Hazel looks back on her successes

MARGOT COHEN

Those wise words resonated with soon-to-be retired English lecturer, Hazel Cohen, who had spent 26 years at Wits University,

She explains the establishment of the Rabbi Cyril Harris Community Centre which celebrates its 15^th birthday:”It’s a non-profit, section 21 organisation which belongs to the community. Located in the precinct of the shul, it forms a separate community. Patron-in-chief was Rabbi Harris who passed away 10 years ago. Now Rabbi Dovid Hazdan, spiritual leader of the Great Park Shul  is the patron of the RCHCC, along with a board of directors.

Probably the most impressive aspect of the community centre is the wide ranging area of interest offered to the public.

Lectures from politicians like Tony Leon, the late Frederik Van Zyl Slabbert, legal eagles such as Albie Sachs, George Bizos, Arthur Chaskalson, to media celebs like Redi Thlabi and journalists like Paula Slier  and Mandy Wiener, are just a few examples.

“Over the years we have kept the memory of the Holocaust alive through lectures and films and continue to do so,” says Cohen.

International speakers include Yehuda Bauer of Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Steven Katz, director of the Eli Wiesel Centre in Boston and Dan Bahat, archaeologist of the City of Jerusalem.

Book events include talks by Mark Gevisser, Jonny Steinberg, Moeletsi Mbeki, Anthony Altbeker, Roger Cohen of the New York Times and well-known SA-born journalist Benjamin Pogrund.

The offerings are diverse and include exhibitions of famous Jewish people, like political icon Helen Suzman, paleoanthropologist Professor Phillip Tobias, as well as an exhibition of Jewish Rugby Springboks.

The acclaimed “Memories of Muizenberg” exhibition has travelled to London, Australia and Canada.

The centre has often partnered with the SA Jewish Board of Deputies, the Johannesburg Holocaust and Genocide Centre, the Israeli Embassy of SA UCT’s Kaplan Centre and the  SA Jewish Museum in Cape Town.

“We certainly focus on Jewish culture in South Africa but there is an emphasis on Israeli culture through speakers and Israeli films. Films are often repeated in the afternoons for elderly members who prefer not to go out at night.”

Broadway musicals – a Jewish legacy, a documentary on Woody Allen, Stanley Kubrick and Frank Gehry, are just a few crowd pullers.

Cohen is most proud that “our reputation has spread internationally. We regularly get letters from abroad commending us on our programme.”

So, how does she juggle being the director of the RCHCC with her duties as a bobba? I do fit in lift schemes and help my granddaughters with their matric English, she admits.

Hardworking and motivated, her enthusiasm has not dimmed over the years.

In 2005 she was joined by Rene Sidley who oversees interesting art and photographic exhibitions.

The secret is to choose carefully, it seems. Many live musical events like a Klezmer band and Tessa Ziegler’s guitar recital as well as Santa’s story with the Pelham sisters, are just a few of the popular happenings.

So, what is the way forward? More of the same, she says. Meetings, discussions, making new friends, stimulation, education and entertainment is the essence of this highly successful venture.