He nurtured his passion for Israel from afar

DIANE WOLFSON

Horwitz’s efforts and passion were recognised when he received the prestigious Keren Hayesod “Yakir” Award in 1998, its inaugural year. This award is given to leaders of Keren Hayesod (Israel United Appeal) in recognition of their commitment and volunteerism, as well as to those who have distinguished themselves by their contribution towards promoting the goals of Keren Hayesod, both in Israel and throughout the Jewish world.

This was the first of many awards Horwitz received for his service to Israel and numerous other communal organisations. In October last year, the SA Jewish Board of Deputies’ Pretoria Council gave him a community service award for his many years of dedicated service to Israel and the Pretoria Jewish community over the years.

He first joined the IUA-UCF in 1980 and chaired the Pretoria campaign for many years, and was a member of the national executive. “The Pretoria community is an ageing and diminishing one … nevertheless, the IUA-UCF campaign in Pretoria continues and we can be satisfied with the results over the years,” he wrote in the 1998 IUA-UCF annual booklet.

Horwitz was also involved in the establishment and growth of the Jaffa retirement home in Pretoria.

Horwitz was born in 1935 in Sunnyside, Pretoria, the elder of two sons, in a home steeped in Yiddishkeit. He was educated at Clapham High School and was very involved with Habonim.

That the State of Israel was declared around the formative and impressionable time of Horwitz’s bar mitzvah instilled in him an overwhelming love for Israel. It became the main focus in his life, together with a desire for helping others and trying to make everyone around him happy.

In 1956, he volunteered to serve in Nachal for 20 months as Israel’s security was volatile. Nachal, meaning fighting pioneer youth, refers to the paramilitary section of the Israel Defence Forces’ programme. Formed in 1949, this Israeli army unit provided a support structure for young soldiers to develop, work on and protect new border kibbutzim in Israel.

His group – the second from South Africa – was sent to a southern outpost on the Gaza Strip border before going to a basic training camp in the Negev desert for five months. Thereafter, these South Africans became fully fledged soldiers. After completing this training, Horwitz spent five months on Kibbutz Tzorah, a frontline kibbutz near the Jordanian border, where he was in great demand in the workshops as a qualified tradesman.

After 15 months, Horwitz, together with fellow volunteers, were released by the Israeli authorities and returned to Pretoria.

Horwitz met Shirley Brint through Habonim and married her upon returning home after Nachal. He then committed himself to nurturing his Zionist dreams and aspirations from afar.

They had four children – Neil, Stephen, Shana and Mark – who all went to Carmel School. Having accomplished much in his life, Horwitz was more proud of his family than his numerous other achievements.

In this world, there is only so much good, but those who knew Horwitz know that his good deeds changed lives for the better.