‘Citizen Cohen’ asks important questions at Cape Conference

TALI FEINBERG

PHOTOGRAPHS: SHAWN BENJAMIN PHOTOGRAPHY

Pic 1: Rabbi Jonathan Altman; Mr Justice Dennis Davis; and Dr Rebecca Hodes, participants in ”The Great Debate”.

In her address, SAJBD National Chairman Mary Kluk, explained that the Board had focused on both confronting anti-Semitism and building bridges. In this context, she reported on a recent meeting with President Jacob Zuma, where she said the Board’s concerns were “heard and understood”, and that the National Board was doing everything possible to ensure that the civil liberties of South African Jews were maintained and strengthened.

Cape Board Chairman Eric Marx’s report covered the breadth of work done by the 110-year-old Cape Board, ranging from interfaith initiatives to political lobbying; combating anti-Semitism to providing bursaries for needy students.

Particular highlights included the new Ignite! And GenerationNext projects, which aim to foster youth leadership; and the ”Mensch” network, which will bring together Jewish community members working in outreach and activism.

Keynote speaker Dr Frans Cronje (CEO of the SA Institute of Race Relations) gave a presentation on South Africa’s future and current ”state of the nation”. In his model of South Africa either taking ”the narrow, wide, rocky or toll road”, he showed that there was much work to be done, particularly in education and job creation  and that South African Jews could play their part.

Indeed, members of the community were contributing towards bettering the country, as demonstrated in the panel discussion ”Making a difference, differently”, chaired by Howard Sackstein with panelists Michael Bagraim, Yoni Bass, Barbara Miller and Rael Kaimowitz.

Sackstein reminisced that “when a dry-cleaning van rolled down the road to Liliesleaf Farm (in Rivonia) and the ANC’s top leadership were arrested, their names were like ”reading the roll call of a shul minyan”. He asked if this legacy had disappeared from the community, with a deficit of Jewish politicians, jstices and activists.

However, the panelists showed that although they were individual cases, they were each making a difference, and were all motivated by their Jewish identities.

Newly-elected DA Member of Parliament Michael Bagraim, looked to Pirkei Avot, which says that while we must be sceptical of government, at the same time we must pray for the welfare of the state.

He said that involvement in politics “has always been there in our history”, and challenged the audience to get involved, as “no one is stopping us”.

Barbara Miller of the Etafeni Daycare Centre Trust in Nyanga, told how her interest in activism was directly related to her Jewish roots. Many of her family members had been killed in the Holocaust, and she hoped to “live a life that honours those who perished”. She added that “we are enriched by those who are different to us”.

Yoni Bass of Equal Education described how he “grew up aware of the conflicting realities of being a young Jewish South African, while also feeling uniquely connected to building a new, democratic, equal South Africa”.

He said many of his colleagues were Jewish, and that the “common denominator is that we all went to Habonim… “

Rael Kaimowitz spoke about how the Cape Board had taken on an active role in engaging with South Africans at all levels, emphasising that “Judaism is not a spectator sport” and said that each individual could contribute to the community and the country.

Questions from the audience emphasised how young people working in civil society were often marginalised by the community. However, one audience member said: “We owe it to our young people to listen to them. We have to talk to them; they are our future leaders.”

The conference continued with a ”Great Debate”, between Rabbi Jonathan Altman and Dr Rebecca Hodes entitled ”Looking in/looking out: Where should our focus be?” mediated by Justice Dennis Davis.

Dr Hodes proposed that it was vital that the community was engaged with wider society, and that in fact this was an essential aspect of being Jewish, based on notions of tikkun olam. Thus, she said, the community should encourage a more universalist perspective, where people could express their Judaism in a variety of ways and be able to engage with all sectors of society.

Rabbi Altman disagreed, saying that the question was not “if we should become more inward-looking, but when”. He listed a variety of factors that were negatively impacting the community today, particularly apathy, intermarriage and ”Jewish illiteracy” and said that an inward focus would help solve these issues.

“We must repair ourselves more urgently than we must repair the world,” he said.

Questions from the audience included asking if a more inward approach would also be an inclusive one; and if a universalist perspective still included Jewish sources. Justice Davis pointed out: “When we are so few Jews in South Africa, the notion that we do not want to encourage everyone to participate, particularly the young, is something we should examine further.”