Forging relationships at international forums

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) continues to cement ties with international Jewry, at professional and lay-leader levels. Through these engagements, we forge solid working relationships that enable us to access the skills and resources of our counterparts overseas and play an active role in global Jewish affairs, particularly around issues of common concern such as security, combating antisemitism and assisting Jewish communities in distress.

Over the past two weeks, Board representatives have participated in a number of important international forums. One was the Claims Conference, as the Conference for Material Claims Against Germany is generally known. As the name indicates, this body was established to facilitate and oversee the process of restitution and compensation for victims of the Holocaust. The issues it deals with are complex and sensitive, and its meetings are thus very much detail-related and practically focused. Our community is represented on this important body by National Vice-President Mary Kluk (who in 2020 was elected to the leadership council) and Gauteng Council Chairperson Harold Jacobs, both of whom attended the meeting.

As mentioned in my last column, SAJBD National Director Wendy Kahn recently attended the World Jewish Congress Community Directors Forum in Budapest. She spoke on three panels, one of which concerned radical antisemitic trends and movements globally. Much of the discussion at the forum concerned the impact of the Ukraine crisis. Our counterparts in Eastern Europe, performing prodigious feats on behalf of those displaced or left destitute, were, in effect, having to transform themselves into refugee agencies.

A third important forum was an event in Geneva organised by the Lutheran World Federation, Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society and Islamic Relief. Titled “Welcoming the stranger, shaping the future”, the meeting explored the vital role faith and faith communities play in welcoming and integrating refugees. SAJBD political and diplomatic liaison, Alana Baranov, in her capacity of member of the World Jewish Congress Diplomatic Corps, represented the Board at the event.

The unity we experience at these international events is predicated as much on respect for everyone’s diverse backgrounds and beliefs as on what we have in common as Jews. As I wrote last week, such respect for diversity is just as necessary within our own community. It was therefore upsetting to read in last week’s paper an article that was disrespectful and hurtful to the trans community. To anyone distressed by the content or tone of this article, please know that you aren’t alone. There’s space for everyone in our Jewish community, regardless of how you identify and who you love. There are many of us who have a vision of our community as an inclusive space where people can be their authentic selves without fear or hurt, and the content of this article decidedly doesn’t reflect our views.

In closing, I congratulate our esteemed past president, Marlene Bethlehem, on the launch on Sunday, 3 June, of her memoir, aptly titled To Serve with Love: From Serving at Wimbledon to Serving the Community. In addition to recounting the pivotal leadership role Marlene played during the years of South Africa’s transition to democracy, it provides a compelling account of her years on the international tennis circuit. It’s appropriate that the book should have come out during Wimbledon, on whose courts she performed with such distinction.

• Listen to Charisse Zeifert on Jewish Board Talk, 101.9 ChaiFM, every Friday from 12:00-13:00.