Dead Sea Scrolls authority Simon Berg look at the compilation of the Jewish sacred scriptures and considers the accuracy of their transmission down the centuries. Simon Berg , a sales manager for a multinational pharmaceutical company, has written and lectured extensively on the Dead Sea Scrolls. His book Insights into the Dead Sea Scrolls – A Beginner’s Guide (2009) provides a concise, scholarly overview of the subject. . “And even if we had an autograph copy of, say, the Bo

Scion of a scholarly Lithuanian family, J W Behr devoted himself to strengthening the knowledge of Hebrew in South Africa. Dr Harold Behr is a retired child psychiatrist and group psychotherapist. He emigrated from South Africa to the UK in 1970. . I have often felt that the passing of my father, Jacob William Behr, deserved to be marked by more than just the statutory notification plastered on the notice board of his apartment block in Netanya. His heroic efforts to introduc

As her diaries reveal, Lord Balfour's niece Blanche Dugdale was also a devoted campaigner for a Jewish state Glenda Woolf , a frequent contributor to Jewish Affairs , is a novelist and essayist whose articles and stories on Jewish themes have appeared in Jewish publications worldwide. Her novels, published under the name Gita Gordon, include: South African Journeys (2002), Flashback (2007), Mystery in the Amazon and Scattered Blossoms (both 2008) and Guest House (2012).

Leonard Suransky reviews Jack Hoffman's new novel about growing up in Johannesburg in in the 1950s and '60s Dr Leonard Suransky is (Emeritus) Head of Department, International Relations, and co-founder of Webster University, Ghana, Accra. As someone who lived through the Johannesburg of the 1950s and 60s, I recommend Jack Hoffmann’s novel, He Does Not Die a Death of Shame , to anyone from that era. Why? The author has a remarkable memory for the fine details of those heady da

Sorrel Kerbel reviews of The Lithuanian Slaughter of its Jews, a grim record of Lithuanian culpability in the Holocaust based on the testimony of 121 survivors Dr Sorrel Kerbel, D.Phil (UCT), is editor of Routledge Encyclopedia of Jewish Writers of the Twentieth Century , 2003 and 2010 , and a contributor to the Memorial book of Rakiskis , Rokiskis Lithuania, Bakalcuk-Felin, M, Jewishgen.com , 2018. . And if I were to light a yellow candle, it would serve to remember and hon

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) mourns the passing of Eric Samson, a great son of South Africa. Eric was a visionary leader and nation builder and a man of unsurpassed generosity, one whose multifaceted legacy will benefit our country long into the future. Innumerable organizations and individuals benefited from his support throughout his life. This was true not just for the South African Jewish community, of which he was a devoted member, but for the peopl

Honey Gluckman is a former lecturer in the Department of Educational Studies at JCE, now the Education Faculty of Wits. Her subjects included Philosophy of Education, with an emphasis on Critical Analysis. She is today part of the ‘Granny Program’ run by the Chevra Kadisha, assisting young black learners in acquiring language skills using educational games she has developed. Feature image: Front cover of From Sembel to Gilgil, reissue of the Book of Imprisonment and Exile (pu

'The poet laureate of the Jewish people', Isaiah was both a recorder of and participant in an extraordinary epoch in early Jewish history. Bernard Katz, a frequent contributor to Jewish Affairs is a Chartered Accountant who does freelance corporate finance advisory, investigations and sits on several boards. . The rise of Assyria, destruction of Israel and siege of Jerusalem The opening verse of the Book of Isaiah places the life of the prophet Isaiah in its historical setti

Dear Community Members We hope and pray for a successful and inspiring year for our Jewish Community. Unfortunately, we find ourselves once again approaching the year with trepidation. The COVID pandemic still remains at the forefront of our minds and determines our decision making. The second wave has swept through South Africa, and affects us all. Many of our schools have taken the decision to delay the start of the school year with the aim of containing the spread of the v

The SAJBD mourns the passing of Holocaust Survivor Mascha Schainberg. We got to know Mascha when she travelled to Poland in 2015 to represent South Africa at the 70th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz. She was a true inspiration to all who met her. We extend our condolences to the her family. Below is a tribute from the SAJBD’s Yom Hashoa’s 2015 commemoration. I was absolutely devastated to learn about the passing of Holocaust Survivor, Mascha Shainberg. I met Mascha

SAJBD welcomes Mcebo Dlamini apology Today (14 December), the former Wits SRC President Mcebo Dlamini and the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) engaged in mediation facilitated by the SA Human Rights Commission (SAHRC). The mediation took place at the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre (JHGC). This was in response to comments made by Dlamini in 2015, in which he showed admiration for Adolf Hitler and delved into stereotypical antisemitic tropes about Jews. The SAJBD

The SAJBD joins the global Jewish community in mourning the sudden passing of former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks , z"tl. The SAJBD joins the global Jewish community in mourning the sudden passing of former Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks , z"tl. Combining formidable intellectual gifts with exceptional abilities as a writer and communicator, Rabbi Sacks devoted himself to bringing the moral, ethical vision of Judaism not just to his fellow Jews but humanity at large. At a

Protection order against Lamprecht granted by court Today, the Randburg Magistrate Court issued an interim protection order against white supremacist and Nazi sympathiser Jan Lamprecht following an application by Prof Karen Milner, Gauteng Chair of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD). This follows a charge of crimen injuria brought against Lamprecht by Prof Milner in July. On 13 October, Milner applied for a protection order after Lamprecht had posted her personal details

Sentencing of Letsoalo sets important precedent. Today, the Randburg Magistrates Court sentenced Matome Letsoalo to three years imprisonment, suspended for five years, for threatening and antisemitic tweets that he posted in June 2018. This follows Letsoalo’s pleading guilty last Friday to a charge of crimen injuria lodged by the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD). In pronouncing sentence, presiding Magistrate Barnard stressed that hateful statements of the kind made by the

OPINION | South Africans supporting the boycott Israel movement are on the wrong side of change. Read article here

A new book on the SA Progressive movement throws welcome light on a previously neglected aspect of local Jewish history . Of all South Africa’s minority groups, the Jewish community is “among the most thoroughly dissected and psychoanalysed” observes Irwin Manoim at the beginning of Mavericks Inside the Tent – The Progressive Jewish movement in South Africa and its impact on the wider community, his ground-breaking history of the Progressive Jewish movement in this country. H

How Andre Ungar became the only rabbi forced to leave South Africa for opposition to Apartheid. Irwin Manoim is a researcher attached to the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies at UCT, with an interest in exploring neglected aspects of South African Jewish history. This article is an extract from a chapter exploring Jewish attitudes to apartheid, from his recently published book Mavericks Inside the Tent , a history of the Progressive Jewish movement in South Africa and its impa

How a Jewish family, the Ginsbergs, were instrumental in making rooibos one of the world's most popular herbal teas and an important export item for South Africa Boris Gorelik is a Russian writer and researcher and faculty member at the Institute for African Studies - Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow. He has an MA in linguistics from Moscow State University (2001). . The beginnings of the rooibos trade, one of the youngest tea industries in the world, were undistinguished.

'A drop of milk' by Clark Zlotchew When we were kids Grandma Rosie always cooked a big vat of chicken soup when we visited. I still remember the mouth-watering aroma, and the wonderful taste rolling across my tongue, and the warmth it produced in my stomach. Funny how those experiences of so long ago stay with you. One day, when I was six years old, instead of being seated at the dining room table, I wandered into the kitchen while Grandma was ladling the soup into bowls. As

The latest compilation by archivist J-p Burke of recent publications of South African Jewish interest. Juan-Paul Burke is the Librarian and Archivist for the Pretoria Hebrew Congregation. He has previously worked for University of Cape Town Libraries in their Jewish Studies Branch Library housed in the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies and Research. This is a follow on from the bibliography presented in JA Pesach 2019 Articles, Theses & Books pertaining to SA Jewry and Jewis