Lifestyle/Community
An ark full of books to celebrate Heritage Day
Jews are widely known as the “People of the Book”; it was therefore fitting that the Jewish community float that participated in this year’s Heritage Day parade through the streets of Pretoria, took the form of a mobile library, made up to resemble Noah’s Ark.
DAVID SAKS
Pictured: Chabad representatives, including Rabbi David Masinter of Chabad and Wendy Kahn, national director of the SAJBD (third from left) in front of the Ark Library.
Following the parade, the library moved on to its permanent home at Arcadia School, to which it was formally presented as a gift from South African Jewry. In addition, 18 000 charity boxes in the form of an ark were produced and distributed.
The Heritage Day project was co-ordinated by the SA Jewish Board of Deputries in partnership with Chabad SA and with the involvement of the various Jewish day schools in Gauteng. In the months leading up to the event, Board and Chabad representatives worked closely with Dali Tambo, CEO of the Carnival Company that organised the carnival together with the Gauteng Provincial Government.
The Ark float was a notable hit, with many people wanting photographs and bystanders dancing in the streets to the accompanying Jewish music.
From Chabad SA’s point of view, the Ark Library initiative tied in well with its broader campaign to provide libraries for underprivileged communities around the country, 12 of which have already been established.
Last year, Chabad SA embarked on a multi-faceted campaign to encourage the general community to perform acts of goodness and kindness towards one another. Chabad SA Director Rabbi David Masinter said his inspiration in this regard came from the Lubavitcher Rebbe, who shortly before his passing told a non-Jewish CNN journalist that Moshiach was now ready to come and that to bring this about, increased acts of goodness and kindness on the part of humanity at large were needed.
It was at Rabbi Masinter’s suggestion that the Ark float, rather than being a temporary structure that would be dismantled once the parade was over, instead took the form of a library that would be donated afterwards to a school that needed it. This would be stocked through donation by Jewish day school learners.
It was further decided that the letters of the word “Ark” would represent the slogan “Acts of Random Kindness”.
In the weeks leading up to Heritage Day, the Ark was taken round to all the main Jewish day schools in Johannesburg, resulting in it soon being filled to capacity with educational and inspirational books. Donations were also received from members of the wider Jewish community.
An estimated 23 000 people of diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds eventually took part in the parade, which commenced at the Pilditch Stadium and concluded at the Union Buildings.
Citing the opening statement of the Freedom Charter, the 60th anniversary of which was celebrated earlier this year, the official theme for the 2015 carnival was “Social Cohesion: South Africa belongs to all who live in it”.
Wendy Kahn commented on how uplifting it had been to see so many diverse people celebrating their own heritage within the context of the broader South African heritage that they shared with their fellow citizens.