Isaac Joffe, tennis player and mensch

JACK MILNER

It is said that for some people the glass is always half empty but for others, it is half full. When you meet someone like Isaac Joffe, you wonder whether the glass has lost any water. Isaac turned 90 last month and a brocha was held at the Greenside Shul in his honour.

I first met Isaac prior to the 2005 Maccabiah. He was part of the tennis team which contained juniors, seniors and masters. That year the SA team chartered an SAA plane to fly us to Israel and I sat next to Isaac, travelling in both directions. Those two flights enabled me to get to know this interesting man.

When we arrived in Israel we all went off to our respective accommodation and I heard the next day there had been a mix-up into which hotels the tennis players were booked. While much of the tennis was played in Jerusalem, the older crowd were slated to play in Tel Aviv. Isaac and a number of his countrymen arrived at their Jerusalem hotel only to discover they should have been staying in Tel Aviv.

The complaints were endless. I heard how they had to travel to Tel Aviv in the middle of the night and when they arrived there the rooms were not ready. They were forced to sleep in the lobby that night and they could only get into their allocated rooms the following day.

Isaac’s version of events was a lot different. “There was a bit of a mix-up, but they were quick to sort us out and everything was fine. There wasn’t a problem.” That story epitomises Isaac Joffe. 

He went on to play in two more Maccabi Games (2009 and 2013) and won a bronze medal in the men’s senior doubles in 2009. He has also played in senior tennis events all over the world.

On December 17 last year, Maccabi SA Vice-Chairman Desmond Hyman and Sports Director Alain Nathan presented Isaac with a special award on the occasion of his 90th birthday, at his home in Victory Park in Johannesburg.

“Isaac Joffe is a very talented, dedicated sportsman, and to be participating in the Maccabi Games at 88 years old is a truly remarkable achievement,” said Maccabi SA Chairman Cliff Garrun at the function.

“Isaac is a testament to sport and exercise prolonging and increasing your quality of life.”

Isaac Joffe is truly a mensch.