(Author: Naomi Musiker, Vol. 71, No. 2, Rosh Hashanah 2016)   At the close of the 19th Century, the leading Jewish congregations in Johannesburg were the Witwatersrand Old Hebrew Congregation (WOHC), the Johannesburg Hebrew Congregation and the Johannesburg Orthodox Hebrew Congregation. The first two were

(Author: Maurice Skikne, Vol. 72, No. 3, Chanukah 2017)            Jack – or ‘Jeck’ as my maternal Bobba called him - was tall and bordering on slim, black as the proverbial Ace of Spades. Hair already streaked with grey, no one knew his age, nor

Author: Debbie Orolowitz, Vol 72, #1, Pesach 2017)   If I am not for myself... The theme of freedom is not subtle in the Passover Seder. The holiday itself is known as Z’Man Cheruteinu (‘the Time of our Freedom’). Arguably, the keynote theme of the

(Author: David Saks, Vol. 75 * No. 1 * Summer 2020)  Even before South Africa’s transition from white minority rule to multiracial democracy in April 1994, a veritable flurry of discussion had gotten underway within Jewish circles concerning the community’s political behaviour under apartheid. The

(Author: Gwynne Schrire, Vol. 75, #1, Summer, 2020)   Recently, I was interviewed for a seven-part television series, named Legends and Legacy: A History of South African Jews, being prepared with the assistance of the Kaplan Centre for Jewish Studies & Research at the University

(Author: Gwynne Schrire, Vol. 73, No. 1, Pesach 2018)            There are two well-known stereotypes of Jewish women - the first deserves to be valued above rubies, because she works her fingers to the bone supporting her husband.i Up before dawn, she toils till late