Letters/Discussion Forums
Closing of Beyachad Library is a catastrophe
I recently returned from a trip to Europe and Israel and expected to be greeted by the usual tsorris when I got back – and I was not disappointed. The upcoming Mangaung conference;, the tribulations of Julius Malema; the e-toll system agitation; the miners’ strike; and much more, which we all know about and fret about.
Lionel Slier
But actually what shocked me the most was the news that the Jewish Library at Beyachad was being closed down. What a slap in the face for the Jewish residents of Johannesburg or do we really not care about this?
The social, cultural and intellectual life of a community is measured by the facilities available for learning and gaining knowledge. If this facility is swept away by fiat and without the consent of the community, then it is a sad reflection on the leaders of the Johannesburg Jewish community.
It has taken years for the library books to be collected; they represent the history and intellectual standing of the community and now all this is just going to disappear. Some of the books, newspapers and also patiently collated cuttings of the city’s past, are apparently just going to disappear – maybe sold at a second-hand sale or a garage sale?
Some months ago the powers that run Beyachad downsized the library and also moved Bet Hatefutsoth researchers into cramped and unhealthy premises where part of the library used to be and they are now hoping to let the space that the library takes up, for offices.
Who would be crazy enough to take offices where there are no windows, no ventilation, no decent lighting? Are these powers-that-be now quite delusional? Have the bean counters taken over?
Where will the intellectual centre of Johannesburg Jewry be situated?
Do they not know that Johannesburg will become a laughing stock, chasing the almighty rand at the cost of a positive gem that would have disappeared from our lives? We will have the intellectual standing of Zeerust (with apologies to Zeerust).
Highlands North, Johannesburg
David Shapiro
January 15, 2015 at 3:21 pm
‘I cannot understand how a thriving Jewish community in Johannesburg can allow it’s omly Jewish Library to close down.Why do they not take a leaf out of the Cape Town Community where the Jacob Gitlin Library is an absolute pleasure to be member of.I recently became a friend of the library and can only say good things about the service that it gives to the Jewish Community here in Cape Town.
\nRegards
\nDavid Shapiro
\nCape Town’