Blanche still batting strongly at 100 not out

ESTHER RUBIN AND RONNIE LIPKIN

Blanche, a long-time resident of Sandringham Gardens, was supported by her family from Cape Town and Johannesburg. Messages and greeting were read out from the Taviansky family in England as well as as the Lipkin family in Vietnam.

Ronnie Lipkin reminisced with Blanche about her early days and about her relationship with Ronnie’s late father Hyman. Blanche strolled down a long memory lane, recalling many details and there was hardly a dry eye in the room, especially when Blanche joined in the singing of “My Yiddishe Mama”. Ronnie compared her 100 years in cricketing terms to scoring a century not out!

Blanche was born in the Johannesburg suburb of Ophirton, three kilometres south-west of the CBD, in 1917 and has lived a full and productive life, working at the SA Zionist Federation for 40 years, until she had to “indignantly” retire at age 82!

Esther Rubin read Psalm 100 – a prayer of thanks – from the Book of Tehillim, in Blanche’s honour. She compared Blanche’s 100 years to the 100 brachot we say every day.

She spoke about the fact that we need to give thanks to Hashem every day for our blessings and appreciate what He has given us and show gratitude. She believes this applies to Blanche, as she has always had a positive attitude to life. She is a kind and generous person, always thinking of others and putting other people’s needs before her own.

Lipkin, together with Aubrey Epstein provided Yiddish music to fit the occasion, while Louis Neutel sang a beautiful rendition of “Shehechiyanu”.