the travelling rabbi

rabbi7 1 2012/08/10 1:17 PM

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The Travelling Rabbi

My African Tribe

by Rabbi Moshe Silberhaftas told to Suzanne Belling

The travelling rabbi.indd 3 2012/08/10 12:16 PM

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First published by Jacana Media (Pty) Ltd in 2012

10 Orange StreetSunnysideAuckland Park 2092South Africa(+27 11) 628 3200www.jacana.co.za

© Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, 2012

All rights reserved.

ISBN 978-1-4314-0598-5Also available as an e-book d-PDF ISBN 978-1-4314-0599-2ePUB ISBN 978-1-4314-0600-5mobi file ISBN 978-1-4314-0601-2 Cover design by publicideSet in Ehrhardt 12/16ptJob no. 001827

See a complete list of Jacana titles at www.jacana.co.za


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‘Whoiswise?Hewholearnsfromeveryman.’ –PirkeiAvot4:1

ThisbookisdedicatedtomychildrenYossiandLeahwithallmylove

Maytheylearntheblessingofparticipatinginthelivesofothers


Contents

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Contents

Foreword by Chief Rabbi Lord Sacks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

Preface by Mandy Wiener . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiii

Prologue . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .xvii

1. Western Cape – The Fairest Cape and a Legacy of Love. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2. Garden Route – My Garden (Route) of Eden . . . . . . . . . . 23

3. Eastern Cape – Past, Present and Ensuring the Future . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45

4. KwaZulu-Natal – The Jewish Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

5. Vrystaat! – The Heart of the Farmlands. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

6. North West Province – The Pot of Gold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99

7. Northern Cape: Kimberley – Forever a Diamond Community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .124

8. Northern Cape – The Israeli Boerejood, His Land and His People . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .135

9. Limpopo Province – Coming Full Circle. . . . . . . . . . . . .143

10. Mpumalanga – The Big Five . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .164


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11. Botswana – A Gem of a Country . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .188

12. Zimbabwe: Harare – The Remnant of a Community Soldiers On . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .198

13. Zimbabwe: Bulawayo – From Their Unity Comes Strength. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .215

14. Namibia – The Sands of Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .226

15. Swaziland – Our ‘Honorary’ Jew . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .253Lesotho – The King and I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .260Mozambique – A Cosmopolitan Community . . . . . . . .263

16. Kenya – Over a Century and Not Out . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .272Uganda – Memorial to a Miracle Operation . . . . . . . . . .276

17. Zambia – A Rich Jewish Heritage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .280

18. Mauritius – Paradise Lost and Now Regained . . . . . . . .297

19. Who Shall Be Upraised – ‘Rabbi, oh Rabbi, where have you been?’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .324

20. Some Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .343

Glossary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .349

Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .359


Foreword

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Foreword

byChiefRabbiLordSacks

I have known of Rabbi Silberhaft’s work for some time and have been privileged to have met him and to have learned of his experiences. As spiritual leader of the country communities of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and African Jewish Congress for the past 18 years, his work knows no bounds. No request is left undealt with, no matter how small or how large. In the troubled circumstances in which he has operated, Rabbi Silberhaft’s dedication and personal care are deeply appreciated by all with whom he has come into contact and who unhesitatingly speak of his enthusiasm and his devotion to duty.

I am well aware of the comfort and security he has given to so many people, over so many years, who are isolated and need the spiritual and practical guidance that Rabbi Silberhaft has so ably given. His concern for the lives of so many and his ability to relate to each individual and become their friends are quite unique. Throughout this time, Rabbi Silberhaft has been the personification of that famous Talmudic phrase; Kol Yisraelarevimzehla-zeh– all of Israel are responsible for one another.

Without his commitment and enthusiasm, which comes, at times, at considerable personal sacrifice for his family, many communities would cease to exist. Reading this book, it is so heart-warming to see how much he has done to ensure that people are able to survive – that their welfare is properly taken


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care of and their simple needs for food and money are properly dealt with.

Continuously travelling across the length and breadth of half the African continent, Rabbi Silberhaft – or the Travelling Rabbi as he has become known – has reached out to every Jew in love. In doing so, he has helped enhance individuals’ and communities’ sense of Jewish identity and heritage, connecting them to fellow Jews throughout the ages.

We read in the Torah – Judaism’s most sacred text – of Moses’ great speech to the Jewish people just before they entered the Promised Land more than 3,000 years ago. Moses had led the Jewish people out of Egypt and out of slavery. For the previous forty years, he had led them through the Wilderness. But it had not been an easy journey. The Jewish people were not a nation to inspire confidence. They were quarrelsome, ungrateful, indecisive and, at times, disloyal. Yet, despite this, Moses sensed that something great had happened to them, something whose significance went far beyond that time, that place and this people. He believed, he knew, that this people would be the carriers of an eternal message, one that would have an effect not only on itself but on the civilisation of the world. But only if successive generations of Jews took it upon themselves to hand down their beliefs to their children and their children’s children.

Just before Moses said these words he made an even more poignant request: ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might’ (Deuteronomy 6:5). The sixteenth-century commentator Rabbi Moses Alshekh was surely right when he said that these two verses are connected. We can pass on to our children only what we ourselves love (Moses Alshekh, Torat Mosheh to Deuteronomy 6:6).

We cannot order our children – or anyone – to be Jews. We cannot deprive them of their choice, nor can we turn them into


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our clones. All we can do is show them what we believe and let them see the beauty of how we live.

Throughout his 18 years of service, and as is shown in this book, Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft has helped countless numbers of Jews experience the beauty of Judaism. He understands that the Jewish people has survived not just because of an inheritance of faith, but rather because Judaism has been brought alive in each generation and then handed on to those generations not yet born.

What is evident from reading this book is that Rabbi Silberhaft has a clear purpose to his work, to his travels, to his life: to ensure people love God, love Judaism and love simply being Jewish. Nothing could be simpler. Nothing could be more beautiful. And, as you will read, few people do this better than the Travelling Rabbi, Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft.

Chief Rabbi Lord (Jonathan) SacksApril 2012/Nissan 5772


Preface

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Preface

byMandyWiener

It is by no mere coincidence that as a 14-year-old yeshivabocher in the 1980s, Moshe Silberhaft found himself journeying to a far flung town in the very northern reaches of the country to assist in celebrating chagim, the Jewish festivals. As the prolific Holocaust survivor and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel remarked, ‘In Jewish history there are no coincidences’. It would prove to be beshiert, an undertaking that would seem to be pre-ordained, destined to happen. It would set him on a life journey that would result in his making scores of similar trips over the next 30-odd years, traversing the country’s roads and byways as he carried the message of Yiddishkeit with him, in his capacity as the rabbi to the country communities in which he is affectionately known as ‘The Travelling Rabbi’.

Over the past 18 years in that capacity, Rabbi Silberhaft has encountered all manner of roads along the way and many of those so succinctly mirror the experiences he has dealt with among his community as he serves as its spiritual leader. Each resident of every town that falls within Rabbi Silberhaft’s congregation has a deeply personal story to tell about a simcha or a tragedy in which he has played a pivotal role, providing guidance and authority where often it is lacking. He has brought a unique intimacy and personal understanding to the office in which he serves, and is considered a friend to most congregants as he


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features prominently in significant events throughout their life cycles, from a baby’s bris to his barmitzvah to his marriage, and occasionally to his funeral.

I am privileged to be able to personally attest to this. Rabbi Moshe’s early travels to the then Northern Transvaal introduced him to the Wieners of Pietersburg and a close friendship developed between his family and mine over the unfolding decades. In a fractious Jewish community, which was waning in its twilight years, Rabbi Silberhaft provided leadership and a sense of belonging. He was a lifeline to a Jewish world so far removed from the one in which we were living and he would continue to provide spiritual and religious guidance to me long after I had travelled the N1 south towards Johannesburg.

As a 12-year-old, I stood before Rabbi Silberhaft in the quaint shul in Polokwane as he presided over my batmitzvah. Sixteen years later, as a kallah under the chuppah in the similarly atmospheric Lions Shul in Braamfontein, Rabbi Silberhaft married my husband and me. He also officiated at the marriages of both of my siblings, and has become a dear friend to my father over the years. He has been present in times of celebration and of difficulty. He has even fulfilled what is surely one of the most bizarre requests made of a country community rabbi – hosting my father’s beloved Labrador for a week while my parents prepared to makealiyah!

This is precisely the attribute that has endeared Rabbi Silberhaft, the shepherd, to his vastly disparate flock. He has empathy, and a profound understanding of each of his congregant’s circumstances. He does not cast judgment, nor does he force upon any of his members that to which they do not voluntarily subscribe. In the words of my father, ‘He has the ability to talk with kings and presidents at one moment and the next, to break bread with ordinary men, of whatever colour, creed or religion.’ Regardless of a Jew’s level of devotion, they


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are welcomed into the fold with a kind word and a kosher meal. When Rabbi Silberhaft’s car makes an appearance on a dusty platteland road or in some forgotten backwater, it brings with it far more than its mere practical contents. There is no doubt a boot brimming with kosher meat, Kiddush wine, newspapers, calendars and other paraphernalia, but, more importantly, Rabbi Silberhaft’s appearance brings a familiarity, a belonging, an acknowledgement of what it is to be Jewish.

As he has crisscrossed the country and the 12 sub-Saharan countries which he covers, Rabbi Silberhaft has dedicated himself towards his obligation to unite the Jewish community, rather than perpetuate separation. While he encourages members to become more observant and more actively involved in their religion, he accepts them for what and who they are. For him, above all, a Jew is a Jew.

I have had the good fortune to travel many roads, both literally and figuratively, with my rabbi and close friend. Over the following pages, you too will be allowed that privilege. It is a journey that features the colourful characters of the gramadoelas, remarkable tales of faith and devotion and oozes the warmth and sincerity of the Jews of the country communities. It is the story of a travelling rabbi and his unique African tribe.

Mandy WienerSpecial Investigative Reporter Author of KillingKebble:AnUnderworldExposed


Prologue

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Prologue

HowItAllBegan

‘Separate not thyself from thy congregation’ (Pirkei Avot 2:5)

Reflecting on my 18 years as spiritual leader to the country communities of South Africa and later the African Jewish Congress, I realise that I have not separated myself from my congregation, but have extended it to borders north, south, east, west and beyond. Fulfilling this tenet of our sacred Jewish teachings has led me on a journey of discovery and self-discovery, which has brought to the fore the thoughts and feelings which are recorded in this book.

The sincerity and genuineness of Jews living in country communities had me hooked at the age of 14 and, as a student of the Yeshiva College in Glenhazel, Johannesburg, I took part in a programme of conducting RoshHashanah and YomKippur services in country communities. I was sent to Musina (formerly Messina) close to the border of neighbouring Zimbabwe. En route, my travelling companions and I stopped to meet and greet Jews living along the way. I did those trips for a number of years until the Musina community ceased to function. Thirteen years later, in 1993, I was appointed spiritual leader to the country communities.

To this day, my beloved roshyeshiva Rabbi Avraham Tanzer


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has been an inspiration and role model to me. His tribute to his own father is a fitting description of this spiritual leader parexcellence and the positive influence he has on his community: ‘A genius at getting on with people, overlooking slights and making friends; blessed with that rare gift ofchochmah, seeing life through the objective lens of Torah, of Hashem’s view of the world – not of ego’.

During the days of compulsory national service in the South African Defence Force, I spent six months on the border with South West Africa (Namibia). Even here, my calling came to the fore, as I served as a chaplain to the Jewish servicemen. My initial rabbinical studies were under that Torah giant Rabbi Levi Wineberg, as one of the three founding bochurim of the Lubavitch Yeshiva Gedolah in Johannesburg. During this period I continued to visit small country communities.

From then until now, these have been wonderful years. I have been privileged to be of service, spiritually and practically, in significant moments in the life cycles of individuals and of communities. The weddings and birthdays, bar- and batmitzvahs, britot milah and baby-naming ceremonies have always been joyous. I have received pleasure from connecting isolated people to the Jewish world via the all-too-brief trips I make into their lives – delivering a current Jewish newspaper or new calendar before RoshHashanah, some kosher food or a well-timed box of matzah or bottle of Kiddush wine in the weeks before Passover. Other times have been painful. I have had to comfort the bereaved, bury children, speak through suicidal despair, counsel rape survivors, navigate the homes of people beaten to death, care for abandoned elderly people and try to prevent cremations.

I have retraced the footsteps of English and German Jewish pioneers, of Eastern European immigrants and of their children and children’s children. I feel amazing pride when I see signs


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commemorating the permanent and positive mark left by someone in a small town (a street called ‘Levy’ or ‘Mizrach’) and the same pride when the mark is less visible. Having missed the ‘golden days’ of those rural communities, I nonetheless honour their traces. I share the responsibility of ensuring that, for the benefit of generations to come, their historical remnants are retained.

At a community level, my department has restored and rededicated and, in one instance, even relocated cemeteries. I have participated in the closing of shuls and the opening of others. I have conducted valedictory ceremonies to help congregants who once worshipped in a synagogue to allow their powerful memories to live on, in their hearts, and thereby feel some emotional closure.

I remove foundation stones from shuls that close and re-erect them in the local Jewish cemetery. I make inventories of a shul’s assets: the silverware and religious apparatus, including pointers, bechers, Torah covers, minute books and other records. The archives of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and of Beth Hatefutsoth are excellent repositories for many of these artefacts. I make every effort to ensure that whatever is left of an old shul is used in a new one. Thus, the pulpit or ornate MagenDavid-embossed ceiling from one shul has been relocated and installed in another. I bring SifreiTorah to Johannesburg to have them repaired and put back into circulation, where possible.

Since the Jewish body is deemed holy, Jewish burial grounds, unlike shuls, remain eternally sacred. Thus, communities continue spiritually even in the absence of residents. Books are also sacred. Holy books, scriptures and Sifrei Torah that are damaged or rendered pasul are buried in labelled and sealed genizot in Jewish cemeteries, never to be opened. While many communities maintain their cemeteries beautifully, there are some who are complacent. My department encourages


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communities to take responsibility for the long-term financial security of their cemeteries, in order to ensure their maintenance.

People often ask what motivates me after 18 years of touring South Africa. They know that, more often than not, my pastoral commitments take me away from my family. Irrespective of the difficulties, every tour I undertake is a new experience with unique challenges and at no point have I experienced a loss of motivation or enthusiasm. A particular person, a simple smile, a handshake, even a gesture, joke, story or memory along the way renews my positive energy to serve. For this reason, I thank every member of the country communities for welcoming me into their hearts and families. Journeying from home to home, from one significant event to another, I have felt part of the fabric of a wonderfully diverse Jewish family that extends throughout our beautiful country and beyond.

I thank all the people along the way, the Jews and gentiles, whether they speak English, Afrikaans, Zulu or Sesotho, for welcoming me warmly into their communities. I thank my own family for understanding and accepting my time away. I thank my parents and grandparents for affording me the privilege of making a positive difference in the lives of others. I pray that my children’s lives will also be enriched by the blessing of participating in the lives of others.

I share with you, the reader, my physical and spiritual travels and the events that occurred and continue to happen, by day and by night, while you are awake and while you are asleep.

A great many things happen during the night as we sleep: nations go to war, natural disasters devastate far-off lands, shares go up and shares go down. All over the world waking nations hear several hours of news before starting the day.

It is, however, a sad fact that a great many human dramas also play themselves out during this time. People lie awake and worry, many are ill and some are hungry. In our country, it is


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the job of the Country Communities Department of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies to care for those who have been left behind in the great rush to the cities or overseas, where much of our once-strong community (130,000 souls at its peak) now lives.

There are many needs to be met ‘out there’ in ‘the country’ while you sleep. In little towns stretching from the hot, far north down through the Great and Little Karoo and around the long stretching coast, there are still small pockets of Jews to be found. In some places they number less than the fingers of one hand and in other places they are thriving communities, but they live without the infrastructures necessary to function as a people. Jews need rabbis to circumcise their sons, teach them their barmitzvah portions, to marry them and to bury them – and all in a Jewish way.

Not only do people’s needs have to be met, but the once-proud synagogues – and everything inside – need to be managed. They cannot simply be abandoned and left to disappear into the haziness of history. We must also care for cemeteries. There are graves to be maintained and fallen headstones to be repaired. All the assets of these once-vibrant communities have to be safely put in trust so that one day, if Jews again return . . .

So, while you are asleep, the Country Communities Department is on the move. Yamim tovim are being planned. I find myself criss-crossing the country, chasing through the night to meet a deadline, to comfort a Jew, to celebrate our joy to Hashem.

Through this book, I hope you will gain an insight into the workings of this vital and vibrant division of our community. Perhaps it will even allow you to sleep a little easier knowing we are out there. For has it not been promised that not one Jew will be forgotten?


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It is written in our sacred Jewish texts that in every generationsparksfromthesoulofourteacherMosheRabbeinu‘descendandclothethemselvesinthebodyandsoulofthesagesofthatgeneration’.Thereisnodoubtthatthesparksoftheseleadershipqualities,withalmostarealisationofpropheticvision–orwasitHashgacha Pratit (DivineProvidence)?–thatputayoungman,MosheSilberhaft,ourprophet’snamesake,intherightplaceattherighttimetoassumeresponsibilityandleadershipforsomanyofourforgottenJews.

–Suzanne Belling


WesternCape

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Western Cape

TheFairestCapeandaLegacyofLove

Was this really me? Sitting beside the man I believed to be South Africa’s last Jewish hero – Chief Rabbi Emeritus Cyril K. Harris, OBE, and he was calling me ‘My Rabbi’!

Sadly, in his retirement house in Hermanus, not far from Cape Town, he was nearing the end of his life. His passing would close many chapters in the lives of those who looked to him for leadership and spiritual guidance, and I was among them.

From the day ‘The Chief ’ – affectionately known by many as ‘The African Chief ’ – set foot in South Africa in 1987, exchanging his Scottish tartan for the colours of our ‘Rainbow Nation’, he predicted that the new dispensation in the country would require a Jewish response and outlined what that response should be. He encountered opposition from many quarters with his verbal slaughtering of ‘sacred cows’. He was outspoken on issues ranging from racial intolerance and the gap between the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’, to white emigration, the high Jewish divorce rate, women’s rights and communal discipline.

Cyril Harris, a direct descendant of the Vilna Gaon, was the giant who led our community into the new South Africa and eased our acceptance by the ANC, especially through his friendship, his chemistry with Nelson Mandela, his outreach work as founding chairman of Afrika Tikkun and through the National Religious Leaders Forum. Nelson Mandela, who called


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him ‘My Rabbi’, had a private ceremony with the Harrises at his home in Houghton, Johannesburg, before his marriage to Graça Machel, widow of former Mozambican president Samora Machel. This was in order for Rabbi Harris to bless them as their wedding ceremony coincided with the Jewish Sabbath.

We are exhorted in the PirkeiAvot to provide ourselves with a rabbi and acquire a friend. To me, Rabbi Harris was both, and to him, especially at the end, I was both. In his last days he would not accept visitors, but he spoke to me for three hours – my visit was supposed to be limited to one. His junior in every way, I was awed at being his confidant. I suggested that I approach Rabbi Dr Abraham J. Twerski, the internationally renowned psychiatrist and author who was on a visit to South Africa, to counsel him. He could hardly muster the strength to sip a little of Ann’s chicken soup, but his mind was as sharp as ever. Rabbi Harris declined my offer and even rejected proffered visits from senior rabbis. He seemed comfortable to have me sitting and listening and I did not have the temerity to counsel him. Myriad emotions welled up inside me. I was desperately sad. I felt humbled, honoured, resigned and even angry that we would lose this great rabbi.

But in the beginning we had had our differences. When I was appointed spiritual leader of the country communities in 1993, I had to have the ‘okay’ from him for my appointment. He had nothing personal against me, but there was friction between the Union of Orthodox Synagogues, which incorporated the Office of the Chief Rabbi, and my department, which fell under the auspices of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, relating to the assets of the defunct communities and who would receive them. On occasion, this conflict spilled over into the public arena and became a much-talked-about dispute. Setting aside our own opinions, which was the correct thing to do, as each of us had to stick up for his own organisation, I fought to keep


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country communities in the Board’s realm, as we catered for all streams of Judaism.

While I do not officiate at any form of Reform service or at marriages where one partner is of a different faith, I cooperate with any clergymen concerned lest a single Jew stray from the fold. In my position I cannot be, nor do I wish to be, judgmental and concentrate on an inclusive approach. This has been beneficial because many Jews who have intermarried, or have turned from their roots, have heard about my visits and have requested to meet with me and urged me to be part of their town’s Jewish community, however small it might be.

My relationship with Rabbi Harris remained ‘iffy’ until his relocation to Hermanus. The community in the whale-watching paradise was growing, with 250 Jewish holiday and weekend homes and 38 permanent residents. It had a shul, established in 1936, with the foundation stone laid by the founder of the Board of Deputies, Morris Alexander, KC. The same synagogue was refurbished and officially rededicated by me after 20 years of inactivity on the fifth night of Chanukah, December 1997, as a result of holidaymakers approaching the Cape Board to revive the services.

Shortly after the Harrises had made their home in the town, I dislocated my back and was off the road for three weeks. Unexpectedly, one day my telephone rang. ‘Is that Rabbi Silberhaft?’ Recognising the unmistakable Scots accent, I replied ‘yes’ hesitantly. ‘This is Cyril Harris. My wife and I are your new congregants in Hermanus.’ Pulling no punches, he said, ‘When will you be coming to welcome us?’

I attribute Rabbi Harris’s change of heart to the fact that, firstly, the British are firm believers that the rabbi of their town is their rabbi and, secondly, I feel he saw the sincerity with which I undertake the work I regard as my calling.

I made my first trip to his home, armed with a bottle of his


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favourite Scotch and the inevitable welcoming cake. His home was warm, its walls adorned by mementoes and awards. In spite of the best medical treatment in South Africa and abroad, his condition worsened. We moved the Friday-night services to his home and I felt the tears welling up in my eyes when he was almost humble in his gratitude. In September 2005, this larger-than-life spiritual leader and ‘conscience of the community’ passed over into olam habah. ‘Shalom to Rabbi Harris’, the newspaper posters proclaimed from the streets (I saved one, which has pride of place in my office), obituaries filled the columns of the secular and Jewish press, and the phrase ‘the world wept’ kept turning over and over in my head.

I was unable to attend his funeral at Har Hamenuchot in Jerusalem, but was present at a memorial service at the airport in Johannesburg and at the consecration of his tombstone in Israel, together with Ann and their sons, Rabbi Michael and Jonathan, and his successor, Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein. I was privileged to be asked to deliver a eulogy in which I recalled that he had grown up in Ayr, a small Scottish seaside town with its 100-strong close-knit Jewish community. I went on:

In choosing to go to Hermanus, the note he struck in shaping his life, silently, privately, but equally powerfully, was a return not only to the kind of community in which his father had been chairman, but – given the South African context with its predominantly Litvak heritage – also one which continued to evoke the Litvak atmosphere of his early life.

While I was ministering to him and was pleased to be able to help him, I still felt like his student. I sat next to him in his tranquil home in Hermanus . . .

He was extremely humble. When he could no longer walk to the Hermanus synagogue, I arranged for services to be held at his home. He would always remark ‘You are doing this for me?’ . . .


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I would like to end by sharing with you the words of former president Nelson Mandela who, on hearing of the passing of Chief Rabbi Harris, wrote: ‘In that difficult challenge of our transition and early democracy to pull and keep our country together, Chief Rabbi Harris played a central role that will be remembered in our history. We today remember a great spiritual leader, a man of exceptional humaneness, one who has made his mark in the social transformation of South Africa. And, in African fashion, we say: ‘Hambakahle Cyril.’

Rabbi Harris remains an unending source of inspiration to me and from him I have learnt the meaning of real greatness, coupled with humility and strength. These lessons are a source from which I draw in every aspect of my working and personal life. Whenever I have a few moments to ponder in my office, my eyes travel to the ‘Shalom’ poster and to his pensive portrait, under which I have inscribed ‘South African Jewry’s last religious hero’. He bequeathed me a legacy of forgiveness, love of humanity and leadership, and maybe, in some small measure, the work I am doing will serve to perpetuate that legacy.

Ann remained in Hermanus, working towards outreach and interfaith at the highest levels and is a pivotal figure in the shul. Whether it be in the town itself, or in Cape Town, where she is deeply involved in her husband’s ‘baby’, Afrika Tikkun, she has proved herself a lady of immense strength, intelligence, integrity and capability. I am always made welcome in her home and she is my first stop on my pastoral visits to the area.

Change is inevitable. The new traffic circle at the busy interchange outside the Hermanus shul rendered the site no longer worship-friendly. With the ongoing influx of Jews and holidaymakers to the area, I supported the sale of the shul building. A new committee was constituted, the building was sold, and with part of the proceeds we built a conveniently situated synagogue on land purchased from the municipality.


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During the time of construction, I travelled regularly to oversee the builders. I collected artefacts from synagogues of defunct communities – the mechitzah came from Bloemfontein’s old shul; the pews from Robertson, Ceres and Worcester; the bimah from Robertson; the rabbi’s benches and pulpit from Witbank; the parochet and Ark curtain from Bethlehem and Upington and I brought siddurim, Chumashim and machzorim from Mafikeng, Musina and Welkom. The Ten Commandments from Randfontein, which have pride of place in the new shul, were dedicated by me ‘in sacred memory’ of Rabbi Harris. I stated at the opening of the synagogue that he was ‘a great spiritual leader, humanitarian and man of vision’, and his personality embodied the values contained in the Commandments.

The foundation stone was laid by Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein in September 2008 at an official opening attended by nearly 300 people, including the Mayor of the Overberg and clergy of all denominations from Hermanus. In my address, I appropriately referred to the synagogue as ‘a shul with a neshoma’ and expressed the hope of making ‘this house one of thriving Judaism for generations to come’. There is a rabbi’s house adjacent to the shul and a hall for functions. An ambience of warmth and spirituality permeates the completed building.

I spent a number of Rosh Hashanah and other festivals in Hermanus, with services conducted at different times by Chaim Ehrlich and Michael Kushner. I officiated at two barmitzvahs, at several funerals, unfortunately, and unveilings at the Hermanus Jewish Cemetery.

After my first Rosh Hashanah in Hermanus, I received a letter from Jonathan Lipman, the president of the congregation, which expressed the appreciation of the community. It was good to know that my efforts had not gone unnoticed.


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There is a saying that goes, ‘if you’ve got it – flaunt it’. ‘Got it’ you most definitely have and ‘flaunt it’ you did perfectly over RoshHashanah in Hermanus. The Jewish community is abuzz with your name – ‘Rabbi Moshe’ (I think the surname they find to be a bit of a tongue-twister, but then nobody can be perfect) and ‘mensch’ we hear used in the same breath by locals and visitors alike . . .

As you are aware, the Jewish population of Hermanus was held in very high esteem by other locals and holidaymakers alike. As a resurging community, it is of utmost importance that we keep the name of our ‘forefathers’ high and it is therefore so pleasing for us to get such positive feedback from the locals about your visit to us. The only downside about your visit is the fact that it had to come to an end.

He tried to persuade me to settle in Hermanus and, appealing though the prospect seemed, my travels made it totally impractical. But there is no doubt that, apart from Plettenberg Bay, Hermanus is the most thriving, vibrant and sociable community in the Western Cape and it is always with a sense of anticipation that I travel there to perform my pastoral duties.

In the mid-1990s, I was contacted by an attorney, a lifelong friend of Gerald Goodman who lived in Onrusrivier, the resort adjacent to Hermanus where hundreds of children flock every year to the Habonim Campsite, a permanent site for the youth movement. He felt I should know that Gerald had added a codicil to his will ordering his cremation on his death. Gerald grew up in an Orthodox and kosher home, but had opted for cremation because of the escalating cost of Jewish burials.

Accompanied by the shul president, I visited Gerald at his home and embarked on my usual persuasive talk against cremation


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for Jews. After our discussion, Gerald agreed that he would be buried in a Jewish cemetery on the understanding that the cost would not exceed R6,000, the standard price for cremation.

Gerald found out that the shul’s president had shown his commitment to the cemetery by buying a plot for himself and, as the Hermanus Cemetery had been re-consecrated and was back in use, Gerald had taken up the option of buying the last plot next to his. This was a tangible way of showing his commitment to be buried.

He was pleased and felt touched that I had taken the time to consult with him regarding this sensitive issue. This spurred Gerald on to become more active as a Jew in Hermanus. He attended services on a regular basis and, after a short while, became the unofficial shammes of the Hermanus Hebrew Congregation. He carried this title until the day of his passing. I found Gerald, in his quiet but jovial manner an inspiration to all Jews. May his soul always rest in peace.

Inland, but only a short distance away, is the lush green town of Greyton. Reminiscent as it is of a rustic English village, the words ‘a river runs through it’ swirl around my head when I approach this place. Some 13 Jews have chosen to make their homes there. The quaint shops stand beside modern businesses, including estate agencies, such as Acorn Estates, owned by Sharon Beaumont, and another where Beverley Blumberg is employed.

Sharon has two lovely children, whom she has schooled in Hebrew and Jewish studies. Her son, Shlomi Avichzar, always laid tefillin with me on my visits. Shlomi and his sister, Nicole, have strong ties with Israel, as their father, Sharon’s former husband, lives there.


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Linda Isaacson, a divorcee, and Mervyn Rosenstein are long-time residents, living in a cabin on the banks of the river. Linda’s former husband, Morris, the son of Sea Point Shul’s beloved shammes,Normie Isaacson, was a victim of the devasting 2004 tsunami in Phuket. Naturally Linda had to travel back and forth to Cape Town to comfort her son, David, who received his father’s personal effects from the Board of Deputies, which was among the first on the scene to provide relief for victims.

Some of the Jewish residents of Greyton maintain their Yiddishkeitand attend shul either in Hermanus or Cape Town. For our get-togethers, I bring kosher eats from Sea Point and, on one occasion, we were joined by the editor of the GreytonSentinel who found the Travelling Rabbi interesting material for her newspaper. Greyton has featured on the pages of the magazine CountryLife and it has my personal recommendation for a truly relaxing getaway.

The Western Cape covers a vast area, with majestic mountain ranges, coastal roads, unparalleled sea views, green valleys and vineyards on the wine route. I am awed by the beauty of the Cape and endorse Sir Francis Drake’s description, ‘the Fairest Cape in the entire circumference of the earth.’

Paarl, Stellenbosch and Worcester are key towns on the route, as are Somerset West at the foot of the Hottentots Holland mountains and Strand, with its never-ending white sandy beaches, although these are less frequent stops on my travels because of their proximity to Cape Town. I am, however, gratified to be greeted by the Somerset West congregants – the shul has moved but the community has existed as an entity for well over a century – with the words, ‘We welcome your visits, we cannot wait for you to come here.’

Paarl and Stellenbosch, the university town with its gabled Cape Dutch houses and oak-lined streets, both have synagogues, which are used mainly on Friday nights and Jewish holidays.


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