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There was something quite magical in watching snowflakes fall in Johannesburg. It wasn’t a blizzard, so we could see each individual snowflake falling. It felt like...
As Liat Amar Arran, who has run the Israel Centre in South Africa for the past four and a half years, packs to return to Israel,...
When visitors leave, they often comment on the incredible strength of our community and how we band together to deal with adversity. They always comment on...
A colleague pointed out last week that after many successive publications with stories dominated by Israel, we had a recent period in which we didn’t publish...
Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein “implored” President Cyril Ramaphosa before his visit to Russia last weekend to urge Russian President Vladimir Putin to release Jewish American...
I feel immense pride when I see young people standing up for being Jewish and not allowing our haters to get the better of them. We...
As we commemorate Youth Day and celebrate Father’s Day, it’s heartbreaking to learn that there are children in our community who can’t depend on their parents...
South African powerlifter Ian Furman won gold at the World Bench Press Championships at Sun City on 28 May after more than 20 years training and...
There’s something exciting about being first at anything. When it’s a competition and you have worked hard for it, it’s hugely satisfying. When you’re chosen to...
The excitement was mounting for the planned reunion tour of Rabbitt – South Africa’s equivalent of The Beatles in the 1970s – 45 years after they...
There’s so much going on around us right now, but what dominates our dinner table chitchat? Solar. We’re all focused on keeping the lights on in...
I’m tired of negativity, not least my own. It gets me and everyone around me nowhere. It helps nobody, and all it does is make a...
It’s truly astonishing how easily history is rewritten to suit people’s personal rhetoric, and the impact of bias on the value of life. Israel is still...
The Lithuanian government is openly encouraging South African Litvaks (Jews of Lithuanian descent) to claim Lithuanian passports if they are eligible to do so, however the...
Do you remember how in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic, we got so used to living with masks on that we felt naked without one?...
One of Lithuania’s most controversial plaques – for Litvaks (Jews descended from Lithuania) anyway – was overnight no longer in its pride of place in Vilnius,...
An esteemed medical expert was killed last week trying to ensure that nobody was hurt driving into a pothole in Sandringham that had been there almost...
I read on social media this week that on Yom Hashoah, we’re reminded of what happened when we didn’t have a Jewish state and Yom Hazikaron...
I grew up hearing about “der heim” from my grandfather, referring to this far off Baltic country called Lithuania. Most South African Jews did, but I...
It’s almost impossible to comprehend that of the 220 000 Jews brutally killed and dumped in pits in 200 sites across Lithuania, most were killed within six...
I have never witnessed as many people squirm as I did over the past week in Lithuania. They were reacting to talk of the Holocaust in...
Where in the world do people drop everything they are doing on a school or work night and spontaneously go out in their hundreds of thousands...
When something happens on your watch or on your property, can you refuse to accept responsibility for it because you weren’t intrinsically involved in it? That’s...
This week, we lost a giant in our community. Ann Harris was the tiniest giant I have ever come across. In her latter days, she looked...
The community was sucker punched this week with the government voting to downgrade the South African embassy in Israel to a mere liaison office. It’s true...
I love Israel deeply. More than anything, I want it to succeed as a country, a people, and, above all else, to be a light unto...
There’s a frightening split among Israelis right now that’s deepening and growing. Former allies are becoming enemies. While one group of people are celebrating as the...
When I heard that ZAKA South Africa was heading to Turkey on a search and rescue mission, I was overcome with pride. I had a sense...
When I heard news of the earthquake that hit Turkey earlier this week, my first thought was whether there were any Jews living there. Antakya –...
The fourth season of the Israeli drama Fauda has taken Netflix by storm, and is top of the streaming charts in Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates,...
Setting aside my phone on Sunday night, I felt a chill run down my spine. I had just heard that a restaurant that my Israeli cousin...
As an adult, have you ever been asked how many distinctions you got for matric and what your marks were? I certainly haven’t, not since I...
Award-winning Israeli actress Neta Riskin repeatedly turned down the chance to take on the role of Giti in Shtisel because she was no fan of the...
We’re certainly living in interesting times, but for some, it could be a curse. What I find fascinating, other than just trying to make sense of...
The Israeli left lost much of its power in the recent elections (2022), leaving the right and far right in control of the country. The left’s...
Hearing Israelis discussing applying for foreign passports as a security blanket in case they want to leave the Jewish state was a shock for me while...
When I signed my children up for camp this year, I was excited for them. But I had no idea what was in store for me...
It’s that time of year – a time of miracles! I don’t know about you, but there’s something magical about December. It’s the month when we...
Seeing images of black, military-style vehicles driving through a deathly still Norwood on Sunday morning was disconcerting, to say the least. The Norwood strip is a...
Do you feel the heaviness, which has weighed us down for much of this year, lifting? Are you still feeling the darkness brought on by loadshedding?...
