Johannesburg Torah Institute welcome addition to communal life

Suzanne Belling

PHOTOGRAPH: ILAN OSSENDRYVER

Pictured Clive Blechman, chairman of the Great Park Synagogue; Rabbi Dovid Hazdan, spiritual leader; and Rabbi Yosef Hazdan, director of the new Johannesburg Torah Institute, cut the ribbon to the Torah library at the JTI.

Synagogues which had Torah learning programmes, survived the passage of time, he said.

Five people present shared their Torah experiences which included daily Gemorah, Kaddish on the loss of a mother, which led to ongoing study when the mourning period was over, joining for the intellectual gain of one-on-one study of the Talmud and navigating the Siddur.

Director of the JTI, Rabbi Yosef Hazdan, his father, Rabbi Dovid Hazdan, spiritual leader of the Great Park Shul, and chairman Clive Blechman, cut the ribbon to the library housing Torah books.

Born in South Africa, Rabbi Yosef Hazdan  attended school at Torah Academy in Johannesburg. He studied at yeshivot in Kiryat Gat, Israel; Brooklyn, USA; London and Melbourne and obtained his smicha in Melbourne and Israel.

Married to Itty, they lived in New York and settled in South Africa in November last year. Rabbi Yosef Hazdan immediately started several one-on-one classes at his home in Currie Street, Oaklands, and now has fulfilled his dream to teach “authentic Torah to adults”.

The JTI offers Torah education to men and women in reading, guidance in using the Siddur, Jewish law and advanced study of the Talmud.

Itty, whose mother started Machon Chana, the first seminary for Jewish women in Brooklyn, has brought her lessons to the JTI.

With her mother-in-law Feige Hazdan and sister-in-law Goldie Simpson, she will give lessons on family sanctity and on building and enhancing Jewish marriages.

Rabbi Dovid Hazdan and Rabbi Shmuel Simpson are also instructors.

“At JTI no membership is required; all are welcome regardless of background or affiliation. We are sure that your mind and soul will be stimulated and enriched by the knowledge of our great heritage,” Rabbi Yosef Hazdan said.

Pictured: Clive Blechman, chairman of the Great Park Synagogue, Rabbi Dovid Hazdan, spiritual leader, and Rabbi Yosef Hazdan, director of the new Johannesburg Torah Institute, cut the ribbon to the Torah library at the JTI.