KDL celebrates TuB’Shvat in style

- IN THIS EDITION -

2 Iran an unlikely Jewish

holiday destination

5 Divorce: Children

first priority

6 SAKS: Is the bottle

half full or half empty

in SA?

7 Bryan Silke: For the

novice investor...

7 DAVIS: Montefiore

stirs Jerusalem

debate

8 Milton Shain:

‘Judenpolitik’ and

Nazi decision-making

16 SAJBD wants to help

in skills development

in SA

Friday, 10 February 2012 / 17 Shevat, 5772 Volume 16 Number 4www.sajewishreport.co.za

Junior

Jewish

Report

- KDVP

/ 9-12

SA JEWISH REPORT 9

10 - 17 February 2012

Where we were able to encounter ourselves...

SACHA CRAMER AND YAELASOULIN, GRADE 12

ON AUGUST 30 last year, the grade11s of King David High School Vic-tory Park embarked on the trip of alifetime. Off to Encounter we went,where we were afforded the op-portunity to bond, obtain personalgrowth, stimulation and the oppor-tunity to observe oneself in the Jew-ish community.Each day was filled with group

learning, in areas such as Jewishidentity, self growth, family andworld appreciation. In these thought-provoking activities we gained ap-preciation for the world around us;to take the time to look at an aspectand to value its being.Family was a signifi cant powerfultopic that everyone felt very close to;we were given the chance to look atour own lives and loved ones andview our strengths and weaknesses.Each session and group talk was very

open-minded and allowed each ofus to feel comfortable in our learningsurroundings and to get involved.During free time we had many ac-tivities to choose from, such as craftsand the ever-popular volley ball.On the last day there was a volley-ball tournament where our room ofgirls made it to the fi nals, competingagainst the bloodthirsty boys of ourgrade. To our disappointment, welost. Nevertheless, in the beautifulsurroundings of our camp, we were

King David Linksfi eld

SA JEWISH REPORT 9

10 - 17 February 2012

Proud of KDVP’s multi-faceted offeringsGavin BuddHeadmaster

THE ARTICLES included in this KDVP edition highlight the multi-faceted offering of our vi-brant school, providing each of our learners with a relevant and enjoyable holistic Jewish education. Grounded in firm Jewish values and tra-ditions, the educational experience at our school provides our learners with an out-standing academic education (as evident in the consistently excellent results of our

matriculants, their success in tertiary studies and in the workplace) and the opportunity to excel in a wide range of sporting and cul-tural activities. Moreover, it is the experience of belonging to the KDVP family that learners fondly re-member when they leave matric and when they return to enroll their own children at their alma mater.

Finally, my thanks to Ms Mirah Langer and the learners who contributed to this edition for successfully capturing the spirit of KDVP and communicating it to our community.

Our school welcomes this opportunity to be a part of the new Junior Jewish Report, a

wonderful initiative showcasing the writing talent of our aspiring young reporters.

Liberty Life“We at Liberty are delighted to beinvolved in the Junior Jewish Re-port issues. At Liberty we believepassionately in the value of educa-tion. We wish the Jewish Reportsuccess with this exciting newproject.”

Steven BraudoChief Executive: Liberty Retail SA

Interesting results in our vox popWe went round to ask learners and teachers: What is the soundtrack to your school day?

Rabbi Ricki Seeff.Talya Granat andMichael Levensstein.

Saul

Maserow. Zoe Wein. Barak. Max Cohen. Amy Strous.

Julia

Chaskalson. Ariella and Kira Gimpel.

Art teacher, Lexi Biccard.

SACHA CRAMER AND YAEL learning, in areas such as Jewish open-minded and allowed each of

able to sit by the river and chat excit-edly with our friends.There were many other excitingevents, such as ruach (spirit) sessionswere we all sang with passion andstood arm-in-arm, proud of our unity.We felt gratified to be young JewishSouth Africans who had a chance todream about the exciting opportuni-ties in our future.

Usually after a school weekendaway, one would feel inspired formaybe a week if two at most, butwhat Encounter 2011 has given uswill be something we will hold dearfor the rest of our lives. We believethat each person leaving Meulstroom

Lodge gained something that willimpact them each day, whether it issaying thank you to a parent, lookingat a tree and smiling or waking up inthe morning and appreciating the giftof life.

As a grade we finally felt like wewere one. We were one group learn-ing and experiencing together; onegroup laughing and sharing like nev-er before over the past years of ourchildhood.There are thousands of photoswhich can show you a tableau of asecond, but no image or words canexplain what a life-changing experi-ence Encounter 2011 actually was.

Kira Gimpel, Cayla-Jade Butkow holding ruach session at Encounter.

Kira Gimpel with maddies of the encounter group.

King David High School, Linksfield celebrated Tu B’Shvat on Wednesday, starting off with an inspiring discussion with the Department

of Informal Jewish Education about the special day. A fig tree was planted with the help of Headmaster Marc Falconer and learners

Milan Levy and Demi Rosen (in the photograph). The tree planting was supported by a motivating speech from Rabbi Ovadia Sofer.

All learners dressed up in green for the day and paid R5, which was donated to the Jewish National Fund. Fruit was given out at break

and the learners thoroughly enjoyed the day. (PHOTOGRAPH: GARY BLOCK)

PARSHA OF THE WEEK

Advertisements and editorial copy from outside sources do

not neccessarily reflect the views of the editors and staff.

2 SA JEWISH REPORT 10 - 17 February 2012

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BOARD OF DIRECTORSHoward Feldman (Chairman), Issie Kirsh (DeputyChairman), Marlene Bethlehem, NormanLowenthal, Bertie Lubner, Benjy Porter,Herby Rosenberg, Howard Sackstein, JasonValkin, Elton Bondi, Michael Sieff, StevenKrawitz and Denese Bloch.

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SSHHAABBBBAATT TTIIMMEESS SSPPOONNSSOORREEDD BBYY::

The echoof Sinai

February 10 / 17 Shevat

February 11 / 18 Shevat

Parshat Yitro

18:15 19:27 Johannesburg

18:21 20:19 Cape Town

18:15 19:21 Durban

18:20 19:39 Bloemfontein

17:52 19:50 Port Elizabeth

18:15 19:39 East London

PARSHATYITRORabbi Pesach FishmanNorthcliff Shul

MOIRA SCHNEIDERCAPE TOWNPHOTO SUPPLIED

“THE ROAD less travelled” could well bethe motto of Cape Town’s Robins familywho undertook a backpacking holiday toIran last September, with the motive ofshowing solidarity with the country’sJews. And the timing over the chaggimwas to ensure maximum interactionwith the “very isolated” community.

Evan, a financial analyst, and Karen(Kallmann), a social and economicresearcher, are intrepid travelers, hav-ing traversed Russia, China, Vietnam,Cambodia, Bangladesh, Cuba, India andparts of Africa. And having Yael Lerato(7), Eitan Nkosinathi (5), Aryeh Andile(3) and Ma’ayan Nandi (18 months), hasnot stopped them in their tracks.

What’s more, Kallmann says shemakes a habit of travelling while preg-nant. “I’m always worried that once Ihave another child, I won’t be able to!”she laughs.

They travelled light: two backpacks,two day packs and a pram to see themthrough the 32-day journey.

The observant family spent 10 days inTurkey, then Yom Kippur and the chag-gim in Iran with members of the 25 000-strong Jewish community, the biggest inthe Middle East after Israel. “We wereastounded by how young the communityis,” she recalls.

And they are allowed to practise theirreligion freely “in theory”, she says.“They have a Jewish representative inParliament and in a country where youare not allowed to drink alcohol, Jewsare allowed to make their own wine.They have shuls that are very active andtheir lives are comfortable.”

While there, Kallmann had to wear thehijab, the head covering traditionallyworn by Muslim women.

The family arrived in the capital,Tehran, a few hours before Yom Kippur,having no idea where the shul was. Thenext morning they spent over two hours

The Robins family, who recently spent a holiday backpacking in Iran: Ma’ayan Nandi;

Evan Kallmann; Yael Lerato; Karen Kallmann; Aryeh Andile; and Eitan Nkosinathi.

Iran - an unlikely Jewishholiday destination

THE SINGLE most important event in worldhistory is arguably the Giving of the Torah atMt Sinai to the Jews.

It certainly is the defining moment for theJewish people. It was a national experience thatforged our values, shaped our relationship to G-d and guided our interaction to our fellowman. It unified the Jewish People in anunbreakable bond.

It wasn’t a dry communication of do’s anddon’ts - rather the very Heavens opened up andthose gathered there experienced a revelationof G-d similar to the highest levels of prophecy.That experience was imprinted on our soulsand became inseparable to who we are - anation shaped and guided by the Torah andJudaism.

Many of the basic values, worldviews andeven practices of other world religions, wereadopted and then adapted from Judaism, thusmaking it the crucial event for most, if not all ofmankind.

It isn’t surprising this momentous event wasaccompanied by dramatic smoke, lightning andthunder. It was only fitting that an earth-shap-ing event would be an earth-shaking event.

One would expect the mystical and mysteri-ous was revealed that day, 3 324 years ago. Yet, ifone looks at the details of what was communi-cated, it all seems rather simple: Don’t murder,don’t commit adultery, don’t steal, among othercommandments.

Wasn’t this an anti-climax? Couldn’t we fig-ure out much of this on our own, as so manysocieties have done? Did we need all that fussover matters that are so obvious, especially toour modern sensibilities?

First a story. Charles, an Oxford graduate isbushwhacking his way through the darkest jun-gles of Africa on an exploration mission whenhe chances on a tribe of cannibals. Soon they tiehim up and place him in a large pot. He imme-diately realises that he’s in the soup. As the can-nibals start dancing a hora around their victim,to his great relief he recognises that one ofthem is his old classmate from Oxford!

“Simba! I’m so pleased to see you. Pleaseexplain to the others who I am and release me.”

“I don’t want to let you go,” comes the reply.“But what then did you learn in Oxford?”“To eat with a fork and knife.”Manners are not morals. Etiquette is not

ethics. Advances in modern technology do notnecessarily mean advances in morality.Sometimes the only progress has been frommachetes to machineguns and arrows to air-planes.

Laws that are based solely on mankind’s rea-soning are subject to change with the shiftingconventional wisdom of the times and the soci-ety. In the hands of society, “don’t murder”comes with all types of exceptions. “Don’t mur-der”... except daughters (China and India), theelderly (the Eskimos), the Jews, Gypsies, gaysand mentally handicapped (the Nazis), the ter-minally ill (the Scandinavians) and the unwant-ed unborn (much of the world).

The G-d-given commandments communicat-ed at Mt Sinai are as necessary to guide Manand mankind today as they were millennia ago.Through their fulfilment we recapture a bit ofthat experience and hear the echo of Sinai.

I wish you and yours an inspiring andShabbat Shalom!

continuing their search. “I was so excited because as we came

near the building, I saw a man walking inwith a tallis and as we came in, all thesekids came running down the stairs.

“It was fantastic, especially for mykids, because I think the thing kids missmost is social interaction. There were afew minyanim going at the same time,people had brought food for the kids andthey kept feeding ours.”

Kallmann says things were “veryrelaxed”, with the women, although sep-arate, being very much part of the(Sephardi) service. The family found thecommunity to be really friendly and veryexcited to see them.

Simchat Torah was totally a highlight,with the women being given a Torah. “Itwasn’t an issue,” she comments.

“It’s obviously always been done -these Jews trace their ancestry to theProphet Daniel and the destruction ofthe First Temple.”

The community takes the injunction tosay 100 brachot daily very seriously, so thefamily was constantly plied with biscuits,fruit and other goodies. Word of theirarrival spread, so that when they arrivedin Isfahan for Succot, arrangements hadbeen made to pick them up for shul.

“What was incredible was that the nextday, people we had never met before, cameto our hotel with food,” she remembers.

And what of the challenges of travel-ling with young children? “They got diar-rhoea, but I think everyone who travelsdoes,” says Kallmann.

Laundry was a big mission. Her toptip? “They’re hungry all the time - youhave to have food all the time,” sheemphasises.

The family’s gesture of support to thecommunity did not go unappreciated. Ata post-Simchat Torah party, Evan wascalled on to the bimah, given a bouquet offlowers and thanked for coming to thecountry.

“I don’t know when the last time wasthat they had contact with Jews outsideIran,” Kallmann says.

KASHRUT ALERTAN UNORTHORISED BETH DIN LOGO

Bokomo Oatees Bars bears an unauthorised Beth Din logo. These products areNOT kosher certified. Bokomo apologises for the confusion and has informed thekashrut department that they are taking steps to cover the logo on all packaging.

10 - 17 February 2012 SA JEWISH REPORT 3

OPEN MONDAY - FRIDAY Closed Shabbos.

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Tel: (011) 447-0337

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OWN CORRESPONDENT

WASHINGTON - US President BarackObama in an interview on Sunday stressedthat Israel had “not yet decided” how torespond to Iran’s nuclear threat and that“there is no evidence Iran has the 'inten-tions or capabilities' to wage attacks onAmerican soil”.

But Obama reiterated that the US woulddo everything to prevent Iran from gettingnuclear weapons.

The US and Israel have not ruled out amilitary strike against the country if diplo-macy fails to resolve the standoff. Iran haswarned that its response to any such strikewill be “painful”, threatening to targetIsrael, and US bases in the Gulf, along withclosing the vital oil shipping route of theStrait of Hormuz.

Asked in an NBC interview whetherIsrael was set to attack Iran, Obama said:“I don't think that Israel has made a deci-sion on what they need to do. I think they,like us, believe that Iran has to stand downon its nuclear weapons programme.” But,he said, Israel was “rightly concerned”and the United States would work “in lock-step” on Iran.

Obama stressed he was not taking anyoptions off the table to stop Iran frombecoming a nuclear power. “We're going todo everything we can to prevent Iran fromgetting a nuclear weapon and creating anarms race - a nuclear arms race - in avolatile region.”

Obama, who is up for re-election inNovember, made clear he would not like tosee more fighting in the oil-producingPersian Gulf region.

“Any kind of additional military activityinside the Gulf is disruptive and has a bigeffect on us. It could have a big effect on oilprices, we've still got troops inAfghanistan, which borders Iran, and soour preferred solution here is diplomatic,”he added.

Republican Mitt Romney, the top con-tender to oppose Obama in the November 6presidential election, said he would starthis presidency by imposing “far tougher”sanctions on Iran and back up Americandiplomacy with “a very credible militaryoption”.

Tehran has repeatedly said its nuclear

programme centred on producing energy,not weapons, but has not responded to thelatest Western overtures for talks and hasthreatened to retaliate against US andEuropean sanctions affecting its financesand oil sales.

Meanwhile on Sunday, in a sabre-rat-tling speech, the deputy head of Iran's eliteRevolutionary Guards, told the semi-offi-cial Fars news agency that Iran wouldattack any country whose territory is usedby “enemies” of the Islamic state to launcha military strike against its soil.

“Any spot used by the enemy for hostileoperations against Iran, will be subjectedto retaliatory aggression by our armedforces,” Hossein Salami said, during mili-tary manoeuvres.

The Revolutionary Guards began thetwo-day ground exercises last Saturday asa show of military might as tension risesbetween Tehran and the West over Iran'sdisputed nuclear programme.

On a visit to Washington, Israeli ForeignMinister Avigdor Lieberman on Tuesdayspoke of the significance of further sanc-tions against Iran in his meetings at theState Department and on Capitol Hill.

“The measures that were taken in thelast weeks sent a very important messageto the entire region,” he told ForeignSecretary Hilary Clinton, according to a statement put out by the ForeignMinistry.

Later he stood alongside Senator JohnMcCain (Republican Arizona). Asked byreporters whether those sanctions weresufficient, McCain answered: “Obviouslynot, because Iran has not renounced theirpath towards the acquisition of a nuclearweapon.”

He also addressed the issue of Syria,declaring that the “blood-letting’s got tostop” and suggesting the US “start consid-ering all options, including arming theopposition”.

But the main issue under considerationduring Lieberman’s Washington tour wasclearly Iran.

That focus was underscored by HouseForeign Affairs Committee ChairmanIleana Ros-Lehtinen (Republican Florida),when she said during their meeting thetwo of them would “talk about Iran, andIran”, and later “Iran” some more.

Obama stresses Israel stillweighing Iran options

Israeli Foreign

Minister Avigdor

Lieberman

meets with US

Secretary of

State Hillary

Clinton on

Tuesday.

PHOTOGRAPH:

JEWEL SAMAD/

AFP/GETTY IMAGES.

4 SA JEWISH REPORT 10 - 17 February 2012

‘LaughingWaters’ - SelwynSegal camp

WIZO SA visitsOchberg memorial

Daf Yomi cycle: PE celebrates first siyum

CELESTE EVERITTMARKETING ADMINISTRATORCHEVRAH KADISHA

AT EVERY year’s end, Selwyn Segal arranges a summer camp for itsresidents at Camp David in the Magaliesburg area. The theme for eachcamp is different and in recent years the residents have been given theopportunity to select the theme and name of the camp themselves.

“Laughing Waters” was chosen for the 2011 camp and when a resi-dent was asked why he had chosen that particular name, he said thename described the camp as he saw it: swimming, fun, lots of laugh-ter, clowns and happiness.

Some 160 residents from the Centre and Kibbutz Lubner, includingday-care attendees, visited the campsite in five staggered, smallgroups over the camp period.

Each week a clown/magician visited the camp and entertained thecampers, which was truly the highlight of their week.

A weekly braai was also enjoyed where friends and family ofSelwyn Segal were invited to join with the campers for a deliciousmeal prepared by Roy Levinson and Steve Dewey of the Chev’s cater-ing team.

Other entertainment consisted of a variety of games and activitiesand in the evenings, there was even a disco.

In keeping with the theme, face painting was a huge success!

A WIZO SA delegation on January 21 paid an upliftingvisit to Kibbutz Dahlia and the Isaac Ochberg Park,arranged by David Kaplan.

“Despite the rain, cold and even hail, we did not let it‘dampen’ our spirits,” WIZO SA said in a mediarelease, “particularly remembering the hardships, somuch part of the narrative that we were experiencing,being immortalised for all eternity.”

The media release pointed out that it was fitting thatthe first two delegations hosted to date, had been theCanadians and the South Africans – the two countriesthat took in the orphans in 1921.

“It was truly special to have had 93-year-old SissyHarris from Haifa join us... the only surviving Ochbergorphan living in Israel.”

After listening to Harris' anecdotes, the delegationventured outdoors to see the innovative memorialwhich had been constructed - a magnificent curvedwall, resembling the bow of a boat, is embedded withplaques in alphabetical order of the 200-plus orphanssaved and brought to South Africa and Canada.

“The South African Jewish community can takegreat pride in what has been done so far to preserve thelegacy of one of its favourite sons. Isaac Ochberg notonly saved children from disease and death in theUkraine, but also left the largest tract of land evergiven by a single donor to the JNF in Israel.

“We foresee this park becoming a major touristattraction in the future and look forward to further vis-its with WIZO SA.”

RABBI SHMUEL BLOCH, PE HEBREW CONGREGATIONPHOTOGRAPH: REBBETZEN SANDRA BLOCH

WHENEVER ONE travels, one can find a Daf Yomishiur virtually anywhere in the world. Daf Yomi is aprogramme where one learns a page of Talmud a dayand completes the entire Talmud every 7 years.

The latest city to start a Daf Yomi shiur is the PortElizabeth Hebrew Congregation, which recently cele-brated their first siyum (completion) in the Daf Yomi

cycle. At the Raleigh Street Jewish Pioneers Museum,a siyum was held, completing Tractate Bechorot, afterwhich participants were treated to a breakfast.

Participating as well was Rabbi Morrison, a formerrabbi of the congregation from 1981 – 1987.

Rabbi Bloch learned together the last few lines ofthe Tractate and spoke about the importance of com-mitment and continuity. He mentioned how poignantit was to be holding a siyum in a place where most ofthe former founders of the synagogue were immi-grants and were alive in 1922 at the time that RabbiMeir Shapiro launched the Daf Yomi programme inPoland.

The Raleigh Street Jewish Pioneers Museum is thesecond oldest synagogue in South Africa. Con-secrated in 1912 by then Chief Rabbi J H Landau, itserved the community till its amalgamation with theWestern Road Synagogue in 1951.

In 1955 the current synagogue complex was built inGlendinningvale. On September 18, last year, a newrefurbished synagogue was inaugurated by ChiefRabbi Warren Goldstein.

ALISON GOLDBERG

FROM FINANCIAL chaos to proper financial plan-ning, ORT JET is collaborating with Sasfin Bank tooffer a six-week financial empowerment course forwomen, by women. The brain-child ofJewishInteractive director Nicky Newfield, it will kickoff on February 28 with proceeds going to ORT JET toteach job skills to underprivileged women.

Why not profit from shares in South Africa’s fastestgrowing companies: Richemont, Mr Price and KumbaIron Ore for instance, as Sasfin director David Shapiroshowed at its launch last Tuesday.

Where women have traditionally relied on fathersand husbands to handle their finances, the men in turnhave left it to everyone else to deal with them, quippedSasfin financial planner and course designer, NatasjaHart.

Overcoming our emotional ambivalence aboutmoney is the first step in learning to take care ofourselves. Not least for the reason that divorceshave increased and women have to raise children

themselves.The most basic objective at the end of the process is

a file in triplicate, summarising your financial situa-tion, with contact names of people dealing with differ-ent aspects of it, should something happen to you. Butthe course is more than that: risk and estate planning(a will, at the least); budgeting; and creating wealth.

Left:

Adele and

Ryan’s

happy

faces.

Below:

Campers

say

farewell

to Camp

Laughing

Waters.

Pictured are some of the South African WIZO delegation to

the Kibbutz Dahlia and Isaac Ochberg Lookout Memorial,

with an Ochberg survivor, Sissy Harris.

Natasja Hart with Nicky Newfield. (PHOTOGRAPH:

ILAN OSSENDRYVER)

Women financially empowering women

10 - 17 February 2012 SA JEWISH REPORT 5

DAVID SAKS

VETERAN communal leader MichaelBagraim (pictured), had another note-worthy entry added to his communal CVwith his recent appointment as patron toMagen David Adom SA.

This adds a Zionist dimension toBagraim’s long record of volunteer workin both the general and Jewish communi-ty, which up until now has primarilybeen in the fields of welfare, labour rela-tions and local Jewish affairs.

A specialist in labour law, Bagraimpractises as a labour law consultant inCape Town. He is today frequently in thenews in his capacity as president of theCape Town regional Chamber ofCommerce and Industry.

He joined the Cape Council in 1994 andbecame chairman in 1999. In 2003, hebecame only the second Capetonian to beelected national chairman of the SAJewish Board of Deputies, a position heheld until 2007, followed by two terms asnational president.

Bagraim has been especially involvedin the welfare field, including serving aschairman of Staffwise and the JewishWelfare Council and as an adviser onlabour and staff-related issues for a widerange of Jewish organisations.

His other community-related activitiesinclude serving as vice-chairman of theWestern Cape branch of the Associationof the Physically Disabled, as an adviserto Child Welfare and he sits on the com-mittee of the Epilepsy League.

ALISON GOLDBERG

NO LONGER may divorcing parentsenter litigation in South Africaregarding disputes pertaining totheir children without first consult-ing a social worker, psychologist,family lawyer or suitably qualifiedmediator.

The advent of the Children’s Actin 2005, which lays down these stip-ulations, has meant a more child-centric approach, “leading to a soft-ening and humanising of an adver-sarial process”, in the words of fam-ily lawyer Charles Mendelow.

Mendelow recently chaired a two-day conference for the SouthAfrican Association of Mediators inJohannesburg: the first day a seriesof talks by experts; the next a prac-tical training programme by them.

Mendelow was described by well-known divorce lawyer and speakerAlick Costa as having the ideal per-sonality required of a family lawpractitioner. The gist of Costa’s talkwas that even though you work for aclient, it does not necessarily meanhe or she is right, and that chil-dren’s needs were the determinantin final decisions.

Consensus among experts wasthat not only the articulated viewsof the child should be taken intoaccount in deciding on residence,maintenance and visitation rights,but in the case of minors, unable tospeak for themselves, their wholebehaviour, whether bed-wetting orother disturbing signs, shouldinform parents and mediators indeciding what it best for the child.

The term “visitation” itself, it waspointed out, was a term abhorrentto most children who see them-selves rather as “living” with theirparents.

Thus no age is set in consideringthe views of the child. And asProfessor Leentjie de Jong quiterightly pointed out, in the case ofchildren over 18, though they havereached their majority, many arestill at school.

Despite what the law requires,they should not have to be party toacrimonious financial supportclaims, nor have to make theseclaims themselves in a court of law.Instead, a parenting plan should beentered into upon divorce wherethey can negotiate their mainte-nance claims in the presence of both

their parents and other minor sib-lings, in the informal, private andunthreatening atmosphere of themediation process.

The general concerns of the medi-ators at the conference was thatchildren wanted to have their opin-ions known, but did not want to bethe decision-makers. The exception,attorney and psychologist SheetalVallabh pointed out, was when therewas a lack of a trusting child-parentrelationship.

But mediation is not advised incases of abuse. And according to psy-chologist Dr Lynette Roux, childrenshould never be asked to choose withwhom they wanted to live.

Mediating in high conflict cases,the subject of Mendelow’s talk,required parents, if unable to buyinto an agreement, to buy ratherinto the process of assessment orcase management. It also requiredthe involvement of other disciplines- psychologists and social workers.

For judges, such as retired JusticePercy Blieden who spoke first, andwho is known for his compassion inhis judgements, there is a strongduty on the part of legal practition-ers in divorce cases to keep the bestinterests of children as their pri-mary focus and to exercise arestraining influence upon clientswho might otherwise act in a man-ner that would escalate parentalconflict.

ROBYN SASSEN

RECENTLY, 74-year-old Lyndhurstresident Michael Kimmelman (pic-tured) donated his 300th unit ofplatelets at the SA Blood Trans-fusion Centre in Auckland Park inJohannesburg.

“I can no longer claim first place,”he explains that as he’s over 70, hemust wait four weeks between dona-tions. Younger donors can donateblood every two weeks.

Kimmelman has been donatingblood since “about 1965”. He used todonate in Hillbrow; one day, henoticed a room which containedmachines he didn’t recognise.

He learned that the machineswere “for donating platelets to helpsufferers of leukaemia, people hav-ing chemotherapy and burn vic-

they’re more necessary than blood.They’re always needed: after fivedays, they cannot be used.

“Giving platelets takes longerthan blood. After-effects include apins-and-needles feeling in yourmouth and light-headedness.

“My platelet yield is like that of a50-year-old,” Kimmelman, whokeeps active with bowls, ballroomdancing and bridge, says. He also isa volunteer for UJW’s KosherMobile Meals and Yad Aharon.

“When I was retrenched 11 yearsago, I got a letter from the UJWabout Kosher Mobile Meals. Cash Icouldn’t give. I decided to give inkind: Ever since, twice a week from06:30, I pack and deliver koshermeals.”

Kimmelman challenges the com-munity to meet or beat his record;he looks forward to celebrating his350th donation, in a few years’ time.

The SA National Blood Servicehas fixed donor sites nationally andalso mobile sites. You can visitwww.sanbs.org.za or call 0800-11-90131 for further information.

FIL

E P

HO

TO

Community stalwart MichaelBagraim new MDA patron

In divorce, the childrenshould be considered first

It’s 300 not out forMichael Kimmelman

tims”.Platelets, also called thrombo-

cytes, are essential in the healingprocess. They control bleeding andenable clotting. In the process ofdonating, the blood goes through amachine separating it: thrombo-cytes are collected and the rest ofthe blood returned to the body.

Unlike blood, platelets are not cat-egorised according to type. “Often

ON APRIL 27, democratic, post-apart-heid South Africa turns “chai”. It is the18th anniversary of the first non-racialelections that marked the conclusivepassing of white minority rule into his-tory.

Already, a substantial section of thepopulation will never have known anyother reality, having still been veryyoung during the dying days of theapartheid regime, or born afterwards.One has to have known at first-handwhat living in a state dominated atevery level by a minority racial group,with all the injustice and repressionthat came along with it, to fully appreci-ate just how very remarkable SouthAfrica’s transition was.

How has it all turned out? Afro-pes-simists, always with an eye to the gener-ally disastrous record of post-colonialAfrican countries – and especiallyneighbouring Zimbabwe – predictedthat the brave new society whose birthwas being lauded throughout the world,would inevitably mutate into anotherdisintegrating, neo-fascist Third Worldkleptocracy.

Whatever had been built up by themore advanced European settlers overthe past three centuries, would be pro-gressively mismanaged and ultimatelyruined beyond recall.

As for the much-vaunted democraticculture being launched, this would sur-vive only so long as it suited the rulingparty; once it no longer could be reliedupon to usher in an automatic majorityfor the all-powerful ANC, but insteadbegan threatening to whittle away at itsdominance, it would inevitably begin tobe phased out.

Then there was the question of howwhites would fare under black rule, andthe inevitable fears that the latter wouldset about settling old scores.

Those more optimistically inclinedbelieved that South Africa was on theverge of creating something extraordi-nary, a multiracial democracy whereeveryone had learned the lessons of tol-eration from their collective dividedpast and would now work hand in handto realise their country’s extraordinarypotential.

For a while at least, this spirit pre-

vailed, in no small part due to the amaz-ing success of the first democratic elec-tions and how this, at a stroke, brought toan end more than a decade of politicalviolence.

Nelson Mandela’s remarkable abilityto reach out to the anxious white popula-tion and make them feel that, notwith-standing what had gone before, theywere seen as valued, equal partners inthe nation building process, can also notbe overstated.

Looking at the situation nearly twodecades later, it seems that both in moreor less equal measures got it right andwrong. For the optimists, South Africahas remained largely democratic.

All subsequent elections have beenfree, fair and peaceful, the media andjudiciary remain independent and bothhave effectively challenged governmentactions where called for.

Pessimists, on the other hand, willpoint to mounting instances of govern-ment interference in the judicial process,politically connected individuals guiltyof serious crimes going unpunished and,most recently, disquieting moves by theruling party to limit press freedom.

They might also point out how in itsforeign policy, the ruling party has con-sistently sided with autocratic, anti-Western regimes, to the point of helpingstymie international efforts to addresshuman rights violations concerningthem.

Obviously from a Jewish point of view,the automatic taking of the Palestinianside against Israel, regardless of the factsof the situation, has particularly ran-kled.

So far as being a parliamentary democ-racy goes, the fact that voting now takesplace along rigid racial lines, with nocredible opposition to the ANC emergingfrom within the black majority, has cre-ated a de facto one-party state scenario.

With regard to the state of the coun-try, its infrastructure and economy, thepicture is equally ambiguous. A ThirdWorld basket case, after all, could hard-ly have pulled off so successful a 2010World Cup, not to mention all the othermajor sporting tournaments it has host-ed so competently.

Nor would it have managed to weath-er so relatively well the disastrous eco-nomic downturn of the past few years,which is a tribute to the competence ofgovernment’s financial management.

Actually, that former communistshave understood the dynamics of capitalmanagement so well is itself quite strik-ing.

That being said, the sharp decline inpublic services, lack of employmentopportunities even for those with quali-fications and countrywide breakdownsin law and order are too evident toexplain away anymore as a youngnation’s growing pangs.

It is no longer an excuse to harp onabout the harmful legacy of apartheid,even though this can never be whollydiscounted. Perhaps most disturbing isthe rampant corruption, in which gov-ernment representatives are squander-ing or misappropriating public funds infull view of the electorate, and over-whelmingly being allowed to get awaywith it.

In the race relations sphere, there hasbeen no Night of the Long Knivesagainst the white minority. There hasbeen considerable anti-white sentimentexpressed at government level, withoutthis, however, leading to official anti-white measures.

Unofficially, though, it has not beenquite so comfortable for whites. Affir-mative action continues to limit theirupward mobility in the job market, eventhough their young black competitorshave not themselves suffered fromracial discrimination.

Thousands of white farmers havebeen murdered in what at least in partseem to have been racially motivatedattacks.

One would dearly love to know, oneway or another, which way South Africais going. For the time being, however, itwould seem that the jury is still out.

6 SA JEWISH REPORT 10 - 17 February 2012

OPINION AND ANALYSIS - FORUM FOR DIVERSE VIEWS

BARBARICYAWPDavid Saks

Is the bottle half full or half empty?On trees and guns

OUR TROUBLED world seems to be tottering onthe brink of war. The threat from what analysts sayis a soon-to-be nuclear-armed Iran, and the marchtowards a military strike on that country by the USor Israel, are frightening.

Consequences could include terrorism againstAmerican, Jewish and Israeli targets worldwide,Mideast regional turmoil, and who knows whatelse. Starting a war is easy, but stopping it is verydifficult, and one never knows what unintendedoutcomes may flow from it.

The “Arab Spring” which started with so muchhope last year, has not yet produced much to cele-brate in real terms and looks like turning into an“Arab Winter”.

Syria’s President Bashar Assad continues mur-dering his people - killings are estimated at some 7 000 so far - and the UN Security Council isstymied as Russia and China vetoed a resolutioncondemning Assad. Morality is callously sacrificedto expediency in international diplomacy.

Above the warmongering, another threat looms:Global warming and climate change are alreadyaffecting weather patterns worldwide. In SouthAfrica we have recently had some of the worst heatwaves in years. In Prague, the temperature recent-ly fell to -38ºC and in Venice even the canals start-ed freezing up.

In our country, crime and corruption threaten todrown us and undo the positive changes since 1994.

Perhaps all of this explains why last Wed-nesday’s Jewish festival of Tu B’Shvat - marked bythe simple act of planting trees - has such appeal.In the face of all the acrimony, tree-planting is apeaceful, peace-giving act. It will not remove theIranian threat, stop the Syrian bloodletting, norsilence racial hatred. But it makes the statementthat the world does not have to be solely aboutthose issues.

Johannesburgers know the power of trees. Thiscity - home of the SA Jewish Report - is the biggestman-made forest in the world, with 10 million trees,most of them having been individually planted byits founders and early pioneers. This is a stark con-trast to the dry, sparsely wooded Highveld regionin which it is located.

Drive north over the city on the elevated M1motorway, and the thick blanket of trees over theneighbourhoods of Saxonwold and all the way todistant Northcliff, is an inspiring sight - the treesall but conceal the houses.

For the Tu B’Shvat week in Israel, truckloads ofover 1,1 million trees made their way to nurseriesin 1 200 communities throughout the country,organised by the Jewish National Fund (JNF). Theplan is to plant “a tree for every resident” of Israelthis month.

The city of Tel Aviv has supplied 30 000 seedlings- herbs, shrubs, perennial species and vegetables -to community gardens, schools and other institu-tions.

There will be Tu B’Shvat events in its communi-ty gardens throughout the week, including picnics,bicycle tours, composting workshops and urbannature tours.

We live in the fast-moving, “virtual” digital age,the age of mass social networking like Facebook.The savvy JNF is making use of this to promote itsenvironmental message.

The organisation is launching the world’s first“social forest”, which will allow Internet users toplant virtual trees on the JNF’s website, afterwhich foresters will plant live trees in Israel’swooded regions for their online visitors.

If war does erupt with Iran, much work will beneeded in stemming the hatred which will follow.Ditto with the aftermath of Assad’s crimes inSyria, and other conflicts. Sadly, tree-planting can-not prevent the guns and rockets from firing. Butin this world we need as many life-affirming acts aswe can get. Here the JNF is in the forefront.

WASHINGTON - Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and President Barack Obama, shown at a September 2011 meeting at

the UN in New York, are likely to meet again in Washington at the beginning of March, when decisions on Iran will be

coming to a head. Netanyahu’s office confirmed over the weekend that he would address the AIPAC policy confer-

ence on March 5, and sources say a meeting with Obama is likely. The IAEA board is meeting the same day to consid-

er its inspectors’ latest Iran report, which came closer than ever to indicting the Iranian regime for making weapons,

and it helped spur stronger international sanctions against Tehran. (JTA) (PHOTOGRAPHY: AVI OHAYON/GPO/FLASH90)

Ahead of March meetings, Israel and US close ranks on Iran

IN JUNE 1967, I remember well how I satin our kitchen with my beloved father lis-tening to the English broadcast of KolYisrael. The announcer concluded thebroadcast with the statement thatHatikvah would follow to be played fromJerusalem, united under Jewish rule forthe first time in 2 000 years.

It remains one of my most indeliblememories and I was reminded of it as Iread Simon Sebag Montifiore’s com-pelling book Jerusalem: The Biography.

As one reviewer said of the book, itstitle connotes the idea of an anthropo-morphic city and, to a large extent, that ishow Montifiore, the great-great-nephewof Sir Moses Montifiore, and a man whoplayed a significant role in the develop-ment of Jerusalem in the 19th century aswell as the promotion of the Jewishclaim to the city, treats his subject.

The clue to the book’s overarchingtheme is found in the following comment:“Jerusalem is a holy city yet it has beena den of superstition, charlatanism andbigotry… the cosmopolitan home ofmany sects, each of which believes thecity belongs to them alone.”

The violence which accompanied thecompeting claims is framed in the intro-duction which graphically describes thebrutality of Titus’ capture of the city anddestruction of the Second Temple in 70CE.

At the time, Jerusalem’s populationhad swelled with refugees and those whohad come up to the city for Pesach. Fivehundred Jews were crucified after Titusgained his victory until the Romans ranout of wood!

Having set the scene, Montifiorereturns to the construction of the City ofDavid and the building by Solomon of theFirst Temple. The sacking of the city andthe destruction of the First Temple byNebuchadnezzer in 586BCE, is seen byMontifiore as a seminal moment for thehistory of the city, not only as a harbin-ger of the destruction and desolation tocome.

As he writes, the city was thereafter tobe seen as “the venue of the Last Daysand the coming of the divine kingdom.This was the Apocalypse - based on theGreek word for revelation - thatJesus would prophesy.

“For Christians it became adefining and perennial expecta-tion, while Muhammad wouldsee Nebuchadnezzer’s destruc-tion as the withdrawal of divinefavour from the Jews makingway for his Islamic revelation.”

The history of the city there-after first confirmed and thendenied each exclusive claim. Thebook documents how pursuantto the decision of the EmperorConstantine in the fourth centu-ry to impose Christianity on theentire Empire, Jerusalembecame a centre of Christian pil-grimage.

In the seventh century, Mu-hammad ensured that a thirdreligion would lay claim to thecity, seeing it as the site of thelast judgment. While the Jews,according to Montifiore, wel-comed Islamic rule which wasfar more tolerant initially thanwere their Christian predeces-sors, the construction of the

Dome of the Rock meant that Solomon’sTemple could not be rebuilt.

From the downfall of the moderatelyliberal Umayyad regime in 750 and thepassing of the Caliphate to the Abbasidsof Baghdad, an unrelenting period ofcruelty and desolation, descended uponthe city until the emergence of Saladinin 1187, presented in contrast to the gra-tuitous violence of the Crusaders.

Thereafter the only major antidote tofurther despair was the role of Suleimanthe Magnificent in 1517 as a result ofwhich the city’s distinctive walls wereconstructed.

By the time of the First World War,Ottoman rule had disintegrated andboth Jewish and Arab nationalism hadbegun to emerge.

While the Jews received by way of theBalfour Declaration, Montifiore com-pellingly shows the expedience of theBritish as they also nodded in favour ofArab demands in order to promote their

SA JEWISH REPORT 710 - 17 February 2012

OPINION AND ANALYSIS - FORUM FOR DIVERSE VIEWS

INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT is a multi-faceted termcomprising wealth options from property or stock port-folios to life insurance. Business owners need to be cog-nisant of ways to maximise their personal and fixedasset values on a short, medium or long-term basis.

The investor should assess existing obligations, annu-ities and assets when planning an alternative strategy.

Finding a game planWhether you are looking to put together a first-timewealth portfolio, or revising your present personal port-folio, the same principles apply. This is according toWarren Ingram, a director at Galileo Capital, and 2011FPI Financial Planner of the Year.

Ingram advises potential investors that your financialplans should incorporate: your current and plannedexpenditure, your savings, your assets and your liabili-ties. These four aspects apply to everyone, from a youngperson who has just started work, to someone who isretired. This means that a financial plan also incorpo-rates your planning for retirement.

Choosing a financial advisor is in many ways akin tofinding a life partner. There needs to be unconditionaltrust, chemistry in personality and a respect for theirrespective skills - the platform for trust.

Ingram advises that one should choose a financialadvisor who is a qualified certified financial planner(CTP). This is regarded as a globally recognised qualifi-cation, and says Ingram, “is the minimum standard forprofessional advisors in South Africa”.

In terms of payment - as a financial novice, demandsfor upfront payment are unreasonable, and according toIngram, unfair on the investor. However, “ongoing(annual) fees that adjust with the value of the invest-ment, are fair.

“Initial fees are only justifiable when the advisorcharges you a fixed rand-based fee for advice. Thatmeans the fee should not be determined by the size ofthe assets involved”, concludes Ingram.

New retirement fund regulationsThe South African Revenue Service (SARS) is reputed tobe perhaps South Africa’s most efficient and world-classgovernment institution. As the tax year-end nears, it isperhaps a good idea to maximise on the tax breaksallowed by SARS on retirement annuities.

This is the opinion of Christo Terblanche, head ofproduct development at Allan Gray, who cautions that ifyour RA doesn’t comply with the asset limits set out inthe revised version of Regulation 28 of the PensionFunds Act, making an additional contribution may forceyou to bring it into line.

Time to be cognisant of your retirement planThe South African economy, though not as severelyaffected by the European and US sub-prime crisis of2007 and 2008, is not as secure as one would hope. Withspiralling unemployment, and caution among theinvestors, junior investors should at least have a planwhen looking to secure their future.

Former Finance Minister Trevor Manuel’s NationalPlanning Commission (NPC) recently released a docu-ment entitled Vision 2030, which discussed the urgentneed for South Africans to create a culture of saving inthe light of potential decreased income security.

Commenting on the need to receive assistance fromgovernment in the guise of saving initiatives, RowanBurger of the Liberty Group contends that “the need forsocial protection as an integral part of any country’ssocial development and upliftment, is well documented.

“It is absolutely essential if our country wants toachieve any success in income equality, poverty allevia-tion and even crime reduction.” he says.

However, Burger says the document should not con-sider solutions for secure long term employment as theyhave in the civil service, but focus on the needs of thepopulation who are informally or temporarily employedand where the reality is that long-term job security isfast becoming a thing of the past.

• For more information, and to read more from the aboveauthors, visit www.bbrief.co.za

Bryan Silke’sBusinessBriefKnow your business

For novice investors

Montefiore’s tome on Jerusalemwill compel debate on its future

THE JURYIS OUTDennis Davis

own war interests. The book then steers a fair course

through the struggles which took placeafter the War. He documents the Arabrejection of settlement in the ‘30s and‘40s, the Nazi sympathy’s of the Mufti ofJerusalem, the possibilities for a secularconsensus and the impact of Deir Yassin.

The book ends where my personal nar-rative began, with the recapture ofJerusalem by Israel in 1967 and therecognition of the wisdom of leaders likeMoshe Dayan who understood the impor-tance of the city to the other faiths.

But the reader is then afforded thebenefit of a reflective epilogue in which Iwas compelled to interrogate my ownconception of the city.

With the benefit of over 500 pages of history, Montfiore’s argument thatthere is no single claim to the city is dif-ficult to rebut save by way of uncriticalrecourse to one or other of the threefaiths, all of whose own history the bookhas shown are inextricably linked to thecity.

For these reasons, the book poses aseries of important questions for howthe future of the city will be negotiated.

Doubtless there will be many who willrecoil instinctively against the pluralistconclusion, but even then this majesti-cally written book will compel debate.

Trevor Stamelman: 082-608-0168 Geoff Lees 082-923-8317

Tel: (011) 885-3742trevor@stamelmanproperties.co.zawww.stamelmanproperties.co.za

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8 SA JEWISH REPORT 10 - 17 February 2012

Holocaust. The NaziPersecution and Murder of

the Jews, by Peter Longerich,Oxford University Press, 2010

(ISBN 9780192804365, R280 incl VAT).

REVIEWED BY PROFESSOR MILTON SHAIN

FOR AT least two decades afterthe Second World War, mostscholars attributed the destruc-tion of European Jewry toHitler’s evil designs, informed bya paranoia rooted in his early lifeexperiences and nurtured withina specific German cultural andpolitical environment.

Hitler’s ambitions, they argued,were apparent in his early speech-es and unveiled in his autobiogra-phy, Mein Kampf. Once in powerthe Führer ensured that Jewswere identified, marginalised,ghettoised and ultimately mur-dered.

By the late 1960s “Hitlerist”views were being challenged andplaced under the spotlight. Over-all Nazi designs were scrutinisedand the Führer’s direction ofevents questioned.

For many his role was evenminimised. Karl Schleunes artic-ulated the new research directionin the title of his important book,“The Twisted Road to Ausch-witz”.

By the 1980s two schools ofexplanation for the Holocaust hadevolved: the so-called “Intention-alists” who emphasised Hitler’spersonal direction of events andthe “Functionalists” who empha-sised policy improvisation tomeet specific wartime circum-stances.

High powered scholarly ex-changes informed articles inlearned journals and a plethora ofbooks.

Subsequently the debate settledsomewhere between the twopoles. From now on the focus wason dating the decision to murderthe Jews of Europe. Was it decid-ed upon during the euphoria fol-lowing the early successes ofOperation Barbarossa, the attackon the Soviet Union launched onJune 22, 1941? Or was it a productof the failure of OperationBarbarossa and the entry of theUnited States into the war?

All these questions are carefullyexamined by Peter Longerich inhis carefully argued “Holocaust”.Translated from an earlierGerman version - but updated to

DANIEL BEN-TAL TEL AVIV

HOW CAN local governments keeppublic spaces and roads illuminat-ed at night in places where there’sno electricity, or an unreliable sup-ply? Solar power, obviously. Butthere’s a catch.

“The vast majority of solar-pow-ered streetlights and similar fix-tures on the market don’t survivefor long,” Zeev Jakoby, managingdirector of Israeli startup GlobeLight & Water System, tellsIsrael21c. “That’s why we’vedevised a sturdy, solar-poweredlight fixture that needs no infra-structure.”

This could prove a godsend todeveloping nations where a lack ofstreet lighting results in dangerousdriving conditions and far slowereconomies.

“It’s designed with the Africanmarket in mind,” explainsJakoby, who spent many years inNigeria overseeing constructionprojects.

“In Africa, the heat, humidity,mud and dust are given factors thathave to be taken into consideration.In many places there’s no electrici-ty infrastructure, so the fixtureshave to stand alone. The othermajor issue that has to be dealtwith is criminality. Vandalism andtheft of public property is wide-spread,” he says.

With these parameters in mind,Jakoby approached the technologi-cal challenge a little over two yearsago. He brought together some ofIsrael’s leading experts in fieldssuch as design, electronics,mechanics and optics to devise aworkable solution.

“My background is in electronicsand I had the vision and under-stood the needs of this market. Ourteam was able to think out of thebox and came up with some inno-vative approaches to the issues.That’s what Israelis know how todo best,” he says.

Jakoby is not the first to think ofsolar-powered solutions for light-ing the streets of poor countries.

“Chinese companies have beenmaking similar light fixtures forseveral years now, but almost allof them involve inferior technolo-gies. They are inefficient, haveshorter life spans and breakdown far too regularly,” saysJakoby.

The GLWS Orion light fixtureoffers some fundamental designimprovements on existing systems.

“We’ve designed an all-in-onepackage - one box containing allthe parts. In other systems, eachpart is supplied separately,” saysJakoby. “It’s a modular system thatcan be designed according toneed.”

A major innovation, he says, isthe built-in microprocessor thatconstantly monitors and regulatesfactors such as bulb temperatureand battery charge.

“The problem with other solarlight fixtures is usually the compo-nents’ integration - they don’talways work together optimally.We invested a lot of thought in thisaspect, and designed the micro-processor accordingly. We use aparticularly high-quality type ofLED (light-emitting diode) lampthat can work in extreme condi-tions and does not burn out as eas-ily as the ones used by our com-petitors.

“The junction temperature ofour LED is 60 degrees Celsius. Themicroprocessor automaticallydims the light if it approaches thistemperature.”

Another advantage: “We canlower electricity consumption by anaverage of 60 per cent. This trans-lates into negating the need for com-plete power stations,” he says.

As important as its technicalaspects, is the fact that the fixtureis theft-proof, he adds. “Wedesigned the light poles in a waythat no one can steal the batteriesfrom inside. There’s also the optionof adding a CCTV camera to thepole so that anyone trying to van-dalise it will be seen from the cen-tral control facility.”

“We started in Nigeria and spreadto other countries. We’re already

developing lightingsystems for Nigeria,Ethiopia and Colombiain South America, andare in the negotiationprocess with severalother countries. Mean-while, there’s greatinterest from countriesin other parts of theworld.” (Israel21c)

Union before deporting Jews tothe east had genocidal conse-quences.

Concurrently with deporta-tions, a decision was taken tomurder indigenous Jews alreadyin provisional reception areasand to “reduce” the numbers inother areas of occupation.

Overcrowding and logisticsnecessitated new killing facilities,established in the autumn andwinter of 1941. In the final analy-sis, however, deportation, massshooting and gas vans were effec-tively interchangeable.

These various approaches wereco-ordinated at the notoriousWannsee Conference, chaired byReinhard Heydrich on January20, 1942.

Deportation and “extermina-tion through work” would con-

tinue, while new methods were atthe same time unfolding in theimplementation of the “FinalSolution”. The radicalisation andacceleration of the Nazi pro-gramme, was evident by the sum-mer of 1942.

For Longerich, Judenpolitikplayed a central role in Ger-many’s domestic politics from1933 as well as in its occupationand alliance policies that evolvedto the very end of the war.

Carefully exploring the successand failure of specific Germanalliances, including the support ofHungary and Slovakia and thetiming of breakdowns with Italy,Romania and Bulgaria, Longerichmakes a convincing case for thecentrality of the “Jewish Ques-tion” in Nazi thinking and itsimportance for strategic alliances.

A number of factors operatedwhen it came to Jews in occupiedterritories. In certain situationsmurder was accelerated, in othersslowed down, suspended or modi-fied. But throughout, the Nazis demonstrated an elasticflexibility.

Genocide, it would seem,requires a steely determinationand an ability to adapt. Longerichmakes this case in his hugelyinformative and careful analysisof the destruction of EuropeanJewry. Judenpolitik, he con-cludes, was at the centre of alldecision-making.

Professor Milton Shain teaches inthe Department of HistoricalStudies and is director of theKaplan Centre for Jewish Studiesand Research at the University ofCape Town.

‘Judenpolitik’ at centreof Nazi decision-making

Illuminating the‘Dark Continent’with solar power

incorporate crucial new EastEuropean documents - Longerichmaintains that the “Intentionalist”and “Functionalist” schools are infact complementary and not mutu-ally exclusive.

The “Final Solution” was ulti-mately the product of a complexprocess and not the result of adecision made by Hitler at a par-ticular moment. Rather, theHolocaust was embedded withinthe planned Nazi racial utopia.

Already in January 1939,Longerich reminds us, Hitler hadprophesied the “destruction ofthe Jewish race of Europe”. Butthe decisive turning point leadingto the “Final Solution” onlyoccurred with the early deporta-tion of Jews in late 1939.

In effect, maintains Longerich,deportation meant death. Here hediscounts the attack on Russia in1941 as the decisive turning pointin the murder of European Jewry.Put simply, measures taken in1941 were merely “the concreterealisation of the exterminationenvisaged in 1939”.

This is not to suggest thatLongerich ignores changes in theintensity of ethnic cleansing, pal-pably upgraded in the summer of1941. Here he emphasises the roleof Heinrich Himmler, the SSleader.

But at all times, notes Longe-rich, Hitler was fully informed.He certainly knew about theactions of the Einsatzgruppen,the motorised killing brigadesthat trailed the Wehrmacht.

Most importantly, arguesLongerich, Hitler’s decision not toawait the defeat of the Soviet

Lighting roadways with no need for electricity.

SA JEWISH REPORT 910 - 17 February 2012

Where we were able to encounter ourselves...

SACHA CRAMER AND YAEL ASOULIN, GRADE 12

ON AUGUST 30 last year, the grade

11s of King David High School Vic-

tory Park embarked on the trip of a

lifetime. Off to Encounter we went,

where we were afforded the op-

portunity to bond, obtain personal

growth, stimulation and the oppor-

tunity to observe oneself in the Jew-

ish community.

Each day was fi lled with group

learning, in areas such as Jewish

identity, self growth, family and

world appreciation. In these thought-

provoking activities we gained ap-

preciation for the world around us;

to take the time to look at an aspect

and to value its being.

Family was a signifi cant powerful

topic that everyone felt very close to;

we were given the chance to look at

our own lives and loved ones and

view our strengths and weaknesses.

Each session and group talk was very

open-minded and allowed each of

us to feel comfortable in our learning

surroundings and to get involved.

During free time we had many ac-

tivities to choose from, such as crafts

and the ever-popular volley ball.

On the last day there was a volley-

ball tournament where our room of

girls made it to the fi nals, competing

against the bloodthirsty boys of our

grade. To our disappointment, we

lost. Nevertheless, in the beautiful

surroundings of our camp, we were

King David Linksfi eld

SA JEWISH REPORT 910 - 17 February 2012

Proud of KDVP’s multi-faceted offerings

Gavin BuddHeadmaster

THE ARTICLES included in this KDVP edition

highlight the multi-faceted offering of our vi-

brant school, providing each of our learners

with a relevant and enjoyable holistic Jewish

education.

Grounded in fi rm Jewish values and tra-

ditions, the educational experience at our

school provides our learners with an out-

standing academic education (as evident

in the consistently excellent results of our

matriculants, their success in tertiary studies

and in the workplace) and the opportunity

to excel in a wide range of sporting and cul-

tural activities.

Moreover, it is the experience of belonging

to the KDVP family that learners fondly re-

member when they leave matric and when

they return to enroll their own children at

their alma mater.

Finally, my thanks to Ms Mirah Langer and

the learners who contributed to this edition

for successfully capturing the spirit of KDVP

and communicating it to our community.

Our school welcomes this opportunity to be a part of the new Junior Jewish Report, a wonderful initiative showcasing the writing talent of our aspiring young reporters.

Liberty Life

“We at Liberty are delighted to be

involved in the Junior Jewish Re-

port issues. At Liberty we believe

passionately in the value of educa-

tion. We wish the Jewish Report

success with this exciting new

project.”

Steven BraudoChief Executive: Liberty Retail SA

Interesting results in our vox popWe went round to ask learners and teachers: What is the soundtrack to your school day?

Rabbi Ricki Seeff.

Talya Granat and

Michael Levensstein.

Saul

Maserow. Zoe Wein. Barak. Max Cohen. Amy Strous.

Julia

Chaskalson. Ariella and Kira Gimpel.

Art teacher,

Lexi Biccard.

SACHA CRAMER AND YAEL learning, in areas such as Jewish open-minded and allowed each of

able to sit by the river and chat excit-

edly with our friends.

There were many other exciting

events, such as ruach (spirit) sessions

were we all sang with passion and

stood arm-in-arm, proud of our unity.

We felt gratifi ed to be young Jewish

South Africans who had a chance to

dream about the exciting opportuni-

ties in our future.

Usually after a school weekend

away, one would feel inspired for

maybe a week if two at most, but

what Encounter 2011 has given us

will be something we will hold dear

for the rest of our lives. We believe

that each person leaving Meulstroom

Lodge gained something that will

impact them each day, whether it is

saying thank you to a parent, looking

at a tree and smiling or waking up in

the morning and appreciating the gift

of life.

As a grade we fi nally felt like we

were one. We were one group learn-

ing and experiencing together; one

group laughing and sharing like nev-

er before over the past years of our

childhood.

There are thousands of photos

which can show you a tableau of a

second, but no image or words can

explain what a life-changing experi-

ence Encounter 2011 actually was.

Kira Gimpel, Cayla-Jade Butkow holding ruach session at Encounter.

Kira Gimpel with maddies of the encounter group.

10 SA JEWISH REPORT 10 - 17 February 2012

ADAM DISON GRADE 12

VICTORY PARK is a school focused on developing individuals

to reach their full capacity. I sat with the man responsible for

doing so, Headmaster Gavin Budd, to fi nd out more about

his views, vision and favourite parts of our school.

Q: What are the fi rst fi ve words that you think of

when you think about King David Victory Park?

A: Dynamic, Vibrant, Caring, Aspirational, Excellent.

Q: What is your favourite thing about the school?

A: The intellectual climate of the school. I like the interest the

learners have in learning, in academics, in doing well,

achieving. They are all individuals and quite proudly so,

which is great; they speak their mind. They have, as the

Yiddish word expresses, chutzpah.

Q: What is your vision for the school?

A: I would certainly want to build on the excellent reputa-

tion of the past: the school’s outstanding academic results,

sporting and cultural achievements. As I am particularly

passionate about the arts, I would like to build on the

school’s strong tradition and success in the performing arts.

I would also like to broaden the educational offering,

providing a holistic educational package to meet each

individual learner’s needs.

Q: What were you most impressed with when you

fi rst joined our school?

A: Defi nitely the learners. They were warm, embracing and

accepting. I enjoy their confi dence and joie de vivre.

Q: What are some of the school events you have en-

joyed attending since taking on the post of head-

master?

A: My fi rst assembly, the Matric Dance, the Grade 12 fi nal

drama practicals, the art exhibition, the De La Salle Derby

Day...

Q: What are the most important values with which

you would like to see learners leave King David

Victory Park?

A: These are incorporated in our purpose statement: “Toler-

ance, respect and integrity”.

Q: Tell us a little bit about yourself: What makes you

laugh?

A: I enjoy relating to people and listening to their experi-

ences.

Q: What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

A: Getting out into the countryside on weekends and I am

very fond of travelling overseas. I also enjoy listening to

music, playing the piano and reading.

Q: If you could meet your high school self now, what

advice for the future would you give him or her?

A: To be less frenetic and driven; to make more time to slow

down and “smell the roses”.

KDVP Headmaster Gavin Budd on

‘smelling the roses’

Education

KDVP Headmaster Gavin Budd.

TZVI LIPSCHITZ GRADE 12

ON MAY 30, 1948, just after the establishment of the

State of Israel, a group of Israeli Air Force pilots launched

an attack on Arab positions around Tulkarm in the West

Bank. One of the pilot’s aircraft was hit during the attack,

but he managed to fl y over Israeli territory ejecting 1 200

feet over the Mediterranean. His parachute only fully de-

ployed immediately before he hit the water, causing him

three broken ribs, among other injuries.

Despite his pain, he began to swim to shore, but gave

up after a couple of hours. He stood up and realised that

the water was only up to his knees. The farmers on the

Israeli coastline were shooting at him, thinking him to be

an Arab pilot as the citizens had not yet been told about

the new Israeli Air Force.

The pilot’s problem was that he knew no Hebrew and

very little Yiddish so in order to convince the farmers he

was Jewish he shouted the only thing he could remem-

ber: “Shabbos, gefi lte fi sh! Shabbos, gefi lte fi sh!”

We, as learners of King David Victory Park, feel a similar

connection to our homeland, Israel.

KDVP High School is a small school of less than 500

learners, but we have an immense connection to Israel.

Most learners at our school have, at some point in the

past, been to Israel and most of them hope to visit again.

Some say they will, if the possibility arises, “Immigrate to

Israel”.

One of these learners is Mikhael Adler, a grade 11

learner, who last year said that “Israel is my soon-to-be

home”. Saul Maserow, another grade 11 learner, said:

“Israel is (my) homeland” and: “It’s the only place, besides

South Africa, where (I) feel completely safe.”

Morah Ben Moshe, a teacher at King David, feels that

our school connects to Israel in a variety of ways: knowl-

edge and tours being among the biggest. At King David

great importance is placed on learning Hebrew and

learners are encouraged to participate in the Israel Quiz.

These things help create a knowledge and understand-

ing of the State.

Tours to Israel are held in grades 10 - 12 and learn-

ers return to South Africa with greater emotions towards

Israel. She also notes that there are a few of King David’s

past matrics who have joined the Israeli Army.

Sarah Katzew, in grade 11, says her connection with

Israel is so deep that “it is impossible to describe”. Sarah

sums up our connection perfectly when she says: “From

the people, the beauty and the history, there is no other

place quite like it on earth and I hope it continues to act

in a way that makes us proud to call it our home.”

The bond with Israel is unbreakable

Beit Midrash programme proves to be a resounding success

Israel

Judaism

KAYLA-JADE BUTKOW GRADE 12

It is our fi rst Gemorah lesson. My friends and I

walk into the Beit Midrash classroom eager to un-

derstand what this new subject is all about. We

look around, and see a man in a suit and tzitzit

standing in the front of the classroom. By way of

introduction he says: “I’m Rabbi Ricki Seeff, head of

the Victory Park Beit Midrash.

“The fi rst thing to know is that analysing the

written law without the oral law, is like a boy re-

ceiving an SMS from a girl and then sitting and

trying to decipher her feelings for him.”

From that moment on, we are all convinced…

Beit Midrash is the right choice.

The Beit Midrash programme at King David Victory Park

was started in April 2010, as an alternative to Jewish his-

tory and philosophy. According to Rabbi Seeff, the pro-

gramme was started in order to expose the Jewish youth

to the intricacy, depth and relevance of Jewish text and

Jewish thought.

The subject Beit Midrash consists of two sections, name-

ly Gemorah or Chumash and Pirkei Avot. I take Gemorah,

which is the defi ning work that encapsulates, defi nes and

elucidates the Jewish oral law.

Gemorah is one of the highlights of my week because

of the relaxed and fun atmosphere of the class. Everyone

gets involved and Rabbi Seeff allows us to get into deep

discussions about the Gemorah we are studying. Our

Gemorah class is an open environment where anyone

can voice their opinions without fear of ridicule.

The other section of Beit Midrash is Pirkei Avot. In Pirkei

Avot we learn Jewish ethics and about how one should

behave. These lessons also incorporate lots of discussion,

and are very enjoyable.

The Beit Midrash has enabled me to interact with and

understand more about my Judaism, and have discussions

that I would not have had without the programme.

When asked his favourite thing about the programme,

Rabbi Seeff said: “Interacting with such inspiring young

minds and learning more through teaching others.”

Learners celebrate Yom Yerushalayim.Barak enjoys a falafel on Yom Ha’Aatzmaut.

Stephan Morris, Saul Maserow and Bongani Mbena working hard during a Beit Midrash lesson.

Rabbi Ricki Seeff converses with Tzvi Lip-schitz, a learner.

SA JEWISH REPORT 1110 - 17 February 2012

12 SA JEWISH REPORT 10 - 17 February 2012

Arts Sport

ARTS AND culture are right at the heart of KDVP’s aims to get its learners to explore different

ways of expressing themselves. Learners are given a variety of outlets to fi nd innovative ways of

making their voices heard and for exploring their identity. Some learners tell us why they have a

passion for dance, drama, art and music.

CHAD AND KYLE EDERY GRADE 12

ONE MAY look at a picture and perhaps just see

a simple landscape. However, that landscape

and the journey to achieve it, is anything but

simple. A whole journey full of research, brain-

storming ideas, sketching, planning, making

decisions and deciding on what mediums and

materials to use, precedes the fi nal creation of

the landscape.

King David Victory Park High School is a school

full of artistic learners, overfl owing with creativity,

imagination and originality. Learners are able to in-

terpret for themselves what art is, as well as to de-

cide what different ways they will choose to express

themselves.

Each learner becomes a story teller, armed with a

paint brush and paint, a pencil and eraser, or found

materials, they transform empty canvases and emp-

ty spaces into stories.

For the learners, art is a break from the normal

school day; it’s a time for us to look around and

interpret everything we see in a different light. It is

a subject that allows one to experiment with new

techniques and mediums, from sculpture, to col-

lage, from charcoal to ink.

Art, however, is not just a subject, but a way of

life. As Pablo Picasso put it, painting is just another

way of keeping a diary. Art is an emotional outlet,

it allows the artist to learn new things about them-

selves, about their strengths and weaknesses and to

express themselves without being judged; whether

it takes the form of a squiggle or an elaborate mas-

terpiece.

Alexis Biccard, an art

teacher at the school,

says art is always a dy-

namic and evolving

subject:

“It’s one of the only

subjects that allows

the learners to express

their particular insights

about the world, at

this both exciting and

challenging juncture

in their lives. It is grati-

fying to see how learners begin to emerge with a

stronger sense of self after grappling with the proc-

ess of creating something new in this world.”

Judy Shear, head of department, agrees that in

this subject learners are their own textbooks.

“It is the nature of the subject that you have the

opportunity to learn an enormous amount from the

learners.”

Towards the end of every year the school hosts an

exciting art exhibition, where the wider community

can come and view the fruits of the learners’ imagi-

nation and labour.

Learners are eager to share their work and receive

feedback on how an audience grasps it. It also al-

lows teachers and parents to see a different side of

the learners.

As learners we are inspired by the words of an

anonymous speaker who said “art will remain the

most astonishing activity of mankind, born out of

the struggle between wisdom and madness, be-

tween dream and reality in our mind”.

JESSIE LEWIS GRADE 12

BRING TO mind the tragedies, comedies and great

gods of Ancient Greece; hear the lamentations of

Oedipus Rex as he pierces his eyes on discovering

that he is cursed; observe his daughter, Antigone,

rush to his side - she too will soon be banished for

claiming her rights as a mortal being.

She too will feature as an in-

spiration for the South African

protest plays during apart-

heid. In fact, during Nelson

Mandela’s imprisonment on

Robben Island he himself read

the great Greek plays and

played Antigone as a recrea-

tional activity.

What do we see in the dis-

tance? It’s Nora, standing up

for her rights as a woman in

the theatrical realism world

of Hendrik Ibsen’s “A Doll’s

House”. And there’s Samuel

Beckett, horrifi ed by the state

of the world and the massive loss of lives in its wars

- “Waiting For Godot” asks the rhetorical questions:

“Why are we here?” “What are we doing here?”

“Why do we exist?” Absurd no doubt. A crisis, in-

deed. Existentialism!

Dramatic arts at King David Victory Park could be

seen as one of the highlights of this school. There

is constantly something to be inspired by in drama

- whether we are studying the words of great play-

wrights, going to watch live contemporary SA thea-

tre, or sitting in class having heated debates about

world issues or themes dealt with in the texts in front

of us.

Our teacher, Renos Spanoudes, has taught us that

drama requires one to face one’s own character - in

its raw and true form - before taking on a different

one.

Through this experience you start to learn more

about yourself, seeing things that you may not want

to see, but that you need to see.

You see similarities between yourself and your

chosen character and it eventu-

ally becomes hard to differentiate

between the two. By the time

you get onto stage you are a

completely different person. The

audience is a group of complete

strangers in your mind and all you

are doing is telling your story.

You are liberated, exhilarated

and then, unfortunately, you’re

back to being yourself. You be-

come anxious, falling back into

the technicalities of drama.

“Did I remember all of my

lines?” “Was I loud enough?”

“Why were they laughing? It

wasn’t supposed to be funny!” Now, of course these

are all necessary things to take into account.

You need to learn your lines. You need to project

your voice, but one sometimes takes up so much

time worrying about these things that you fail to

connect with your character.

Through drama, you are forced to face issues

that happen around the world and you start to see

things in a new way. Drama, acting and theatre are

integral to life, creativity and expression.

Constantly inspired and challenged, I feel that my

high school drama classes will stay with me for the

rest of my life.

Healthy minds in healthy bodies

RICCI-LEE RAGOSLKY GRADE 12

KING DAVID Victory Park learners unite to share one common

interest, namely their complete and utter love for sport. They are

mad about sport, whether taking part in one of the wide variety

of sporting activities offered, or cheering on the teams.

Be sure, KDVP will be out in full force, showing much team

spirit. There is a place for every learner to take part in this aspect

of school life.

The school already offers a wide variety of sports, including

rugby, netball, tennis, cricket, swimming, soccer, squash, cross

country, athletics, water polo, chess and table tennis. However

this list is set to increase when two new sports - golf and cycling

- are added.

The head of the sports department, Darren Jordaan, says

these additions will be extremely benefi cial to the school.

“We have a number of learners who excel in these two sports.

We have learners who are involved with our sister school (King

David Linksfi eld) in doing a ride down to Durban. We also have

a number of cyclists that do the 94.7 race.

“In terms of golf we have around 20 to 30 players, so in would

be in our best interest to offer a sport such as this, which I be-

lieve would bring great exposure to our learners who enjoy this

sport.

KDVP learner Saul Daleski already plays golf outside of school.

He is excited that he will be able to take it as one of his school

sports as well.

“I am thrilled that the school will be offering golf. It is a great

opportunity to interact with other people from other schools.

I’m impressed that KDVP is always open to supporting its learn-

ers’ interests.”

Another sports-mad KDVP learner, Jacob Mendelowitz, feels

that he learns important life lessons through sport. “By taking

part in sport at school, I learn that through commitment and

dedication comes great results. This is something I apply to all

aspects of my school career.”

Win or lose, the King David Victory Park family thrives on ca-

maraderie and friendship on and off the fi eld. Jordaan himself

is adamant that sport plays an important role in encouraging

KDVP’s school spirit.

“We have an 80 per cent participation rate in the school which

shows that learners love being involved in our sports. We have

grown a very strong tradition. I am proud of our school’s sports

motto. If you ask any learner taking part in a sport: ‘For whom

do you play?’, their response will always be: ‘For each other’.”

Jordaan says he loves his job. “I am a sports mad individual

and I love seeing how sports puts learners in situations where

they are challenged and then we can see how they cope with

this.

“I am also dedicated to Jewish sports and I believe we have

learners in our Jewish community who can make it to our high-

est level in sports and I love trying to develop that.”

Adam Gordon and Tyron Sussman.

Shani Cohen.

Jessica Kaplan stretches out.

Tal Nagar.

Jessica Kaplan in “The Most Massive Woman Wins”.

“Identity” by Jake Pencharz (grade 11).

Arts and culture – it remainsKDVP’s heart throb

ART is fl ourishing at KDVP

In drama you face your own character

SA JEWISH REPORT 1310 - 17 February 2012

14 SA JEWISH REPORT 10 - 17 February 2012

TAPESTRY

ART, BOOKS, DANCE, FILM, THEATRE

MOIRA SCHNEIDERCAPE TOWN

AFTER 13 years in the game, Cape Town comedienne TracyKlass (pictured) says it is time for her first solo perform-ance away from home base. “The kids have finished matricand it’s time to spread my wings,” says the single mother ofAimee (21) and 18-year-old twins Adam and Jake.

Being a Jewish mother of three is an unlikely back-ground for a professional comic and Klass agrees she is“probably unique” in that respect. “Of course they getembarrassed,” she says, referring to her brood. “I amembarrassing!”

She is directed in Klass Struggle by Riaad Moosa, himselfan accomplished comic. I ask if there are any negativeundertones to the relationship, given the political situationin the Middle East.

“Completely the opposite,” she exclaims in surprise.“Riaad is so respectful of my family values and me of his.We’ve got such similarities. Politics doesn’t enter into it.”

That said, she concedes that working with Moosaas director is “not easy. He rips your soul out – hewants the real person on stage. He’s a very, very,very edgy comic and he encourages that edginess –it’s tough because he makes you work hard.”

Klass has drawn her material for the show frompersonal experience. “It’s my journey bringing upchildren and trying to grow old gracefully,” the lat-ter of which she finds “so damn hard”.

The show also touches on being an older personin a new society and the enormous adaptation nec-essary to cope with modern technology. “I thinkthat our adjustments have been far greater thanthose that our parents had to make,” she reflects.

“To give you a classic example: The Jewish mother kneweverything. Now there’s Google, on your Blackberry, inyour hand and you can correct your mother while she’s lay-ing down the law!”

Klass’ day job is marketing and communications officerfor the United Herzlia Schools. When I suggest that this

must be a source of much of her material, she hes-itates, saying diplomatically, “Sometimes”.

She does admit to rich pickings at shul onYomtov, though. And of course “Jews and food” is“a very big part” of the show.

“When you go to a wedding, the first thing yousay is: ‘The food was divine.’ Do you say: ‘The bridelooked magnificent?’ No.

“And G-d forbid they run out of food! I was at awedding like that (on a wine farm) and they keptsaying: ‘But we’ve got bottles of Merlot’ and all theJews were going: ‘We don’t care – we’re starving!’”

Part of the original Cape Comedy Collective,Klass says she got started in the genre as it was “absolute-ly imperative that I kept my sense of self. You can get sosucked into just bringing up the kids. You become so bor-ing and lose your ability to look at things with a differenteye.”

• Klass Struggle is at the Old Mutual Theatre on theSquare, Sandton, February 14 - 25, (011) 883-8606.

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern (Random HouseStruik, R215)

REVIEWED BY GWEN PODBREY

ONE MORNING in 1874, 10-year-old Marco is removed froma London orphanage by a tall, top-hatted magician andbegins a 20-year apprenticeship, with oneexpress purpose: to become a master sorcer-er and best his opponent in a contest whichwill take place at an unspecified time andplace.

The contest is the result of a wager betweenHector Bowen (stage name: Prospero theMagician) and his long-standing friend-cum-rival, Chandresh Christophe Lefèvre. Bowen’sown entrant in the contest will be his daughterCelia, tutored since the age of six to become abrilliant illusionist.

The two children, separated by continents,are rigorously schooled in all branches ofmagic. They are also brutalised emotionally bytheir teachers, denied any human warmth andsteered obsessively towards one goal only: towin the contest.

Neither of them knows who their opponent will be, nor dothey know what form the contest will take. But whenLefèvre opens a new and spectacular business venture, Le

Cirque des Rêves (The Circus of Dreams), and tours itaround the world, both Marco and Celia find themselvesindentured to it.

The circus itself - which operates only from sunset to sun-rise - is a surreal miasma of tents which appear, withoutwarning, on the edge of a town or city and then disappear

again, often for months or years at a time. Itcomprises dozens of enormous black-and-whitestriped tents, each offering visitors a fantasticalexperience.

One tent, for example, contains only clouds,another an oneiromancer, yet another a dizzy-ing ensemble of trapezists who defy all gravi-ty. Everything in the circus, from its sumptu-ous, fragrant food and beverages to its entic-ing acts, is seductive. Patrons assume that thisis the learnt magic of professional conjurors.In fact, it is real magic, employed by realmagicians.

The novel’s plot - and, in fact, its entireframework of cosmic good versus cosmicevil - is predictable and often paper-thin.Of course, Celia Bowen and her rival,Marco, meet, fall in love and discover a

very different (but equally potent) kind of magicfrom the one they have been forced to practise.

Neither they, nor any other characters in the book, arewell realised. Erin Morgenstern’s over-ambitious canvas is

far too expansive and messy for her to handle. But it is her ability to evoke, and sustain, a mood of eso-

teric, otherworldly suspense that has made the novel a best-seller. Imagine combining the homiletical subtext of JKRowling, the dark, fantastical humour of Lemony Snicket,the homicidal energy of Aubrey Beardsley and the eerie,gaslit tension of Victorian London, and you approach whatMorgenstern attempts to create in this - but cannot quitepull off.

Nevertheless, its themes of manipulation, empowerment,transience and diablerie versus divinity come throughstrongly enough to keep readers intrigued. As a metaphor ofpotential and possibility, the circus is apposite. And, for allits complexity, the novel’s ultimate wisdom is surprisinglysimple – and sad.

“People see what they wish to see. And in most cases, whatthey are told that they seem,” Lefèvre tells his youngapprentice. Indeed.

Cosmic good vs cosmic evil makes for a best-seller

FOR THE RECORD

PICADOR IS PUBLISHER OF MALEMA BOOK

In Gwen Podbrey’s book review “A threadbare, poorlyconceived offering” (February 3) on Fiona Forde’sbook on Julius Malema, the publisher is given asJacana, whereas in fact it is Picador Africa (PanMacMillan).

REVIEWED BY ROBYN SASSENPHOTOGRAPH: PAT BROMILOW DOWNING

Show: Phantom of the OperaWhere: Teatro, Montecasino, Fourways, (011) 511-1988When: until April 22

THIS HIGHLY anticipated production of arguably the world’sbest loved contemporary opera, is not flawless. It is so over-consumed with overwhelming you as a viewer, that it occa-sionally stumbles into eye- and ear-shattering gaucheness.

It’s unthinkable that a theatre with such critical stature asMontecasino’s Teatro cannot be bothered to warn patrons ofthe use of strobe lights, as a matter of principle. Besides, ashow with as much inherent explosive energy as AndrewLloyd Webber’s “Phantom of the Opera” doesn’t need extratechnological sparks to set it afire.

In 2004, this show, also presented by Pieter Toerien, in CapeTown and Pretoria, raised the bar for the staging of a work ofthis complexity and challenge to performers, effectivelylaunching careers for Rory Rootenberg and Andre Schwartz.The bar in question has not moved since.

Phantom tells a complex tale of the Paris Opera House, ofunrequited love, a ghostly singing teacher and time shifts. Ittells of no fury like that of a scorned ghost, but of love con-quering all.

Unlike its earlier manifestation, this production is hampered by irri-tating busyness onstage which forces it toward glib extravaganza.

While it wouldn’t be appropriate to finger staging, lighting, or sounddesign in particular, it’s a collaborative flaw: the story is replete withactivity, it’s populated by developed characters expressing real emo-tions. The last thing one needs is self-consciously clever stage tactics forfurther visual clutter.

This interpretation is also flawed by vulgar humour. Seeing the ghost(Jonathan Roxmouth) peek over the top of a sculpture on the roof of theOpera House, like a clumsy spy, after the famous love scene betweenChristine Daaé (Magdalene Minnaar) and Raoul, Vicomte de Chagny(Anthony Downing), collapses spectral dignity.

This tackiness is more aptly placed with Carlotta (Hanlee Louw), theprima donna with a persona greater than her singing skills. She isscripted as over the top; sound design occasionally takes her voice

appropriately to truly horrible levels. Having said all of that, Minnaar, who opera lovers will recognise

from William Kentridge’s Magic Flute, steals the show. Her stage pres-ence offers a range echoing the personality and crises of Christine. Sheshifts from being palpably humble and frightened, a chorus girl secret-ly tutored by a long dead professional, to having passionate authority inher vocal skill and love choices.

In parts, this show is sublime, owing primarily to a brilliant cast anda beautiful original, composed as it was in 1986, based on GastonLeroux’s eponymous 19th century gothic horror novel. The music mag-nificently layers classical phrasing with contemporary idioms, reflect-ing love with all-embracing enormity. Under Louis Zurnamer’s baton,the sound of the 17-piece ensemble is big as the show’s reputation.

Bigger, louder and brighter is seldom better. This work’s loveliness isthankfully mostly allowed to shine through all the earnest attempts toblow you off your seat.

A Klass act with much (Jewish) food for thought

Running with the ghost: Christine (Magdalene Minnaar) and the Phantom

(Jonathan Roxmouth). (PHOTOGRAPH BY PAT BROMILOW DOWNING.)

This ‘Phantom’ – from the sublime to the grossly flawed

A STROBE or stroboscopic light isused to produce regular flashes oflight at great intensity. It was devel-oped in 1931 for the study and photo-graphing of moving objects.

While it can be used to save energy,onstage it can appear to freeze orreverse cyclical motion, or to simu-late lightning. It was popularised inthe 1960s club scene; it was under-stood to emulate the effects of LSDtrips.

Strobe lights can trigger seizures inphotosensitive epilepsy as well asmigraine sufferers. An individualmight not know they are susceptibleuntil they are exposed to strobes. In1997, in Japan, an episode of the ani-mated television programme,Pokémon featured a scene depictingan explosion using flashing red andblue strobe lights. It caused 685 chil-dren to be hospitalised.

According to theatre rulings, avail-able not only to professionals but todrama students as well: “If strobelighting is to be used in a production,warnings should be posted at front ofhouse, theatre entrances and in theprogramme.” In up-to-date theatresLED technology replaces strobes.

Strobe lightsmay have side-effects

SA JEWISH REPORT 1510 - 17 February 2012

GREENSIDE SHUL IS NOT CLOSING DOWN - IN FACT IT’S MOVING FORWARDTHERE HAVE been unfounded rumours inthe community that Greenside Shul is closingdown. This is untrue.

The rabbi and committee are working hardto ensure the positive future of the communi-ty: a warm active community with a specialplace in the hearts of many people. The shulhas a fulltime chazzan, choir, a youth directorand an Eishet Chayil women’s group.

Many successful activities attracting largenumbers of people are held on a regular basisand we hold many special functions every year.

The Mina Lopato Nursery School situated onthe Greenside Shul campus is also not “closingdown”. The school is well supported with awaiting list and has a reputation for excellence.

The shul holds various shiurim during theweek and also offers cultural activities includ-ing Israeli dancing, Hebrew learning classes,regular guest speakers and arts and craftsmornings, to name but a few.

The “Greenside Eruv” has been in opera-tion for a number of years.

The Greenside Function Venue has becomea well-known wedding venue especiallyamong the Jewish community and has heldsome of the bigger weddings in 2011 and 2010,not to mention the Biltong & Pot RoastComedy show and other amazing events thatare planned for 2012.

As a result of financial difficulties whichare also being experienced by many commu-

nal organisations, the community does needto raise additional funds. Various meetingshave been held to this effect within the com-munity to explore different avenues to assistthe shul and to guarantee its sustainability.

At no stage was it stated by the committeethat the shul is closing down. On the contrary,we hope that 2012 will be a vibrant, successfulyear for us.

People wanting to join the shul, well knownfor its warmth, please contact the shul officefor more details on (011) 788-5036.

Rabbi Mendel RabinowitzAri Ben-David (chairman)Greenside Shul

DAVID SAKS SELLS THE

FEMINIST MOVEMENT SHORT

WHY HAVE PROGRESSIVES BEEN

TIPPEXED OUT?MAY I add my voice to the recent debate inthe Jewish Report regarding the neglect ofProgressive Judaism? I am dismayed to notethat this once so active, vibrant and proudbranch of South African Jewry, has virtual-ly been tippexed out.

Take, for instance the otherwise very com-prehensive “Jewish Guide for Jozie”’, whichwas published last year. Were a Jew from,say, America or England to arrive inJohannesburg, and being from one of themany and varied congregations there, wishto find out where to go, he would believe thatsuch congregations do not exist. They haveno mention whatsoever.

When I think back to my childhood in the‘50s/’60s in Cape Town and the vibrancy andrange of activities presented by TempleIsrael under Rabbi Sherman and the enthu-siastic committees, “Sisterhood” and ”Bro-therhood”, it is sad that all that is no more,and what there is, is ignored.

Apart from all the extra activities thatwent into the religious observance sur-rounding Shabbat and the festivals, therewas the youth group, cubs and scouts,dances, dinners, father-and-son events,fundraisers, annual fete, charity do’s, chil-dren’s concerts, seders, Purim parties, etc,etc. Far from being a watered-down versionof Jewish life, as the Reform congregationsare viewed today, it was all-embracing.

Sonja BulkinHighlands North, Johannesburg

LETTERS The Editor, Suite 175, Postnet X10039, Randburg, 2125 email: carro@global.co.za

Disclaimer: The letters page is intended to provide opportunity for a range of views on anygiven topic to be expressed. Opinions articulated in the letters are those of the writers and do notnecessarily reflect the views of the editor, staff or directors of the Jewish Report

Guidelines for letters: Letters up to 400 words will get preference. Please provide your full first nameand surname, place of residence, and a daytime contact telephone or cell number. We do not publish let-ters under noms de plume. Letters should preferably be e-mailed. Letters may be edited or shortened.

I REFER to David Saks’ column with theheadline “Trying to escape an all-pervasiveimpurity”, (SAJR January 27).

While agreeing with him that the publicis bombarded by odious and degradingpropaganda under the guise of “promotionof sexual liberation”, I must take issue withhim regarding the role of the feministmovement.

The feminist movement was formed inreaction to the exploitation of women assexual objects, particularly poor, uneducat-ed rural women who had no alternatives.The same values apply today when femi-nists protest against degrading depictionsof women in the media.

The prevalence of educated and compe-tent women in the modern world, has pro-duced outstanding leaders in the fields offinance, politics and the social sciences, toname but a few examples. These womenhave nothing to do with pornography orpromiscuity.

Why not rather blame certain promotersin the so-called “entertainment industry”of cheap movies, bawdy pop culture, adver-tising and internet and cell phone porno-graphy, most of whom, I guarantee you arenot women.

Incidentally, sexual exploitation beganlong before the period of the 1960s. Weknow that poor girls from tiny EastEuropean shtetls were lured to Americaand South Africa by promises of marriage,riches and employment, only to be trappedin a life of prostitution.

The 19th and early 20th centuries, seem-ingly so decorous, was a period of theutmost hypocrisy.

As for the recent incidents involvingattacks by certain haredi men on innocentand defenceless women, one can only befilled with a sense of shame and despair.We are commanded as Jews to observe andstudy the Holy Texts in a spirit of submis-sion and humility. Moreover, the intensityof this study requires the utmost concen-tration, to the exclusion of all outside activ-ities.

Where was the humility of these men,lying in wait for the next defencelesspasserby, woman or child, on whom to venttheir spleen? Even if the passerby is notJewish, are we not commanded to showmercy and kindness to the stranger,because we were once strangers in Egypt?

Perhaps senseless hatred of one’s fellowhuman being is an even greater scourge ofour modern world than pornography.

Naomi MusikerJohannesburg

16 SA JEWISH REPORT 10 - 17 February 2012

LETTERS The Editor, Suite 175, Postnet X10039, Randburg, 2125 email: carro@global.co.za

ABOVEBOARDMary Kluk, National Chairman

A column of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies

COMMUNITY COLUMNS

This column is paid for by WIZO

OUR GROUP of 18 enthusiastic dele-gates to the World WIZO Conferencein Israel, has just returned, all firedup and raring to go.

The names of the speakers whoaddressed us on politics, economics,the status of women, freedom of thePress, security and IT, reads like averitable Who’s Who of Israeli intelli-gentsia and provided us with a wealthof interesting information.

There was a day of real “Tachlis”too in the form of sessions on publici-ty and communication; organisationand education, fundraising andempowering children at risk. We hadthe opportunity to share ideas, askquestions and gain a greater under-standing of the many WIZO depart-ments that make up WIZO Israel.

Then there was the tour day: 16buses of women from 50 federationstoured WIZO projects and uniquesights. For instance, bus No 6 includ-ed WIZO facilities in Herzliya andHaifa and a fascinating visit to AtlitCamp which served as a detentioncentre for Jewish immigrants, most ofwhom were Holocaust survivors,seeking refuge in Palestine during theperiod of the British Mandate.

An up-to-the-minute fashion show,showcasing top Israeli designers; avariety show of talented performersfrom various WIZO schools, with

guests of honour including IsraeliPresident Shimon Peres; a concertwith stars such as Dudu Fischer; anda gala dinner, provided the delegateswith an opportunity to sparkle andexchange tidbits and addresses.

The highlights for us were theappointment of Laurienne Baitz fromDurban as the International Aviv rep-resentative to the World WIZO execu-tive (a post she will hold for two years)and the honouring of our immediatepast president, Lorraine Rosmarin,making her an honorary life memberof the World WIZO executive. Kolhakavod to them both.

Proudly, we were able to see the dif-ference we make in the lives of ourbeneficiaries and we stood tall whenthe president announced that WIZOSouth Africa has committed to build-ing a fifth cottage at Neve Wizo, forchildren at high risk.

The cherry on the top was the elec-tion of Tova Ben Dov, who has suchstrong links with South Africa andwhose daughter Tamar Lazarus is avice president of WIZO SA, as the newpresident of World WIZO.

We wish the outgoing president,Helena Glaser, great success in hernew career as vice president of theZionist General Council and congrat-ulate Tova and her executive commit-tee on their election to office of thisgreat global organisation calledWIZO.

IN THE course of his address at the openingnight of the SAJBD’s national conference lastyear, Deputy President Kgalema Motlantheappealed to the Board to assist in addressing thepressing challenges of education and skillsdevelopment facing the country.

The SAJBD, he said, was well positioned tomake a contribution in this regard because ofthe skills, knowledge and influence its memberswielded as significant role-players in the SouthAfrican economy.

We have made answering the DeputyPresident’s call one of our main projects for 2012.This will in turn be linked to our marking of theSAJBD’s centenary as a united, national body.

The most meaningful way for us to celebratethis milestone would be for us, as the represen-tative body for South African Jewry, to harnessthe resources of our community – countrywide– for the benefit of the greater society.

The way we are approaching the challenge isthrough a two-stage process. The first is to estab-lish exactly what is already being done by theJewish community all around South Africa, bothat the organisational and the individual level, inthe educational and skills development spheres.

This necessary “stock-taking” process willprovide us with a better idea as to how Jews arecontributing, which projects have been espe-cially successful and what resources andexpertise might be available for further develop-ments.

It would perhaps be premature to proposenew outreach projects before knowing what isalready out there.

Once we have determined this, we can move

on to the next stage, which is to identify ways inwhich what is already out there could be betterharnessed and extended upon.

The possibility of bringing in Jewish skillsand resources from further afield, will alsoform part of this, given the interest that manyJewish welfare workers internationally haveexpressed in somehow getting involved.

In due course, all this will be formally pre-sented to the Deputy President with a view, wehope, to fostering constructive working partner-ships between government and Jewish out-reach bodies.

The first stage of the project is already welladvanced. Our professional staff has met with awide range of Jewish organisations and individ-uals involved in the outreach field, and a com-prehensive database is being compiled.

What has already become clear is thatthere are a great many worthy projects beingrun by community members and even ouraffiliate organisations that we have beenunaware of.

Undoubtedly, we will learn of many more inthe course of our research. However, withoutthe participation of our community, it isinevitable that important projects will end upbeing overlooked.

I would like, therefore, to appeal to everyoneinvolved in educational and skills developmentinitiatives, or who are aware of other suchJewish-headed activities, to please let us knowabout them so that we can add the relevantdetails to our database.

The contact person in this regard is StevenGruzd: steven@beyachad.co.za.

Skills development:Our communitycontribution

A column of WIZO South Africa

WIZO South AfricaYvonne Jawitz

This column is paid for by the SAJBD

Shalom and ahappy 2012

THE TIME IS NOW, PEOPLE!I AM NOT sure about others, but I for one,am heartily exhausted with the hate festthat thrives in the Middle East. One simplyhas to scour facebook to discover howmany pages are devoted to recording “theevil that you do” as seen by either theIsraeli camp or the Palestinian supportgroups.

At last, after growing weary of the wallof disrespect, lack of humility and down-right nastiness that thrives in cyberspace, Ifound a facebook site called “Time is Now”.

“Time is Now” is the brainchild ofAmerican Rodney Anderson, and is agroup which is growing rapidly, as moreand more people who are also fed up withthe negative approach to the problems,come to seek answers. Made up ofPalestinian, Israeli, American and Euro-pean activists in the main, the group seeksa way to peace and dignity.

In September 2011, a Global DrummingCircle was launched, supporting all peacemovements across the world. The event onInternational Peace day was tailored for“Time is Now’s” declaration of peacebetween Israelis and Palestinians.

This group believes that empathy for theother lies at the heart of dignified relation-ships, and that dialogue and active listen-

ing are central tools in the advancement ofdignity.

“Palestinians and Israelis have all suf-fered, in different ways, from prolongedconflict,” says Rodney Anderson.

“We must strive to surpass victimhoodand we take responsibility for the future.Embracing the above principles, we pro-pose to create events in theIsrael/Palestine region, beginningSeptember 2011 through to the end of2012.”

“Time is Now” will bring together adiverse multitude of NGOs, organisations,artists, healers, peace activists fromIsrael/Palestine and from abroad, unitedin our common quest for dignity. Theprocess leading to, during, and followingthe festival, will be characterised by digni-fied and empowering interactions betweenall players.

Rodney’s group promises to demonise noone and to instead humanise everyone,reaching beyond the “peace camp” tomainstream Israelis and Palestinians.

I for one, look forward to a peaceful,meaningful culmination of this event.

Gill KatzVictory Park, Johannesburg

THESE BRACELETS TRULY BRING HOPEI WOULD like to compliment the JewishReport in general and Robyn Sassen in partic-ular, for a wonderful article on the JewishWomen’s Benevolent Society’s “Bracelets ofHope” project (SA Jewish Report February 3).

We have had the most overwhelmingresponse from the article and people havecontacted us from as far away as BocaRouton and Los Angeles, as well as Cape

Town, to enquire about buying and sellingbracelets on behalf of the JWBS.

Thank you so much for a very informativeand worthwhile article and we at Benevolentlook forward to sharing many more successstories with your fabulous newspaper.

Glynne WolmanMorningside, Sandton

REMEMBER: ‘A JEW IS A JEW IS A JEW...’I COULD not agree more with CedricBraudo (SAJR January 20) thatProgressives are being neglected on thepages of Jewish Report.

It is almost impossible to believe thatwith all the challenges that Israel and theJews have to face, we still find the opportu-nity to discriminate against our own, par-ticularly since discrimination against allothers is forbidden.

Are Progressive Jews lower than othersbecause they are not Orthodox? Have wefound a new meaning to “a bittere gel-legte”?

How is it that the Chief Rabbi and someof the “Orthodox” community cannot finda way to accept the differences andembrace the fact that we are all Jews andequals?

People around the world have multiple

choices and many of them choose to hateand discriminate against Jews withouteven knowing one, or understanding thefaith and what it is and means to us all.

It is a disgrace to us all to witness andaccept internal discrimination among our-selves.

What happened to the most importantword in Judaism and Hebrew - shalom?Can we not find it among ourselves: a Jewis a Jew is a Jew?

I’m sure we all look to the leadership ofthe Chief Rabbi to lead South AfricanJewry and world Jewry out of this enigma.

South Africa took the lead in 1992; whatabout the South African Chief Rabbi tak-ing the lead in 2012 (20 years later)?

David Blend Sydney

MICROWAVES MAY BE A BIG ENVIRONMENTAL HAZARDCONCERNING YOUR article “Israel can playan important role in climate change debate”, Imention another environmental hazard –microwaves.

Microwaves go right through walls, sosomeone with a bad microwave oven nextdoor can cause radiation to get to you.

In poor areas people may not have money torepair microwave ovens. Also wax and paraf-fin focus microwaves well so that round fat

candles and big bottles of paraffin (found inpoor areas) could cause spots of high intensi-ty microwaves in a room.

Readers can get more information on the overall focusing of microwaves athttp://www.vias.org/basicradio/basic_radio_39_07.html

Eddie MillerPort Elizabeth

DEAFENING SILENCE OVER ASSAD’S ATROCITIESI AM speechless at the indifference anddeathly silence of the media civil society,the ANC/SACP and Cosatu over the mas-sive slaughter carried out by the genocidalAssad regime in Syria against the popula-tion of that country.

When Israel retaliates against rocket fireby Hamas into Israel’s towns andPalestinians casualties make up but a frac-tion of the number now being killed in Syria,the newspapers and other media scream outlarge front page headlines, castigating Israel.

They are frenetically pumped up withrage; Cosatu, the Treatment ActionCampaign and the various Muslim organi-sations in South Africa embark on aggres-sive mass marches and the South Africangovernment recalls its ambassador toIsrael.

Here we have a regime that is mass mur-dering women and children and yet hasreceived no condemnation from theANC/SACP alliance - the same regime thatcut off ties with Israel for responding inself-defence to a ship full of armed terror-ists invading her waters.

Why are there no mass marches byCosatu and NGOs on the Syrian embassy?

Why no activities at the universities wherethere is always such rabid anti-Israel activi-ty by the self-proclaimed custodians ofhuman rights?

If one Hamas terrorist is killed, SouthAfrica catches fire; if thousands of Syriansare killed by the Assad regime, there is nomention of it in South Africa at all.

There has been little coverage in themedia, no demonstrations, no declarationsor petitions about the Syrian atrocities.

I suppose all of these entities will findtheir voice to protest if the Western democ-racies step in to stop the slaughter. Thenwe’ll hear about their outrage at “Westernimperialism”.

There is also a tendency among all theseentireties in South Africa to excuse or evensupport any tyrannical mass murderingregime, no matter what the extent of atroci-ties is, as long as it is anti-Western or anti-Israel.

Is there no end to the hypocrisy of the left-ist establishment that dominates all dis-course in South Africa?

Gary SelikowJohannesburg

10 - 17 February 2012 SA JEWISH REPORT 17

MOIRA SCHNEIDERCAPE TOWNPHOTOGRAPH: SHANA ISSEROW

IN 1974, Evan (8) was diagnosedwith leukaemia and given threemonths to live. After his death some19 months later, the advice given tohis parents was to have anotherchild to “take away the pain”.

“I am the other child,” MarcLipshitz said, addressing the sub-ject of “Bereaved parents and sib-ling loss” at the biennial NechamaCounselling for the Bereaved semi-nar.

Lipshitz, Nechama’s psychologi-cal services co-ordinator, comment-ed that the role of psychologist - “tofix and make things better” - hadbeen set up for him prior to concep-tion.

“I remember feeling responsiblefor my mother,” he said, describinga symbiotic relationship that haddeveloped between the two. “Iplayed therapist for her and lost myidentity.

“My friendships and romanticrelationships were all about rescu-ing others in emotional distress.”

Lipshitz noted that in the past,the grieving process was thought tobe about detaching one’s ties to thedeceased. It was also assumed thatit was time-limited, with anythingbeyond two years being considered“maladaptive”.

In the 1980s, it was understoodthat complete detachment from thedeceased was neither possible nordesirable, that the grieving processinvolved alternating periods ofintensification and subsiding ofsymptoms and was “highly individ-ualistic”.

On the impact on surviving sib-lings of the loss of a child, Lipshitzsaid they were “by and large simplyforgotten about because all thefocus is on the bereaved parents.Bereaved parents simply do nothave the emotional capacity to par-ent surviving children.

“My two older sisters were notgiven permission to grieve theirlate brother. All the attention wason me, the replacement child – theirloss went unnoticed,” he stated.

In becoming a “parental child”,Lipshitz’s childhood had beentaken away from him, he said. Inaddition to his feeling “suffocated”,his sisters resented him for “steal-ing all the attention and love”.

Carin Marcus was 11 years oldwhen she lost her father in theHelderberg air disaster.

Addressing the topic, “Silentgrief - grief and bereavement inchildhood”, she described child-hood loss as “a wound that’s thereforever”.

Marcus, a clinical social workerin private practice in Johan-nesburg, noted that the child’s griefwas often not spoken about, withthe attitude that he “seems to bedoing okay” often expressed. Shepointed out that grief was a reac-tion to all loss, including the situa-tion of divorce.

As much as one wanted to protectchildren by not talking to themabout death, one was in fact deny-ing them the opportunity to developskills, she maintained.

Childhood grief was not homoge-nous but rather age appropriate. Itwas silent grief, with actions speak-ing louder than words.

When asked how he is, a child

AROUND THE WORLDNEWS IN BRIEF

JEWISH LEADERS PLEDGE TO REDUCE GREENHOUSE GASES

NEW YORK - Fifty Jewish leaders have signed a pledge to reducegreenhouse gas emissions in advance of Tu B'Shvat.

The communal leaders and rabbis from the Conservative,Orthodox, Reconstructionist, Reform and Renewal movements onMonday signed The Coalition on the Environment and JewishLife's "Jewish Environment and Energy Imperative" declaration.

In the declaration, signed during an official ceremony inManhattan, the leaders set the goal of significantly loweringgreenhouse-gas emissions, advocating for energy independenceand security, and reducing the Jewish community's energy con-sumption 14 per cent by 2014.

"The need to transform the world's energy economy whileaddressing global climate change is not only a religious and moralimperative," the declaration states, "it is a strategy for securityand survival".

The year 2014 is the next sabbatical, or seventh year, on theJewish calendar, a traditional time to refrain from impacting theearth.

Tu B'Shvat, the New Year for Trees, began on Tuesday night,with tree plantings the next day. (JTA)

ISRAEL’S LIEBERMAN MEETS CLINTON IN WASHINGTON

WASHINGTON - Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman hasreconfirmed his commitment to a two-state solution during ameeting with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton inWashington.

Lieberman, who arrived on Monday for a three-day visit, andClinton reportedly talked on Tuesday morning about the situationin Syria, recent elections in Egypt and the Israel-Palestinianpeace process.

After the meeting Lieberman “thanked (Clinton) for the deter-mined stance of the United States on the Iran issue and said thesteps taken in recent weeks send an important message to theentire region”.

Later in the day, Lieberman met with Senator John Kerry(Democrat Massachusetts), chairman of the Senate ForeignAffairs Committee, and Senator John McCain (RepublicanArizona). (JTA)

BILL WOULD PROVIDE FINANCIAL AID TO YOUTH WHO

LEAVE HAREDI WORLD

JERUSALEM - A Knesset member from the left-wing MeretzParty has authored a bill that would provide financial aid to youngpeople who leave the haredi Orthodox fold.

The bill being advanced by Zehava Gal-On, would provide afinancial aid package similar to one given to a new immigrant tothe country, Haaretz reported.

Hundreds of youth who leave haredi Orthodoxy each year facefinancial hardship and difficulty in getting a higher educationbecause their schools do not teach all the core subjects requiredfor a matriculation certificate, according to Haaretz.

The aid would amount to more than $13 000, according to thereport.

Meanwhile, an organisation that works to help former haredimto reconcile with their families, is putting together a class-actionlawsuit against the state that says the former haredim should becompensated for their lack of a basic education in the core sub-jects, necessitating them to spend a large amount of money tocatch up on the material, Ynet reported.

The Maavar Association told Ynet that it would file the lawsuitin the next two weeks and that the case would be handled on a pro-bono basis.

"Whoever studied in haredi schools without core issues (includ-ing those who are still haredi) and has been forced to completematriculation or psychometric exams, losing years of work or suf-fering any other financial damage, is invited to send us his person-al details," Maavar said in a post on its Facebook page, accordingto Ynet.

An estimated 200 plaintiffs are expected to join the suit. (JTA)

Avigail Popack

(executive direc-

tor); Marc

Lipshitz (psycho-

logical services

co-ordinator);

and Pauline

Sevitz (past direc-

tor) of Nechama

Counselling for

the Bereaved, at

the organisation’s

biennial seminar.

Grieving has so many faces...might simply say, “Fine.” “We leavethe silence without the courage tounpack it further,” she stated.

Marcus’s brother was three atthe time of their father’s death. “Henever knew my Dad at all,” shesaid, whereas she at least had mem-ories of him attending her balletconcerts.

“It was our responsibility to helpAdam understand who this personwas who died. We need to recogniseand support grieving children,” sheadded, saying their world wouldnever be the same again.

“I tell people: ‘Don’t make a childfeel responsible for the family or abereaved mother’ because they cannever reclaim that loss (of child-hood) either. We need to listen outfor feelings of responsibility on thepart of the child for the death.”

As for “repetitive questions”,Marcus said these helped the childto “gain mastery of the situation.Children need sufficient informa-tion which must be honest and age-appropriate.”

Routines should be maintainedand activities for expression of feel-ings provided. One should watchout for changes in eating and sleep-ing habits, schoolwork and otheractivities.

There was no blanket rule as towhether a child should attend afuneral. “It depends on how thefamily feels, whether the childunderstands what a funeral is, aswell as cultural attitudes towardschildren attending,” she said.

“Not all kids need counselling,”she added. “You think you have togo out and find the best therapist -the truth is, often what’s there isokay and it works.”

‘Rising air pollution worsens droughtand flooding’JERUSALEM - Increases in airpollution and other particu-late matter in the atmospherecan strongly affect clouddevelopment in ways thatreduce precipitation in cooland relatively dry regions,such as Israel in winter, butalso can increase rain and theintensity of severe storms inwarm and moist regions orseasons, such as the easternhalf of the US during summer,says a new study by researchers from the HebrewUniversity of Jerusalem and the University ofMaryland.

The research provides clear evidence of howaerosols - soot, dust and other small particles in theatmosphere - can affect weather and climate. Thefindings have important implications for the avail-ability, management and use of water resources inregions not only in Israel but around the world, saythe researchers.

Using a 10-year dataset of extensive atmospheremeasurements from the US Southern Great Plainsresearch facility in Oklahoma (run by the USDepartment of Energy’s Atmospheric RadiationMeasurement programme), the researchers uncov-ered, for the first time, the long-term, net impact ofaerosols on cloud height and thickness and theresultant changes in precipitation frequency andintensity.

This study confirmed and showed the importanceof the theory developed by Prof Daniel Rosenfeld ofthe Hebrew University of Jerusalem in his previousstudies. The authors of the new study, who pub-lished it, along with Prof Rosenfeld, are ProfZhanqing Li and Feng Niu and Yanni Ding of theUniversity of Maryland; Jiwen Fan of PacificNorthwest National Laboratory; and Yangang Liuof Brookhaven National Laboratory, Upton, NY,The article appeared in a recent issue of NatureGeoscience.

The findings have significant policy implicationsfor sustainable development and water resources,especially for those developing regions susceptibleto extreme events, such as drought and floods.Increases in manufacturing, building of powerplants and other industrial developments, togetherwith urbanisation, are often accompanied withincreases in pollution whose adverse impacts onweather and climate, as revealed in this study, canundercut economic gains, it was stressed.

The aerosols, tiny solid or liquid particles sus-pended in air, include soot, dust and sulfate particlesand are what we commonly think of when we talkabout air pollution. Aerosols come, for example,from the combustion of fossil fuels, industrial andagricultural processes, and the accidental or deliber-ate burning of fields and forests. They can be haz-ardous to both human health and the environment.

Aerosols also affect cloud microphysics becausethey serve as nuclei around which water droplets orice particles form. Both processes can affect cloudproperties and rainfall. Different processes maywork in harmony or offset each other, leading to acomplex yet inconclusive interpretation of theirlong-term net effect.

“When the air rises, the water vapour condenseson aerosol particles to form cloud drops. In cleanerair the cloud drops are larger due to fewer drops andhave better chances of colliding to form large raindrops. In polluted air, more and smaller drops areformed. They float in the air and are slow to coa-lesce into rain drops,” says Prof Rosenfeld.

“With a small amount of moisture, most clouddrops never become large enough for efficient pre-cipitation, and hence rainfall is reduced. The rainthat is withheld in moist, polluted, deep cloudsfreezes at higher altitudes to form ice crystals oreven hail. The energy released by freezing fuels theclouds to grow taller and create larger ice particlesthat produce more intense precipitation. Thisexplains why air pollution can exacerbate bothdrought and flood,” says Rosenfeld.

This may partially explain Rosenfeld’s finding inanother study that there are more severe convectivestorms during summer on weekdays compared toweekends in the eastern United States, becausemore pollution is emitted during the working week-days than during the weekend.

Support for this latest research was provided bythe Department of Energy, NASA, the NationalScience Foundation and the Chinese Ministry ofScience and Technology.

18 SA JEWISH REPORT 10 - 17 February 2012

WHAT’S ON Sharon Akum sharon@sajewishreport.co.za

PLEASE NOTE: Deadline for all entries is 12:00 on the Friday prior to publication, without exception.D E A D L I N E

BRIDGE IS a game with a large num-ber of rules and guidelines, and if mostplayers simply followed them withoutquestion they would do pretty well. Butit’s also a game of common sense -something which West did not thinkenough about on today’s hand.

South was guilty of some seriousoverbidding when he carried on to 4S.North could also have done better byusing the “cue bid raise” - a 2C bid,showing a “good” raise in spades,allowing the partnership to stop at thetwo level if necessary.

Declarer took the ace of hearts indummy, and taking note of the 1NT bidby West, which promised a spade stop-per, he played A-K of spades, foregoingthe finesse. He then played a diamondto the jack and king, followed by anoth-er diamond to West’s ace.

West, a student of the game, but aplayer who tended to follow rules blind-ly without sufficient thought, immedi-ately cashed his master queen ofspades, and then continued with aheart, taken by East. He switched to aclub, but declarer put up the ace andran the remaining diamonds, pitchinghis losing club.

“We never got our club trick,” saidEast.

“Yes I know,” replied West, “declarerdiscarded it on the diamonds before wehad a chance to get it.”

“But why did you cash the queen of

spades after winning the ace of dia-monds?” continued East. “If yourefrain from playing it and continue aheart, I will win, and knowing youstarted with three cards in hearts (youled the six and then played the nine) Iwould switch to a club. Then, whendeclarer tries to run the diamonds, youruff in early and we get that club trick.”

“You are quite right, but I was taughtthat as a defender one should alwaysplay the last trump if it is a winner,especially if one is getting two of theirtrumps for one of ours.”

West was right in theory, but there aretimes when it is correct to withhold awinning trump, and this hand is a casein point. The moment he released thelast trump, declarer was in a position torun off the diamond suit uninterrupted.

Every Tuesday (Intermediate) andWednesday (Advanced) I run bridgeworkshops from 10:00 – 12:00 at theGreat Park Shul; corner Glenhove Roadand 4th Avenue, Houghton - alternatingwith play hands one week and a biddinglecture on the other. For more informa-tion, call me on 082-551-2526 or e-mailme at jeffshirl@telkomsa.net

THE BRIDGE LOUNGE by Jeff Sapire

West dealer, neither vulNORTHA92A32KQ109276

WEST EAST Q107 83J96 KQ754 AJ 63KJ954 Q1082

SOUTHKJ6541088754A3

East South West North1C 1D

1H 1S 1NT 3SP 4S All passOpening lead: H6

Prof Daniel

Rosenfeld.

Today, Friday (February 10)

• UZLC hosts Jack Slier who will talk on“Shanghai Today”. Venue: Our Parents Home.Time: 12:45 - 14:00. Contact Gloria at 072-127-9421 or (011) 485-4851.

• RCHCC hosts an audiovisual presentation byLyonell Fliss - “Jewish Berlin”, the relation-ship between the German Jews and Germansduring the last most traumatic 100 years, fol-lowed by the acclaimed film “TheHarmonists” Time: 19:30. Booking: Hazel orRené (011) 728-8088/8378), after hours(011) 728-8378. E-mail: hazelc@greatpark.co.za orrenes@greatpark.co.za.

Sunday (February 12)

• JNF and Israel Centre invite you to “JNFJungle” to celebrate Tu B’Shvat. Be involvedin Israeli drumming, live cheetah presenta-tion, cuddly jungle plants and creatures.Refreshments on offer. Bring your picnic andrelax. Time: 11:00 – 14:00. Venue: SandtonField and Study Centre, Parkmore. Cost: R50per adult, children free. Contact: (011) 645-2541 or jnf@beyachad.co.za

• Second Innings hosts pianist Tony Bentel on“Intermezzo - The Music Between YourMemories”. Venue: The Gerald HorwitzLounge, Golden Acres. Time: 10:00 for 10:30.Cost: R20 for members, R40 for non-mem-bers. Contact Grecia Gabriel (011) 532-9718.

• Big Band Music Appreciation Society meetsin the Jeffrey auditorium at St John’s Collegein St Johns Road in Lower Houghton at14:15, with a selection of good audio andvideo material, featuring the great bands ofyesteryear. For further information phoneDave on (011) 885-3525 or Barney on (011)440 1996.

• RCHCC invites you to an exhibition of newworks by Trevor Coleman, titled“‘Samarkand”, comprising paintings, photo-graphs and colour sketches of his trip toUzbekistan. Antoinette Murdoch, chief cura-tor, Johannesburg Art Gallery, will open theexhibition. Venue: Clive M Beck Auditorium.Time: 18:00. Booking: Hazel or René (011)728-8088/8378, after hours: (011) 728-8378.

Monday (February 13)

• UJW hosts Naomi Dinur who will talk on“Dura Europe’s Ancient Synagogue – aJewish Pompeii in Syria”. Venue: 1 OakStreet, Houghton. Cost: R20. Contact: (011)648-1053.

• Jewish Learning Institute at the Great ParkSynagogue introduces the first of a six sessionseries of lectures on “Money Matters”, pertain-ing to a host of questions. Time: 19:30 at GreatPark. Reserve a place by calling 079-106-4777or e-mailing shmuelsimpson@gmail.com

Tuesday, (February 14)

• Second Innings Men’s Group hostsMenachem Kaye who will speak on “TheEconomy in 2012”. Venue: Our ParentsHome. Time: 14:15 for 14:30. Contact GreciaGabriel (011) 532-9718.

Wednesday (February 15)

• Emunah Ladies Beit Midrash hosts SherylCohen who will lecture on “Top Tips forRaising Toddlers” Time: 09:30 - 11:00.Venue: 60 Mejon St, Glenhazel. Tel: (011)887-2910. Donation R50.

• UJW Hosts Dr Lorraine Chaskalson formerlecturer Dept English at Wits, who will bedelivering part 1 of five lectures on ExploringGeorge Elliot’s “Middlemarch - a Study ofProvincial Life”. Time: 09:30.

• RCHCC hosts an audio-visual presentation,“The Jews of Argentina”, by Hugh Raichlin.Venue: Clive M Beck Auditorium. Time: 19:30.Donation: R70 (incl refreshments). Booking:Hazel or René (011) 728-8088/8378), afterhours (011) 728-8378. E-mail: hazelc@great-park.co.za or renes@greatpark.co.za.

• UJW CT adult education division hosts RiaanManse who will talk on “Leadership”. Venue:Stonehaven. Time: 10:00 for 10:30. Cost: R20(incl refreshments). Enquiries: (021) 4349555 (mornings only).

Saturday evening (February 18)

• WIZO Tzabar branch invites you to aValentine’s love songs and love scenes fromromantic films, hosted by Sivan Raphaely.Venue: EOH Hall in Bedfordview. Time: 20:00.Cost pp R90. To book or directions phoneShelly (071) 438-0263 or Ayela (011) 882-9875 or 082-4122269.

Sunday (February 19)

• RCHCC in association with Hope for Heroism,is hosting “Pride of the Nation” - recentlyinjured Israeli combat soldiers talk about theirexperiences. Time: 19:30. Cost: R50 (Inclrefreshments). Contact Hazel (011) 728-8088or René (011) 728-8378.

Tuesday (February 21)

• UJW CT hosts a “Card Afternoon” at TheForum, V & A Waterfront, at 13:00 for 13:30.Entrance: R75. Wonderful prizes. Enquiries: FDavis: 082-426-7749 or N Baruch: 083-298-6849.

Wednesday (February 22)

• Emunah Ladies Beit Midrash hosts Rabbi Alon Joseph who will talk on “I amwhat I think I am”. Time: 10:00 – 11:00.Address: 60 Mejon St, Glenhazel. Tel: (011)887-2910. Donation R50.

• UJW Hosts Dr Lorraine Chaskalson formerlecturer Dept English at Wits, who will bedelivering part 2 of five lectures on ExploringGeorge Elliot’s “Middlemarch - a Study ofProvincial Life”. Time: 09:30

• Second Innings hosts Gerald Zwirn (knownas “Mr Opera”), who will talk on “Be My Love- A Tribute to Mario Lanza”. Venue: TheGerald Horwitz Lounge, Golden Acres. Time10:00 for 10:30. Cost: R20 members, R40non-members. Contact Grecia Gabriel (011)532-9718.

• UJW CT adult education division hosts EstaLevitas who will talk on “Save a Child’s Heart.Venue: Stonehaven. Time: 10:00 for 10:30.Cost: R20 (incl refreshments). Enquiries:(021) 434 9555 (mornings only).

Sunday (February 26)

• WIZO invites you to an evening of enchant-ment and magic with a SA twist, with IlanSmith, master of illusion and intrigue.Tickets: R160 pp. Contract: Andrea: 083-677-8999.

• Beyachad Library book launch: “Israel -Reclaiming the Narrative” by Barry Shaw. The author will be here from Israel. Booksavailable from the library at R150. Time:17:30. Venue: The Hon Abe AbrahamsonAuditorium at Beyachad. Donation R30.Contact Norma (011) 645-2567 or e-maillibrary@beyachad.co.za

• Second Innings presents Prof John Lubbe(retired professor of Semitics) who will talkon “The Dead Sea Scrolls; Qumran, itsWritings, Caves, Ruins and Graves”. Venue:The Gerald Horwitz Lounge, Golden Acres.Time: 10:00 for 10:30. Contact Grecia Gabriel(011) 532-9718.

Monday (February 27)

• Women of the World hosts educationist GavinKeller, an expert in brain-based teaching,learning and leading, who will present aseries of three lectures for teachers and par-ents. The first lecture is “The Talent Code”.Venue: Sydenham Shul Community Centre,24 Main Street, Rouxville. Cost R50 per per-son per session. Time 20:00. For more infor-mation call Mandy 083-380-5268.

Tuesday (February 28)

• Women of the World hosts educationist GavinKeller, an expert in brain-based teaching,learning and leading, who will present thesecond of his series of three lectures forteachers and parents. The lecture is on“Secrets of the Teenage Brain”. Venue:Sydenham Shul Community Centre, 24 MainStreet, Rouxville. Time 19:30. Cost R50 perperson per session. For more information callMandy 083-380-5268.

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2. You will be advised on cost & payment details. 3. Payment is prior to the advert appearing. 4. Our banking details:

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DEADLINE for BOOKING and PAYMENT is Tuesday 12 pm. (If deadline is missed the advert will appear (when payment is received) in the next edition)

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20 SA JEWISH REPORT 10 - 17 February 2012

Maccabi SA trials for Maccabiah

A NUMBER of sporting codes will beholding trials in the next few weeks.

JUNIOR CRICKET (born in 1995,1996, 1997, 1998)

The trials will take place on March 21 atOld Eds Cricket Club, starting at 09:00.The fee per player is R100.

For further information contactMyron Michael on 082-327-3686 or e-mailmyka@mweb.co.za

JUNIOR NETBALL (born in 1995,1996, 1997 or 1998)

Johannesburg trials will be held onSunday February 19 at King David HighSchool Linksfield, starting at 07:30. Thefee per player is R100.

The Cape Town trials will take placeon Sunday March 4 at Herzlia Highschool (at the Vredehoek Courts inHighlands) at 08:00. The fee is R100 perperson.

For further information contact LisaHack at lisahack01@gmail.com

JUNIOR TENNIS (born in 1995, 1996,1997 or 1998)

The trials will be held at King DavidLinksfield High School on February 26and March 4. Registration will start at08:30 and play will begin at 09:00 sharpuntil 14:00.

The fee is R180 per person, which willinclude a Maccabi Tennis T-shirt.

FOOTBALL

Girls Soccer (born in 1995, 1996, 1997 or1998)

The trials will take place on February 12 and19 at Highlands Park in Johannesburg, from15:00 to 17:00. The fee is R50 per person.

For queries contact Debbie Ilouze on 082-560-9830.

Boys Soccer (born in 1997 and 1998)

The trials will take place on March 4 and 11 ata venue to be confirmed, from 09:00 to 12:00.The fee is R50 per person.

For further information contact DanielWitz on 082-322-3100 or e-mail him on danielwitz@mweb.co.za

Boys Soccer (born in 1995 or 1996)

The trials will take place on March 4 and 11 ata venue to be confirmed, from 09:00 to 12:00.The fee is R50 per person. • For further information contact Clive

Bedell on 082-852-9818 or e-mail him onclivebedell@gmail.com

• For Opens ladies, men’s and Masters, pleaseget in touch with Maccabi SA Soccer con-vener, Ryan Kalk on ryankalk@gmail.com

SQUASH

Maccabi Junior Squash training kicks off thisSunday at 18:00 at Killarney Country Club.For more information contact Glenn Lazarus083-273-6926 or e-mail glenn@ats.co.za.

‘No-hopers’ KD VictoryPark stuns St David’s JACK MILNERPHOTOGRAPH: YAEL GORDON

IN AN INTERVIEW I had with formerworld No 1 tennis player Pete Sampras atthe height of his career, he said that he wasalways cautious not to underestimate hisopponent, no matter how lowly ranked hemight be.

“He also had a racket in his hand and hehad spent years training to hit a ball. Inever took any opponent too lightly,” saidSampras.

Well, St David’s learned that lesson in thefinal of the Johnny Waite Cricket Trophylast week when they played a spirited KingDavid Victory Park team at St David’s.

KDVP played in the B Section of the tour-nament, which is for all co-ed schools andsecond teams for the top schools, and didnot have an easy path to the final. Alongthe way they beat Northcliff High and thenSt Stithians in the semifinals.

Perhaps St David’s should have takencognisance of these results and not havetreated the Victory Park team as a “no-name brand”.

St David’s won the toss and put VictoryPark in to bat in this T20 competition andwere probably a little surprised whenKDVP amassed 132 for six wickets in theirallotted 20 overs. Captain Lee Gruskin gothis eye in quickly and pounded 53 off just59 balls, while vice-captain ShandonWeinstein weighed in with 27 runs off 21balls.

Marc Redfern, Justin Sher and BrandonBolnick, the other vice-captain, added tothe tally late in the innings.

“Before the game we felt 120 would be adecent total on that wicket, so we knew that132 would be pretty competitive,” said

coach Mike Chilvers. St David’s got off to the perfect start and

were on 45 without loss after just six overs.However, left-arm seamer Justin Sherstepped up to the plate and a couple ofovers from him turned the tide. He took outone of their openers but after 10 overs,where King David had been on 53 for two,the home team still had the edge at 59 forone.

The 13th over changed all that, howeverand when 15-year-old Shaun Bolnick took

two catches in two balls off Justin’s bowl-ing, the writing was on the wall. A couple ofrun-outs saw St David’s start to panic andthey were all out for 99. In total there werefive run-outs, one of them off a magnificentdirect hit from the fine-leg boundary byErin Berman-Levy.

What struck the King David players wasthe absolute silence after the final wicketfell. “They were shell-shocked,” said Lee.“They couldn’t believe what had hap-pened.”

According to director of sport DarrenJordaan, the major turnaround for theteam came last year when they were forcedto play two matches in one day. “We beatNorthcliff in a tight match in the morningand then defeated Crawford Lonehill thatafternoon on the last ball of the match.”

With the Maccabiah taking place nextyear, Maccabi South Africa Chairman CliffGarrun has confirmed they were keeping aclose eye on the achievements of KingDavid Victory Park’s cricket team.

The victorious King David Victory cricket team with the Johnny Waite Trophy they won after beating St David’s by 33-1 in the final of

the competition: Darren Jordaan (director of sport - KDVP); Justin Breger; Marc Redfern; Jordan Grill; Stefan Morris; Shandon

Weinstein (vice-captain); Lee Gruskin (captain); Erin Berman-Levy; Brandon Bolnick (vice-captain); Shaun Bolnick; Jarryd Buchalter;

Joshua Reichman; Justin Sher; and Michael Chilvers (coach).

Preparations are well under way from Maccabi SouthAfrica to select and prepare the delegation for the 19thMaccabiah in June next year.