home after an extraordinary connection

23/06/2024

Col. Miri Eisin - The Middle East on Fire

Driven by Iran, the Middle East is in flames.

Few people understand the conflict as well as Col. Miri Eisin, managing director of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism at Reichman University. Miri served in Israeli intelligence, was deputy head of the combat intelligence corps, and was the assistant to the director of Israeli military intelligence.

After retiring from the military, Col. Eisin served as Israeli government spokesperson and international media advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.

If you want to understand what happened on 7 October and how the region has been reshaped since, you cannot miss this broadcast!

Brought to you by the SA Jewish Report in association with JNF SA
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