(Author: Gwynne Schrire, Vol. 67, No. 1, Pesach 2012) To Jews, the crucifixion motif is an unhappy reminder of two thousand years of persecution, oppression and discrimination, a blood-soaked symbol associated with the Inquisition, pogroms and annual fears at Easter-time.1 The aversion Jews feel
(Author: Ute Ben-Yosef, Vol. 66, #3, Chanukah 2011) Moses Kottler was one of the most distinguished South African Jewish sculptors, probably best known for the controversy that erupted when puritanical civil servants forced the removal of his relief sculpture, intended for the Population Registration
(Author: Benji Shulman, Vol. 66, #3, Chanukah 2011) Zionism and the Environment 111 years ago, a proposal was put to the first Zionist Congress to set up a “national fund” to buy land so as to enable Jews to settle in their ancient home. To
(Author: Frank Startz, Vol. 67, No. 1, Pesach 2012) Sidney Goldblatt was born in Johannesburg, of Lithuanian Jewish parents, in 1919. He grew up in Johannesburg and attended Parktown Boys High School. After matriculating, he spent ten years in business and was employed by
(Author: Colin Plen, Vol. 66, #2, Rosh Hashanah 2011) My friend Solly Yellin, of blessed memory, was a voracious reader. When he heard that the great writer James A. Michener had written a book about Poland, he waited excitedly for it to arrive in
(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: Gloria Sandak-Lewin, Vol. 68, No. 1, Pesach 2013) This is the third of a four-part essay on Isaac Bashevis Singer’s great epic work, The Manor (1967), its sequel, The Estate (1969) and The Family Moskat (1950). The first two parts appeared in Jewish
(Author: Matthew Liebenberg, Vol. 68, No. 2, Rosh Hashanah 2013) The following is a short treatment of a sensitive and painful issue, that of domestic abuse and violence. It is an issue that, unfortunately, the Jewish community has had to confront more and more
(Author: Charlotte Cohen, Vol. 68, No. 2, Rosh Hashanah 2013) ‘The Ten Questions’ was conceived when Aidan was seven-going-on-eight. Although he is my progeny, I am dispassionate when I say he was – and still is – cute, clever, gorgeous and talented. He is
(Author: Cecil Bloom, Vol. 69, No. 3, Chanukah 2014) In pre-revolutionary Russia, most Jewish composers wrote for their own people, using Jewish subjects; very few composed for the wider community. Some leading non-Jewish composers, however, did occasionally incorporate Jewish themes into their works. The