Jeffrey Wolf retires after 64 years in education

It was the sudden death of his twin and fellow educator at the end of last year that made Jeffrey Wolf decide to retire from teaching after 64 years in the field.

The twin headmasters, Jeffrey and Elliot Wolf, are legends in the Johannesburg Jewish community.

The inseparable twin brothers were the headmasters of King David High Schools Linksfield and Victory Park respectively for more than 50 years, and committed educators throughout their professional careers.

Elliot’s sudden death at the end of last year sent shockwaves through the Jewish community, and left Jeffrey heartbroken. “We were wombmates, then we were roommates, and then we were soulmates,” he said.

The passing of his brother was a stark reminder to Jeffrey that time waits for no man. “I’m 86 years old,” he said. “My teaching career lasted 64 years. I began to feel that, as time moved on, I needed to take advantage of the years I still had and be able to make independent decisions.” Thus, at the end of 2021, Jeffrey Wolf retired from his legendary career as an educator.

Both his and his late brother’s educational careers had a rocky start. “[Our parents] found life quite difficult in South Africa, having fled from Germany in 1934. They sought to ensure that both their sons went into lucrative professions, but Elliot and I were set on becoming teachers.”

Jeffrey describes fondly how, as teenagers, he and Elliot would tutor the neighbourhood children from their garage at home. The two brothers were determined to teach, but, in order to placate their parents, studied a Bachelor of Arts degree for three years. It was their parents’ hope that, as the years passed in university, the twins would “come to their senses” and pursue another career.

However, studying only made them more determined. Once they had received their undergraduate diplomas, they both did a one-year teaching course, and the rest is history. “We majored in the same subjects – English, Latin, and Hebrew – and began our careers at different government high schools, Elliot at Parktown Boys, and I at my alma mater, Highlands North Boys High,” Jeffrey said.

It was in 1968 that Norman Sandler, the former headmaster of King David Linksfield, caught wind of the Wolf brothers, and managed to lure them onto his staff – Elliot as head of Latin, and Jeffrey as head of English.

Jeffrey became headmaster of King David Victory Park in 1975, a year after Elliot assumed the position of headmaster at King David Linksfield. Jeffrey describes how “it was a shared experience. We counselled each other – if we had a problem, we would discuss it and try to resolve it together. It was never a rivalry.”

Jeffrey said that throughout his 26 years of headmastership, he had one major escape from the office – teaching senior Latin, a seemingly dead language. However, Jeffrey was able to keep this deeply rich and historical language alive in the classroom.

“[Latin] has given the world so much in terms of poetry and outstanding rhetoric, and all of it is wonderfully interesting to teach. Most of English is Latin-derived, and it gave students a tremendously sharp insight into linguistics.” Indeed, Jeffrey’s last teaching position was a 22-year stint at St Mary’s School, teaching Latin to the girls, something he describes  as “a remarkably happy time”.

His longstanding career means that Mr Wolf has watched education evolve and has had to evolve with it. “Everybody has to become more technologically educated now,” he said. “You have to make changes in your system and methodology. In many ways, teaching can be considerably enhanced by these new creative developments.” Over these past two years, Jeffrey moved to teaching entirely online.

“It was a realistic decision [to retire], although, of course, I miss it,” he said. “Teaching was never a chore – it was a passion, a pleasure, from which I gained great fulfilment.”

Jeffrey also worked with his wife, Barbara, for a number of years. “We handled it very well,” he said. “She had already proved herself eminently as an outstanding teacher and leader. There was never a feeling of me showing favouritism to her.” Barbara has recently finished writing a history of King David High Schools, a project that Jeffrey describes as having been done with “tremendous care and expertise. It’s the most beautiful tribute to our years there.”

Jeffrey’s parting advice to educators and leaders everywhere is, “Teachers have to move with the changes and deal with new pressures that adolescents deal with these days. If you’re an expert in your own subjects, and can invest passion [into your teaching], your students will thrive. They will share in that experience.” We wish Mr Wolf much luck and success upon his retirement, and thank him for his many years of service to the Johannesburg Jewish community.