Jewish life in small Eastern Cape towns

MARGOT COHEN

Marc Kopman was living in Queenstown between 1982 and 1987 when his second son, Wayne, was born. He had to drive the rabbi from Stutterheim to Queenstown, where he performed the bris under the watchful eye of the local doctor. He then returned the rabbi to his car in Stutterheim, which apparently could not be trusted to complete the longer journey.

This is just one of the many anecdotes Kopman used to illustrate the poignancy of the life in the close-knit Jewish communities of the Eastern Cape, when he spoke at a recent Jewish Genealogical Society meeting.

 Kopman’s job as area manager for an insurance company took him and his family to far-flung South African towns.

During his stint at Queenstown between 1982-1987, Kopman recalled how the Jewish families made him feel welcome. Arriving with his wife and two-year-old son from Bloemfontein, local businessmen, doctors and lawyers were  sources of great support to the Kopman family.

“The synagogue was situated across the road from  the railway station. There were minyanim every Friday night. Young men from the Yeshiva in Johannesburg came to officiate for Jewish holidays.”

The Queenstown community was formed as far back as 1904. It grew to 40 families under Rev Gordon and by 1965 there were 34 Jewish families who enjoyed communal seders.

The congregation included two Israeli families and Queens College pupils who were Jewish. Boarders were compelled to attend services at the shul on Friday nights.

The last bris performed in Queenstown was in 1985 by Rabbi Maisels and the last barmitzvah in the same year. Today there are perhaps two Jews left in Queenstown and the shul was long ago sold.

Another unusual occurence was the joint celebration of Succot by the Jews and the local Seventh Day Adventist community. Communal braais became a regular feature between the two communities.

Aliwal North was a big metropolis by comparison to Jamestown, for instance. Here an Afrikaans family donated the land for a Jewish cemetery. The shul was built in 1911. Previously a masonic temple was used. By 1955 there were 160 Jewish souls.

There were five Jewish mayors in Aliwal North. In 1965 there were only 30 families and by 1968 the shul closed. Between 1981 and 1982  the shul building was turned into Odendaal Engineering Works. It was sold in 2002.

King William’s Town proved to be a popular retreat for the Kopman family. “We used to go there to escape the 14 per cent VAT imposed in South Africa. Because it was in the Ciskei homeland, we had to take our ID books and we could also gamble.

The Central Hotel was run by a Mr Rosenberg. However, the shul hall had just been sold so that improvements could be made to the shul itself. The huge airport in the Ciskei to be built for homeland leader Lennox Sebe, meant that 30 Israeli technicians were hired in 1984.

Thus there was no problem achieving a minyan for the 1984 Rosh Hashanah services. However, the Israelis all returned home and the problem of not having a minyan for Friday night was not resolved.

In 1904, 70 per cent of Jews lived outside of the major centres in South Africa. By 1970 this trend was reversed and Jews had left the Platteland and were living in the major cities of South Africa.

In 1987, Kopman was transferred to Krugersdorp on the West Rand, where he still lives.

Born in Elisabethville (Lubumbashi) Kopman has lived in Cape Town, Johannesburg, as well as Bloemfontein and Queenstown, having also worked in the southern Free State and the  Eastern Cape Border region.