August 13, 2026 By Karen Milner This weekend, we witnessed a momentous moment for our community. Rabbi Doron and Mrs Shelly Perez met President Cyril Ramaphosa at the Union Buildings to express their appreciation for the government’s tireless efforts to facilitate the return of their son Daniel’s body, allowing him to be brought home to Israel and laid to rest with dignity. Daniel was one of our own. He and his family were born and raised among us, and they have remained an

August 6, 2026 By Karen Milner Every so often, we get to open our doors and show gratitude to the people who have stood beside us. On Shabbat, the Board hosted an extraordinary evening in honour of US Ambassador Leo Brent Bozell III, the US embassy, and the members of his diplomatic team who have supported us through some of the most difficult years our community has known. The evening began with us walking together to a Friday-night shul service. From there, the ambassador

July 30, 2026 By Karen Milner On Sunday 26 July, more than a hundred members of our community pulled on shirts that proudly declared “Jews 4 Jozi” and joined the tens of thousands who took part in Walk the Talk. What made it especially poignant is that, for the first time ever, the walk moved through the city itself, through the central business district, the streets of Doornfontein, Bertrams, and Troyeville. A geography that is precious to so many of us and yet has come to

July 23, 2026 By Karen Milner Last Friday, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) had a rare and important opportunity. We sat down with the heads and commissioners of the South African Human Rights Commission (SAHRC), an institution with which we share a long and storied history. The SAHRC and the SAJBD have worked together on a number of significant cases over the years, none more so than the Masuku hate speech matter, which the commission took all the way to t

July 16, 2026 By Karen Milner This week, alongside our incredible community volunteers, we packed and delivered hundreds of food parcels to members of the Congolese community in Johannesburg who are facing severe humanitarian hardship. This is a community with almost nowhere to turn. There is no citizen registry, little support from their official representatives, and precious few safety nets. We were alerted to their plight by a trusted partner with whom we have worked sinc

June 25, 2026 By Karen Milner There is a sense of anxiety that has gripped not only our community but all of South Africa this week. The fear that xenophobic violence will erupt again, as it did in 2008, 2015, and 2019, sits heavily with us all. Against that backdrop, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) was invited to an interfaith meeting convened by President Cyril Ramaphosa to brief religious leaders on the government’s strategy for managing the situation.

June 11, 2026 By Karen Milner Next week, South Africa marks the 50th anniversary of the 16 June Soweto Uprising, a day that is a defining part of the moral architecture of this country’s history. Few in our community are aware that one of our own is woven into that story, not at its periphery, but at its heart. Dr Melville Edelstein was a Jewish social worker who had dedicated his professional life to black South African communities. On 16 June 1976, he was in Soweto to host

June 4, 2026 By Karen Milner This week, members of the Gauteng and Cape Town leadership of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) represented the South African Jewish community at the American Jewish Congress (AJC) Annual Global Forum in Washington, DC. The AJC is one of the oldest and most important Jewish advocacy organisations in the world. Founded in 1918, it was built on a conviction that has lost none of its urgency in the century since: that the security a

May 28, 2026 By Karen Milner Every so often, a community does more than simply show up. On Sunday, 24 May, in Cape Town, ours did exactly that. British fitness coach and marathon runner Yoel Levy ran the Cape Town Marathon in a Batman suit. He has been doing so at some of the world’s most prominent races, which now includes Cape Town. Levy was moved by the haunting images of Kfir and Ariel Bibas, the two young brothers murdered in captivity in Gaza. Running in costume, beca

May 21, 2026 By Karen Milner Last week brought concerning news from a place where young minds are meant to be nurtured and challenged. St Mary’s School in Johannesburg postponed an address by Klaas Mokgomole, an expert on Israel-Palestine relations, after organisers were advised that the event would attract protesters and thereby pose a security risk to pupils. It is a troubling development that, regrettably, follows a pattern we have come to know all too well. The Boycott,

It is with profound sadness that we learnt this week of the passing of Abraham Foxman, former director of the Anti-Defamation League, tireless campaigner against antisemitism and other forms of hate, and, not incidentally, a Holocaust survivor himself. Abe was, quite simply, a legend. A towering figure in the history of the Jewish people and in the broader struggle for human dignity and decency. He believed that the world could be made better and that hatred could be defeated

May 7, 2026 By Karen Milner This week brought confirmation of something our community has long been anticipating: 4 November will be election day. Following the watershed national elections of last year, these municipal elections carry a weight that is difficult to overstate. They represent, in my view, one of the most consequential and defining moments of our post-apartheid democracy, a moment in which the choices we make as citizens will shape the character of our cities f

April 30, 2026 By Karen Milner We are saddened to learn of the passing of Dr Edith Eger at the age of 98. Sent to Auschwitz at 16, she lost both her parents on the day of their arrival, and survived horrors that most of us cannot begin to fathom. And yet, what Dr Eger chose to do with that suffering is nothing short of extraordinary. She spent decades as a renowned clinical psychologist, devoting her life to helping others heal from trauma, and transforming the darkest of hu

April 23, 2026 By Karen Milner This past week began, once again, with news that no community should have to absorb as routine. The firebombing of Kenton United Synagogue in northwest London, the third suspected arson attack on a Jewish site in the British capital within three days, following earlier incidents in Finchley and Hendon/Golders Green. Let me be unambiguous: a synagogue is a house of worship. It is a place of prayer, of community, of children’s laughter on a Shabb

April 16, 2026 By Karen Milner This is a week of profound communal significance. On Tuesday evening, we gathered to mark Yom HaShoah and, in doing so, made history. For the first time, the Pretoria and Johannesburg communities came together as one in a unified act of remembrance. It was, in every sense, a deeply poignant occasion. That this year’s international Yom HaShoah theme was “The Family in the Holocaust” made the coming together of our two communities all the more re

March 26, 2026 By Karen Milner Ambulances aren’t political. They save lives, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. Hatzolah doesn’t discriminate. In fact, no organisation better demonstrates the positive impact of Jewish communities on their surroundings than Hatzolah, a volunteer organisation providing a critical service at life-or-death moments. The targeting of a Jewish ambulance service is an act of unremitting evil. Let’s call it what it plainly is: an antisemitic terror attack.

March 19, 2026 By Karen Milner This week, the Palestine Solidarity Committee (PSC) at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) hosted its once-vaunted Israeli Apartheid Week (IAW). Historically, IAW has been a source of hostility, intimidation, and even violence on campus, and a key driver in making Jewish students feel unsafe at this critically important South African university, which also happens to be my place of employment. Previous iterations were absolutely hostile:

March 12, 2026 By Karen Milner This week, I’m writing from Australia, where I’m visiting family. While here, I’ve had the privilege of meeting with Daniel Aghion KC, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. Daniel and I spoke frankly about the well-being of the Jewish community in Australia following the horrific Bondi attacks. What struck me most was learning that there’s been a broad understanding in Australia that importing foreign conflicts into local disc

March 5, 2026 By Karen Milner How swiftly the world can shift. Just last week, as we prepared to welcome Purim, I reflected on the festival’s powerful examples of women’s leadership. I drew strength too from the extraordinary women of Iran who, at immense personal risk, continue to take to the streets demanding dignity and freedom. Like Esther, they embody what becomes possible when individuals choose to speak truth to power, refusing to be silenced. Now, as the world become

February 26, 2026 By Karen Milner Monday night marks the beginning of Purim, one of our most iconic and joyous festivals. Like so many of our holidays, Purim carries multiple layers of meaning and instruction. Among its central themes is one that resonates particularly in our current moment: women’s leadership, and the varied forms courage can take. The Purim story presents us with two female protagonists who embody distinct but equally important models of feminist leadershi