Brent Lindeque isn’t Jewish, but he has discovered he has a deep connection to the Jewish state. This South African writer, radio host, speaker, and founder of the Good Things Guy news platform, says he’s still trying to process his trip to Israel, which was “a lot to take in”.
“I went there for me, to explore this holy place where I might have some history, to connect with my faith and find good news along the way,” he says.
Though he was raised Christian, he says he recently found out that his great-grandfather “may have survived World War II only because he left everything behind. We know nothing about his past, except that he arrived in South Africa with just the clothes on his back, all alone, possibly losing his religion in the process.”
He learned this from his mother’s sister, who is researching their family tree. All other branches go back into the past, except for his great-grandfather. “His history is just erased, absent. We don’t even know where he came from. All we know is that he came to South Africa in the 1940s, and his surname was Green. He may have cut ties with his past because it was safer. I strongly believe that there may be a Jewish link, and I feel like it’s my job to find out.
“So, I had a sense that Israel was calling me,” he says. “And then, I was on a work trip to the Seychelles, and heard that my nephew had died in a car accident. As I was sitting there crying on the other side of the world, an Israeli came over and comforted me. Later, she started telling me about her life in Israel. So again, it felt like a calling from the universe. A few weeks later, I got the email about a trip for journalists. I mean, can G-d shout any louder?”
He grabbed the opportunity. As he arrived in Tel Aviv, he says, “We got to our hotel at only 22:30, but everything was buzzing. Little street restaurants packed with people, bicycles whizzing past, buses full of people, and art galleries and shops still open.”
After a busy day of touring, “I ended my day back in the city at a beach bar”, he says. “The nightlife in the city is something else. I ate all the food, drank all the drinks, and had all the fun! Some of the group went swimming in the sea last night, while others went clubbing. I did both.”
He expected Tel Aviv to be “a first-world city like London or New York, and it was exactly like that. It’s such a vibe. The city is so alive. It lived up to – even surpassed – my expectations. Jerusalem, especially the Old City, took my breath away. Growing up, Bible stories were like fairytales – so long ago and from a different world. So, being where these stories come from was soul-stirring. No one can prepare you for that. I don’t think I’ve cried that much in long time.”
First and foremost a storyteller, Lindeque was particularly struck by the stories he heard. “There’s such a diversity of people wherever you go,” he says. He wrote on Facebook that he didn’t come to the region to write about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, “but yesterday, I found myself listening to a story about how we have this immense power not only to create positive change for those around us, but for generations to come. Yesterday changed me.”
Lindeque met a Muslim man named Ihab Balha, who “explained how he was born into hate. That changed when he started working in his dad’s restaurant. One day, he and a Jewish customer got into an argument, which became a weekly occurrence.”
One day, “the Jewish man stopped shouting. Just for a minute. Ihab couldn’t understand what was going on. He asked, and the man told Ihab that his wife was leaving him. Ihab listened, and shared his own pain and struggles. The two men found commonality in their pain.”
It was that moment that planted the seed of change. “Ihab started learning about other cultures, religions, and communities. He invited friends to meet people they had also been taught to hate. At first, it was just two people. Then 20. Then 200. Then 2 000. And then 20 000.”
Most importantly, “he helped his family unlearn what they thought to be their own truth, to the point that he received his parents’ blessing to marry a Jewish woman, Ora. When their first child, was born, there were no schools that catered for children who were ‘interfaith’. Ihab and Ora decided that they would open one. In 2010, a unique kindergarten was born. Thousands of children have been educated by the couple, promoting a new language of peace and love. With people like Ihab around, I know there’ll be peace.”
Another person who had a profound impact on him was Holocaust survivor Rene Quint, who survived the camps as a child, lost her entire family in the Shoah, was adopted, and now shares her testimony around the world.
“Hearing her story made me realise why my grandfather may have left behind his history,” says Lindeque. “As someone who is always looking for ‘good news’, it was hard to learn about the horror of the Holocaust from her and at Yad Vashem. But Rene was like the antidote to that – the way she built a life for herself and is such a kind and forgiving person.”
Another highlight was celebrating Shabbat in Israel. “Shabbat is an integral part of this incredible journey. I will forever treasure this memory,” he wrote. “As Christians, we see family only a few times a year. That needs to change.”
Visiting a kibbutz was also a fascinating experience. “They have managed to cultivate land for farming in the middle of the desert. Our tour took us into the heart of the farming region, where we picked our own food. It was a special experience. It would be amazing to replicate the kibbutz in South Africa to help alleviate poverty and food insecurity.”
He would love to visit Israel again, possibly with family members. As a gay man, “Israel was so welcoming. I never felt unsafe. I’ve heard Pride in Tel Aviv is amazing, and I need to go,” Lindeque says. He also hopes to share “good news stories” from the region.
“This trip strengthened my faith in religion, good people, and the world.”
