MICHAEL SIEFF

Most of our lives are jam-packed Monday to Friday with work, family, social and communal obligations. That’s certainly true for me due, primarily, to the enormous scope and gravity of the Chev’s responsibilities.

Yesterday I attended the funeral of the parent of a much-valued Chev volunteer. The cemetery provides an essential service when people are at their most vulnerable and the extremely dedicated and hard-working team there deserves my acknowledgment.    

Before the funeral a quick visit to the bank to change details on an account preceded a meeting with our chairman, Colin Datnow, to discuss a few governance and strategic issues. Afterwards a marketing planning session for the 2016 Enrich Your Life series was held – watch this space, it’s going to be great!    

Then there was a graduation ceremony for a group of our staff who had completed a SETA training course in management.  

Taking a donor on a tour around the Sandringham Gardens campus to show him the latest refurbishments was rewarding, as was a feedback session with a group of residents from Golden Acres.   

In the afternoon the son of a potential resident came in seeking advice on the best placement for his mom in one of our aged facilities and sharing his concerns regarding accommodation costs. 

While the range of our commitments is varied, we are blessed to have professional teams drilling down into the intricate detail of our financial reporting and performing inspired and creative feats of fundraising to canvass the welfare funds we desperately need.

Those teams who take care of the 800+ residents in Selwyn Segal, Arcadia, Our Parents Home and Sandringham Gardens, are focused on each individual’s physical comfort and wellbeing, ensuring that medical care is provided when necessary, that satisfying meals are served and social and spiritual needs are met.   

So TGIF – especially this week when all Chev facilities are joining hands with Jewish people the world over to celebrate the amazing Shabbos Project. On behalf of our staff, residents and beneficiaries I wish you all Shabbat Shalom on this special Shabbos of unity. I’ll be so glad when it’s finally here!

May our partnership continue to thrive. feedback@thechev.org.za 

Interesting read on Jewish Report online:

‘JEWS NEED TO STOP NAVEL-GAZING’ is the headline on a fascinating interview, published last week, with Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks who is in the US promoting his new book “Not in God’s Name: Confronting Religious Violence”. Jewish Report online originally published the title as above, the way that Lord Sacks had titled it – as against this publication’s normal style of using G-d – and within minutes a regular user took us to task for what he felt was the change in our style. The related user-comments that followed, including one from a Rabbi and another quoting authoritative text, seems to suggest that the use of G-d’s name in any other language than Hebrew, can be used in full. As the latter spelling is commonly used among SA Jewry, Jewish Report has no intention of changing it’s style. online.editor@sajr.co.za.