Gauteng conference on track and online

On the day when the first coronavirus case in the Jewish community was announced – 11 March 2020 – the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) convened a meeting of the community leadership to understand the issues and plan and co-ordinate our response. Thirty-five leaders from Johannesburg and six from Pretoria, Durban, and Cape Town attended, together with experts in the field of infectious diseases, Professor Barry Schoub and Dr Richard Friedland. Since then, this forum has been convened regularly to determine how to respond to ever-changing circumstances.

On 16 August, a little more than five months since that first COVID-19 emergency gathering, the SAJBD Gauteng Council will be holding its biennial conference. In spite of it taking place in circumstances that even a decade ago would have made the holding of such events impossible, it will comprise the normal conference business, including outgoing chairman Marc Pozniak reporting back on the council’s activities in the preceding two years, and the announcement of the incoming Gauteng Council (one difference being that this time, the actual voting for the new council will take place on the preceding Thursday). Our Cape branch is currently hard at work preparing for its conference on 6 September, which will be the first to be held under a significantly adapted electoral process.

In terms of the format of the Gauteng conference, the first hour (19:00 to 20:00) will include the chairperson’s report, the announcement of election results, and an opportunity, through a virtual “town hall” meeting, to engage with the SAJBD Gauteng leadership during a Q&A session. This session should provide an ideal platform for community members to ask questions and raise any specific concerns they might have, while at the same time allowing Board representatives to explain in more detail what is being done to assist and protect the community during these turbulent times.

For the second hour, we will be joined via Zoom by our very distinguished guest speaker, Dr Edith Eger, a survivor of Auschwitz who went on to achieve international acclaim as a psychologist, speaker, and author. As I stressed in my column two weeks back, we believe she will bring a much-needed message of hope and resilience to our conference in this very troubled time in the history of our community and country.

We hope as many of our community as possible will join us on this important occasion, and participate as much as they can in the proceedings. To save your spot at the SAJBD virtual 2020 Gauteng Council Conference, go to our Facebook page. The link for the town hall booking is https://bit.ly/333lO5X, and for Dr Edith Eger https://www.excelacademyinc.com/sajbd-2020-editheger

• Listen to Charisse Zeifert on Jewish Board Talk, 101.9 ChaiFM, every Friday from 12:00 to 13:00.