(Author: Martin Zagnoev, Vol. 77 * No. 1 * Summer 2022)
Judaism is arguably the oldest surviving religion, going back some four thousand years. During this long period there have been surprisingly few challenges to the mainstream orthodoxy, even though there were numerous rebels over the ages who followed non-traditional Jewish practices.
Before the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, these rebels tended to dabble in idolatrous practices. However, at the time of the destruction three different groups claimed religious legitimacy. These were the Sadducees, the Essenees and the Pharisees. Only the Pharisees survived from that time. They are what is now known as Rabbinic or Orthodox Judaism. (Unfortunately, the Pharisees were demonized by the New Testament, whose writers probably considered them to be the biggest threat).
From then until the 18th Century, there was only one serious challenge to Rabbinic Judaism. That was from the Karaites, who rejected the Oral Law (comprising the Talmud, Midrash and
Kabbalah). Nevertheless, Karaitism had to develop an oral law anyway. While they were previously quite strong, the Karaites are now only a small sect.
At first, the emergence of the Chasidic movement in the 1700s was regarded as a threat by many adherents of mainstream Orthodoxy and seemed to be breaking from the traditions. Although many distinct Chasidic groups arose, however, they all remained in the fold and ended up in the “ultra-Orthodox” camp.
The 19th Century posed more serious challenges to Rabbinic Judaism. The advent and impact of the Enlightenment was difficult for all faiths, but the Hebrew version, known as the Haskalah, was especially difficult for Judaism. By keeping some aspects of Jewish identity and reforming others its adherents (known as maskilim) hoped to fit in better with their Gentile neighbours and reduce antisemitism. This was a failure.
Reform Judaism arose with similar aspirations in Germany in 1820.
Between 1880 and 1925 some two million Jews from the Russian Empire and central Europe immigrated to America. This was devastating for the traditional ways. Many immigrants chose to abandon their religious practices in the hope of integrating. Others found it hard to find employment without having to work on the Sabbath. Few were able to keep their children committed to the faith.
Reform Judaism seemed to do relatively well in this new world.
Other distractions pulled people away from religion. These included assimilation, secularism, Zionism, Socialism and Communism (Before Stalin, Communism was quite popular. It also
fought against antisemitism in those earlier days).
The Holocaust destroyed religious communities and yeshivas throughout Nazi-occupied Europe.
Even in the Holy Land, Orthodoxy seemed doomed. Israel’s first Prime Minister David ben Gurion thought that it would fade away quite fast. He thus granted military exemption to a few thousand yeshiva students, thinking that they would not last. Yet since then there has been a remarkable turn-around.
When the Ponevezher Rav, Rabbi Yosef Kahaneman wanted to re-launch a yeshiva in Israel, people said that he lost everything in the Holocaust (his family, community and yeshiva) and now he had lost his mind. Even though the rabbi was totally impecunious, a Jew from South Africa provided start-up money and the rest is history. The Ponevezh yeshiva was re-established in Bnei B’rak in 1944 and is now the biggest in the world.
In the 1940s, many immigrants arrived in America who were determined to hold onto their religion. Their children also by and large remained in the fold.
While Reform is still the biggest denomination in the USA, it has lost much ground to the more traditional streams. The Baal Teshuva (lit. “Master of the Return”) movement has brought back many to the ancient ways. This was pioneered in the main by the Modern Orthodox and by Chabad (Lubavich) but has also been adopted by others.
Whereas the Orthodox have a very low rate of assimilation, it is extremely high among Reform (estimated at 60% in the US according to a 2013 Pew Survey). Rabbinic Judaism also has a much higher birth rate.
There have been similar revivals around the world.
The image of a religious Jew as a quaint old man with a Yiddish accent has been replaced by that of a young couple pushing a pram.
Even in Germany and Russia (which was antisemitic under the Czars and anti-religious under the communists), traditional Judaism is thriving.
Perhaps the most interesting and successful revival occurred here in South Africa.
While there were always a handful of Jews among the White settlers, most South African Jews arrived from Lithuania and adjoining territories between 1880 and 1930. Most of them gave up strict Orthodox practice but remained affiliated with Orthodox synagogues. A group of German Jews who arrived in the 1930s maintained the old ways, establishing a congregation in Yeoville, Johannesburg, called Adath Jeshurun (now Adass Yeshurun). This was the only synagogue at the time where most members were religiously observant. (It was also the only one which reliably started services on time).
In 1950 a new suburb called Glenhazel was established, in the north-eastern part of Johannesburg. This attracted many Jews. By the 1990s, over ninety percent of its White population was Jewish.
The religious Zionistic youth movement Bnei Akiva was then known as Hashomer Hadati and in those days was relatively small. Later, however, it grew into the leading Jewish youth movement in South Africa. Bnei Akiva is also believed to be the biggest Jewish youth movement in the world.
In 1952, under the guidance of Rabbi Dr Michel Kossowsky, Hashomer Hadati opened a Yeshiva Katanah in Johannesburg. It began with a few boys attending a local non-Jewish school and then gathering at a private home where they did their homework. After that they were given some shiurim. Rabbi David Sandler was later appointed as Dean, while Rabbi Joseph Bronner, along with Rebbetzin Professor Leila Bronner, added much towards building the institution. The group grew and eventually established a boys’ high school, called Yeshiva College, on large premises in Glenhazel. In 1963 an American rabbi by the name of Avraham Tanzer was brought out from Telshe Yeshiva in Cleveland, Ohio, to become Rosh Yeshiva of the school. Originally, he was brought out on a two-year contract but remained until his death in 2020. With the important assistance of his wife Marcia (likewise an educator), he used his considerable charm and wisdom to grow Yeshiva College. Along with Bnei Akiva, institution produced may Baalei Teshuva.
Despite much initial apathy and scepticism in the community, the institution grew steadily.. The dream of Yeshiva College’s founders was to have three hundred students. By 2020, there were over a thousand students (of both sexes). Yeshiva College is the largest Orthodox school in South Africa. Directly or indirectly, it has led to the establishment of the religious schools Yeshiva Maharsha, Shaarei Torah, Hirsch Lyons and Torah Academy. It is also the recipient of the prestigious Jerusalem Unity Prize.
In the 1960s a Chareidi school, called Yeshivas Toras Emes, was established by the Adath Jeshurun community. It lasted until the early years of the present century.
In 1972 three important things happened.
Firstly, Chabad arrived with their gifts for Kiruv (outreach). This was initiated by Rabbi Koppel Bacher and Rabbi Mendel Lipskar. It established a school in 1980, called Torah Academy. They have since established over ten synagogues in South Africa.
Next a new Chareidi community, called the Kollel Yad Shaul, was established by Rabbi Mordechai Shakowitsky and the Adath Jeshurun community. It did a lot of Kiruv in the Observatory and Yeoville areas, which were then well populated by Jews. Ivan Ziskind (an architect) played a big part in attracting university students. The Kollel Bookshop, started by Rabbi Michael Katz (not to be confused with his current namesake from Chabad) and now run by David Aronovitz, also made a big impression. All three of them have brought in lots of Baalei Teshuva.
In the same year, Rabbi Tanzer brought out his friend and former Telshe Yeshiva fellow student Rabbi Azriel Goldfein, to establish a Yeshiva Gedolah at the school. At the end of his five-year contract, Rabbi Goldfein left Yeshiva College to establish a separate Yeshiva (today’s Yeshiva Gedolah of Johannesburg) and school (Hirsch Lyons).
In 1978, Rabbi Tanzer brought out Rabbi Aharon Pfeuffer, who went on to establish the Maharsha school and synagogue.
Other important educational institutions which have since emerged include Beth Jacob (girls’ high school), Shaarei Torah and the Johannesburg Cheder. The Torah Centre in Yeoville, founded by Rabbi Moshe Sternbuch, was also a significant community.
Rabbi David Lapin was a successful businessman who was not practicing in the rabbinate when someone asked him if he could teach him Torah. This soon attracted a following of wisdom-seekers who became religious. They then formed a synagogue called Keter Torah. This was in the 1970s. Lapin has since immigrated to America, but the community remains.
Rabbi Abramov succeed in appointing four young rabbis as youth directors in various shuls, with a view to outreach. Two of them (Rabbis Shmuel Mofson and Larry Shain) then established Ohr Somayach in Glenhazel in 1987. It was a huge success, bringing in many young adults and becoming a popular gathering place. The weekly Monday night talk by Dr Tatz would attract five hundred people. Ohr Somayach evolved into a Chareidi community, and today has branches in Glenhazel, Savoy and Gallo Manor (johannesaburg) and Sea Point (Cape Town).
In 1997 Aish Hatorah headed by Rabbis Chaim Willis and Yisroel Ziskin arrived and made a big impact. Ohrsom, under the guidance of Rabbis Bloch and Sosonovick, is also attracting a lot of followers.
In addition to all of the above, the three Sephardi / Israeli synagogues in Johannesburg are bringing numerous Israelis back to the old ways. Had they remained in the Holy Land, this may well never have happened.
Other important influences were JSUP (Jewish Students University Program), the Zulbergs (the Base), Counterpoint and the Encounter program. Chief Rabbi and Rebbetzin Goldstein’s annual Shabbos project has inspired many locally and internationally. Religious facilities such as Yeshivot, Kollelim, Mikvaot, Eiruvim and Shtiblach abound, and the availability of kosher food is widespread
South African Jewry has thus transformed from being a largely secular community to one where a substantial proportion of its members are today religious, whether they are Chabad, Hareidi or Modern Orthodox, turning the community into a bastion of Torah observance. In the early 1970s there were only five Shomer Shabbos families in Glenhazel. Today there are hundreds. Seventy years ago outside certain religious enclaves like Adath Jeshurun, virtually nobody in South Africa wore a yarmulke in public, whereas todays there are thousands.
All in all, a remarkable transformation!
Martin Zagnoev studied Electrical Engineering at Technikon Witwatersrand and has a business supplying and repairing Two Way Radios. He has written two books, The Inner Master: Finding Joy and Jews and Israel : A Fresh Perspective.
