Celebrities trumpet positive messages about SA for Elul

By the end of Elul (25 September), Rabbi Eitan Ash, the rabbi of Chabad of Savoy in Johannesburg, will have spread 30 positive messages about South Africa from as many South African celebrities.

Each day of Elul, he has made a point of meeting a well-known personality to get a message from them and blow the shofar for them. He has met the likes of veteran stockbroker David Shapiro; Miss South Africa Ndavi Nokeri; boxer Kevin Lerena; former South African Revenue Service executive Johann van Loggerenberg; Nando’s founder Robbie Brozin; and South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) Vice-President Zev Krengel to allow them to share their message ahead of the Jewish new year.

He then uploads the video of the message and his shofar blowing to all his social media platforms – Instagram (@rabbiwithabackpack), Facebook, and LinkedIn.

“I also have five WhatsApp groups that I’m admin of, and post the videos there,” he says. “They’re going viral. People are sending them to everyone all over the place. I’m getting messages from countries throughout the world.”

During the month of Elul in 2020 and 2021, Ash sent out videos of rabbis and people in different cities around the world blowing a shofar. “This year, I felt South Africa was so in need of positivity, that instead of continuing this idea, we could get different influential people to give a short positive message – not a Jewish message, just a positive South African message – and if I blew the shofar afterwards, we could create the same viral effect and positivity in the country.”

Ash says the SAJBD has been supportive of the project.

The blowing of the shofar serves as a spiritual wake-up call, helping us to reflect on our past year, learn from our mistakes, and prepare for the new year.

Ash met ActionSA President Herman Mashaba and nine-times Comrades Marathon winner Bruce Fordyce at their respective houses; legendary golfer Gary Player at Killarney Country Club; and Blue Bulls hooker Bismarck du Plessis at Loftus Versveld Stadium. Ash even stood in a Springbok shirt with 2007 Rugby World Cup-winning Springbok captain John Smit in front of a painting of some Springbok legends.

Said Mashaba, “One thing we must never forget is that in 1996, we produced one of the finest Constitutions, which guarantees that we can change our government, so we’re now in the process as ActionSA to build the non-racial South Africa we fought for.”

He expressed confidence that after the 2024 South African general election, “we will have a new country”.

Award-winning journalist, author, and radio host, Mandy Wiener, said, “There are great stories to tell in South Africa. Sure, it’s absolutely important to hold power to account and expose wrongdoing, but there are what I like to call the ‘hope dealers’ – the whistle-blowers, civil society organisations, active citizens, and entrepreneurs.”

International Performance Consultant Richard Sutton said, “If we can go into this new year with self-awareness and self-control while reflecting on three things – how do I want to feel, how do I want to think, and how do I want to act when I’m confronted with a challenge or adversity – we can shape the future we want for ourselves and create the reality that we all aspire to.”

Four-time Premier Soccer League-winning coach Gavin Hunt said the football fraternity in South Africa needed to get behind Banyana, the team which just won the Women’s African Cup of Nations and are heading to the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next year. “They have done exceptionally well and are really something to be proud of. All we need to do now is get our men’s team right. There so many players with so much talent in this country,” he said.

Said Smit, “The shofar starts with something simple and small and becomes something quite significant at the end from a noise point of view. When I look at rugby, it takes a bunch of individuals to come together and create synergy and something special.”

Said Fordyce, “The weather is glorious. I can’t see anything to be negative about. Last month, we had the Comrades Marathon, which is the biggest example of South Africans all coming together. I think this is the most amazing place.”

Asked how he got celebrities to share their messages, Ash said, “I’ve spent a lot of time finding different people who know some of the different celebrities. I had numbers for some of them and contacted them directly. Other people have called me, saying, ‘I know this person. Can I get them for you?’ Then I contact them, and we set up a time.”

He says it hasn’t all been plain sailing, as some celebrities are busy or outside Johannesburg. “Also, I’ve organised a message every single day this month, so it does come with a workload. But most celebs have been amazing and happy to try to fit into their diaries the three or four minutes it takes to do these videos.”

South Africa is one of the best countries in the world, Ash says. “There’s so much potential and energy here. We have so much. We get so caught up in all the negativity and the problems. In life, if we think positive, we create a positive vibe which can make a difference to all of us in this incredible country.”