(Vol. 66, #2, Rosh Hashanah 2011) Dr Irving Lissoos, who passed away in Johannesburg on 30 July 2011at the age of 74, was a contributor to Jewish Affairs of many years standing, writing on such diverse subjects as South African Jewish Nobel laureates, Jewish
(Author: Sheila Saffer, Vol. 66, #2, Rosh Hashanah 2011) It has always puzzled me that Kol Nidrei occupies pride of place in the whole line-up of prayers of our High Holy Days – Yamim Nora’im – the period from our Jewish New Year to
(Author: David Saks, Vol. 66, #2, Rosh Hashanah 2011) Beginnings are always difficult, but once rooted in the right soil and if properly nurtured, the smallest seed has the potential to grow into a forest. So it happened that a part-time Torah-learning programme in
(Author: Arnold Tannenbaum, Vol. 66, #2, Rosh Hashanah 2011) When Charles and Tilly Tannenbaum settled in the small town of Roodepoort in the late 1800s, their name was anything but synonymous with pharmacy. They ran a general store. It was their four sons1 who
(Author: Peter de Jong, Vol. 66, #2, Rosh Hashanah 2011) Klerksdorp, it was once believed, would “grow to rival Johannesburg in size and importance”. Gold had been discovered in 1886 and the following year public diggings were proclaimed and a mining commissioner appointed. Within
(Author: David Saks, Vol. 69, No. 3, Chanukah 2014) On 21 June 1942, the British in North Africa suffered a heavy defeat with the fall of Tobruk to German and Italian forces. Amongst the 33 000 soldiers captured were 10 722 South Africans, all
(Author: Hazel Frankel, Vol. 68, No. 1, Pesach 2013) The Yiddish poems of Lithuanian immigrant David Fram offer significant insights into Lithuanian-South African literature of a particular Jewish immigrant’s diasporic experience. Joseph Sherman, well-known South African critic and Yiddishist, affirmed Fram’s importance, recognising him
(Author: Cedric Ginsberg, Vol. 68, No. 1, Pesach 2013) 1959 saw the posthumous publication of Nehemiah Levinsky’s book of stories. Called Der Regn hot farshpetikt – Dertseylungen fun Dorem Afrike1 (The rains came late – stories of South Africa), it was a remarkable collection
(Author: Lana Jacobson, Vol. 68, No. 2, Rosh Hashanah 2013) In his foreword to Jewish Memories of Mandela (published by the SA Jewish Board of Deputies and the Umoja Foundation in 2011), Ivor Ichikowitz wrote: The Jewish connections in the story of Nelson Mandela
(Author: Riva Morgenstern, Vol. 68, No. 2, Rosh Hashanah 2013) We lived in the town, where life was more civilized and “up to date” than in the rural shtetl. My memories of that time – seen through the eyes of a small child –