Current threat of the Covid-19 pandemic in South Africa. We have been requested to provide the public health reasoning behind the ever increasingly stringent recommendations regarding the current Covid-19 pandemic. These are unprecedented times and we are painfully aware of the extraordinary sacrifices, hardships and difficulties which are being called for. However, as health professionals and experts in the field of infectious diseases epidemiology, we cannot underestimate t

Yom Kippur Katan half day fast In light of the current situation we would like to call on the entire community to undertake a half day fast on Wednesday, which is Yom Kippur Katan, and to do extra davening on the day

This year’s Seder will be unique in terms of the unprecedented concessions that will have to be made to address the very serious times we live in. As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, a number of major adjustments will have to be made on Seder night to minimise the possible spreading of the virus and infecting of loved ones, particularly the more vulnerable members of our community and the country at large. Naturally, each family will need to make their own decisions as to t

In response to numerous queries the Beth Din has received concerning davening without a minyan and other matters during the Covid-19 outbreak, we advise as follows: • Congregants should make every effort to daven Shacharit and Mincha at the same time that their shul minyanim would normally daven. This is to maintain good habits and also so that it should be considered “prayer at a favourable time”, i.e. when the rest of the community is davening. • Ideally, when one davens wi

Dear Community Members OUR RESPONSE TO COVID-19 At the Chev we have had our heads down over the past few weeks dealing with the urgent matter of protecting (shielding) our frailest and most vulnerable community members - the nearly 1,000 residents of our facilities. We are conscious of the gravity of our responsibility and take it extremely seriously. Nothing is more important at this time than protecting those entrusted to our care who are aged and more susceptible to this v

Dear Friends The SAJBD is partnering with @Cadena SA, @CoronaCare for South Africa and @Feed SA in the fight against the rapid spread of Coronavirus in vulnerable and improvised communities. We believe that the way to help combat the spread of COVID-19 is by arming South Africans with knowledge, as well as providing basic essentials to those with inadequate health care and resources. We are urgently raising funds to print informative pamphlets for township residents as well a

If you have any questions for Professor Schoub, please submit them here.

Dear Community Members OUR RESPONSE TO COVID-19 At the Chev we have had our heads down over the past few weeks dealing with the urgent matter of protecting (shielding) our frailest and most vulnerable community members - the nearly 1,000 residents of our facilities. We are conscious of the gravity of our responsibility and take it extremely seriously. Nothing is more important at this time than protecting those entrusted to our care who are aged and more susceptible to this v

Dear Friends The situation with the coronavirus continues to change day by day, and we are now seeing an increased number of cases. The latest announcement from the Minister of Health is that South Africa has its first cases of local transmissions, which indicates a new level of threat of the disease. This situation raises the question of shul services, which have continued without interruption until this point. Against this background, we have consulted with Dr Richard Fried

Guidelines prepared by Dr Sheri Davimes, a social worker in private practice specializing in anxiety in children and adults. 1. Hygiene first- take this as an opportunity to educate children on the importance of good hygiene habits. Washing hands when coming in the house and always before eating 2. Sharing is caring- except when you are sick. If adults or children are sick they need to stay home. Explain to your children that the more sick people stay at home, the quicker we

Dear Jewish community In the three days since our last community letter there have been further developments around Covid-19 and in terms of our community and government’s response to the pandemic. Below are the revised guidelines that have been created by the Jewish communal leadership, the various sectorial clusters that have been established (education, welfare and religious) in close consultation with experts in the field of infectious diseases. The community is urged to

Dear Friends At this time of great challenge we must be strong and determined. With the advent of the newly reported cases of those infected with the coronavirus in our community, there are a number of new guidelines with regards to shul and simcha gatherings that have been developed under the direction of Prof Barry Schoub, founding director of the National Institute for Communicable Diseases, and Dr Richard Friedland, CEO of Netcare. These guidelines, which have been discus

Individuals who have come into contact with a positive, probable or suspect COVID-19 case should be self-quarantined for 14 days. This also includes people who have travelled from countries where there is significant local transmission of the virus eg Asian countries, Western European Countries, Israel, US, UK and Australia. Asymptomatic people (not exhibiting any signs of illness) should remain at home and avoid contact with groups of people outside the home environment. Dur

Dear School Parents. At a meeting this morning with the leadership of the Jewish Day Schools under the auspices of our Jewish Education Cluster to discuss the impact of COVID-19 on our schools, it was unanimously agreed to institute a temporary closure of all of our schools for a one week period effective Monday 16 March. Our Jewish community education cluster will reconvene on Wednesday to reassess the situation taking into account external factors and will then decide on fu

This coming Monday, 9 March, Jewish Joburgers will prepare for the upcoming Purim festival in a unique way by doing their pre-festival shopping at the Chinese Market in Bruma. The SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) is organising this initiative as a gesture of solidarity with the Chinese community following the upsurge of unjust and irrational sentiment against South Africans of Chinese origin resulting from the Coronavirus epidemic. SAJBD National Director Wendy Kahn said t

Hazel Jungbacke is the youngest daughter of the late Feodora Clouts. A social worker by profession, she worked for over twenty years for the Highlands House Jewish aged home in Cape Town. The title of this article is taken from the obituary of Feodora Clouts (1899-1996) by Willie Katz. It well sums up the impact and energy of this remarkable woman, a redoubtable Jewish communal worker, Zionist activist and educationalist, and the mother of, amongst others, the distinguished S

One of South Africa's most accomplished poets, Sydney Clouts remains surprisingly little known outside academic circles. A new, intimate appraisal helps redress the matter. . Marge Clouts was born and educated in South Africa. In 1961, she and her husband, Sydney Clouts, and their three children immigrated to the UK, where she taught English as a Foreign Language, English literature in various London colleges and Creative Writing in the Cotswolds. She has written many litera

The Transvaal Automobile Club long dominated South African Squash, largely through its many Jewish players. Steven Katzew describes this golden age for the TAC and for the sport in SA. Steven Mark Katzew is a Johannesburg-based advocate. He attended High School in Welkom, Orange Free State, going on to study Law at Rhodes University, Grahamstown. His articles on South African Jewish sporting personalities have appeared in Soul Sport and Jewish Affairs . This is a story abou

The "Cane Mutiny", a "Feral Culture", rawfers and shluppers and liedjies on the school bus - All this and more in this final part of the author's history of Herber House hostel. Stuart Buxbaum holds an honours degree in Sociology from Wits University (1970) and an honours in Judaica from UNISA (1984). After working in the social research unit of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies in the early 1970s, he farmed for many years in Mpumalanga. This is the third and final part of my

The horrific murder of Lindokuhle Cele is the latest in a wave of horrendous attacks against members of the LGTBIQ+ community in our country. Alana Baranov, the SAJBD representative on the Hate Crimes Working Group said that “this senseless killing has no place in a nation built of human rights for all and, once again, shows the urgent need for hate crimes legislation in our country to better tackle the scourge of hate in all its forms.”