Joburg judo’s ‘Sensei Irv’ turns 80

Well-known South African judo teacher Irving Ginsberg, whose life-long passion had him mentoring countless judokas from all backgrounds, celebrated his 80th birthday on 3 September.

Ginsberg, who stopped teaching judo only just before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, had a small birthday party at Sandringham Gardens in Johannesburg. “In November, after the chaggim, we will have a huge bash and a tribute with all his pupils,” his daughter, Shayne Wolovitz, says.

Ginsberg’s dojos ran for 58 years, so he can only imagine how many judokas came through them. He produced Springbok judoka and judoka with provincial colours. Shane Goldsmith, for example, who says his life was largely influenced by ‘Sensei Irv’, won two South African judo championships and a medal at the Maccabi Games.

Ginsberg even taught people who couldn’t pay for lessons, says Wolovitz, a judoka herself until breaking her knee at the age of 16. “All he wanted to do was teach people, inspire them, and spread love. He would bring the Torah into his sessions. He taught people of every race and denomination. He didn’t care who you were.”

Ginsberg had a challenging start to life. “When my mother was pregnant with me, she had thyroid trouble,” he recalls “The doctor said, ‘This child must be taken away because she is going to die.’ My mother said, ‘No way’, and I was born poisoned.”

Ginsberg, whose Manchester-born mother and Lithuanian-born father were both born Ginsberg but weren’t related, consequently struggled to walk and had to wear leg braces while growing up in Kensington, Johannesburg.

Asked how he overcame his struggle, Ginsberg says judo helped him, and “I just feel that Hashem runs the world”.

Ginsberg was inspired by Mickey Davidow, his greatest mentor. “My dad’s passion arose under him, and he grew in confidence,” Wolovitz says. “Judo brought my dad strength. The leg braces came off, and he climbed the ladder.”

Ginsberg worked his way up the judo rankings to surpass a black belt and become an 11th Dan with a red and white belt. He also got into karate, eventually becoming a black belt karateka, and jiu-jitsu, eventually becoming a 4th Dan in that martial art, as well as boxing.

He particularly liked the discipline judo instils in judokas.

Ginsberg competed in four Maccabi Games and represented South Africa, receiving Springbok colours. A former South Africa Judo Sensei of the Year, he was also a national judo referee.

“I had 14 different dojos all over the country,” he says. His Johannesburg-based-dojo, Zen-A-Kwai, was divided into four clubs. “I had instructors that I taught and I used to visit them.”

On his incorporation of Jewish values into judo, Dr Michael Setzer says, “Sensei Irv taught my boys in a way that was not just about judo, but also about life. He did it with warmth, love, and an approach that seamlessly blended Torah, middos, and physical discipline.” Ginsberg’s “ability to integrate life lessons with physical training is truly unique”, he says.

“I do a lot of tehillim,” says Ginsberg, who runs the shul at Sandringham Gardens. “Whenever I come, he is with his chumash and learning,” Wolovitz says.

His career took him to Israel, Australia, and Canada. “My dad’s life-long dream is to go to Japan,” she says.

He not only taught his judokas but fought with them, leading by example. When Goldsmith was a young judoka still growing in confidence, an older competitor with provincial colours followed him into the bathroom and began taunting him. “Just then, Sensei [Irv] came out of a stall and looked at this scum bag, who was certainly psyching me out, and said to him, ‘You will never beat the Ox [me],’ and he had a hundred bucks in his pocket that he would give him if I lost.” Ginsberg turned out to be right.

A former photo-lithographer, Ginsberg has three children and five grandchildren.

Ginsberg went to Kensington South School and then King David. “King David was still alive then,” he quips.

Toastmasters helped him to overcome his shyness and become a master speaker. “He could speak about anything, stand up in front of a crowd, everyone would laugh and be motivated,” Wolovitz says.

Ginsberg also served as a mashgiach and a kosher supervisor at Pick n Pay in Morningside and Michelo’s in Glenhazel, so his favourite food is pizza. “He would treat the staff well, always giving them lift a home so they wouldn’t need to take taxis,” Wolovitz says.

Ginsberg used to teach at Selwyn Segal, which he describes as “very rewarding”.

He believes that the ultimate aim of life lies “not in defeat or victory, but in the perfection of one’s character”.

Ginsberg changed lives by teaching people with few opportunities, Wolovitz says. “They would come to judo and bring their children, whom my dad would also teach, and try to get them opportunities for work.”

Paula Levin recalls asking Ginsberg if he would be willing to teach her helper’s son. “Without thinking twice, he said he was welcome. He taught him for free for years, and gave him certificates and medals like everyone else.”

Saul Joshua Abelson says, “Sensei Irv changed my life. He gave me the thing I’m most passionate about in my life. I’m a black belt judoka under Sensei Irv, a black belt in Japanese jiu-jitsu, and he led me towards Brazilian jiu-jitsu, which helps sustain me physically, mentally, and financially.”

Ginsberg himself didn’t make a lot of money but would nevertheless take envelopes with money and put them in people’s siddurs at shul if he knew they needed it. “He didn’t want people to know what he was doing, but he would do charity like that,” Wolovitz says.