New SAZF Cape director guided by tradition and innovation

In an exciting move for the Cape Town Jewish community, Chaya Singer was recently appointed executive director of the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF) Cape Council. Young but experienced in communal, Jewish, and Zionist affairs, she could have taken her skills anywhere, but has chosen to stay and make an impact in this new role.

“I’m proudly South African, and want to contribute to the well-being of our community and our country in the tradition of generations of Jews who have helped to build what’s best about us.

“I’m hopeful for our country and our continent, and I believe that Israel has much to offer. My zaida, Rabbi Bernhard, used to say, ‘Go home or stay home.’ It’s sad to see our community disperse, but this platform also allows me to assist those who see their short or long-term future in Israel.”

Her vision for the organisation is “to establish the SAZF as a broad tent within the parameters of Zionist ideology, with a focus on communal and broader education. We want to bring South Africa everything Israel has to offer, a leader in innovation, technology, and international development.

“We want to bring value as an umbrella organisation that deals with a wide spectrum of the community, from youth movements to people looking to make aliyah, as well as addressing hard issues around politics and advocacy.”

Singer grew up in Johannesburg, with annual holidays to visit her grandparents in Cape Town. She went to Torah Academy, followed by a seminary in Israel, where she got a diploma in Jewish Diaspora Education. She did shlichut in various Jewish communities including in Sweden, Denmark, Russia, China, and the United States.

It was during her Bachelor of Music majoring in classical voice and art history at the University of the Witwatersrand that she joined the South African Union of Jewish Students and was elected national chairperson. She was then elected chairperson of the World Union of Jewish Students, the only South African to have served in this position since the organisation’s founding in 1924. She held ex-officio positions on the executive boards of the World Zionist Organisation, the Jewish National Fund, Jewish Agency for Israel, and the World Jewish Congress. She also graduated from the Interdisciplinary Centre (IDC) in Herzliya with a master’s degree in government, specialising in diplomacy and conflict studies.

Returning to South Africa, she served for the past five years as the first parliamentary liaison for the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, and built relationships across the political spectrum, facilitating Jewish communal input on relevant legislation. She has numerous awards to her name, and has attended leadership programmes across the globe. She is a visiting research fellow at the Asia Policy Program at the Aba Eban Institute for International Diplomacy at the IDC.

While she grew up in Johannesburg, she’s familiar with the Cape community. “I’m particularly appreciative of the communal infrastructure of the United Jewish Campaign umbrella in Cape Town, which provides fundamental support and oversight for all organisations,” she says.

Looking at the challenges ahead, she says, “We foresee that 2021 will be a year of polarised threats and opportunities. On the one hand, the coronavirus pandemic in South Africa is far from under control. For the time being, this means that there can be no physical gatherings of significant numbers of people. The SAZF will need to continue to manage its primary activities through digital means so that we maintain the connection of our community to Israel.

“In sharp contrast, there is a renewed sense of optimism within the worldwide Zionist movement following the four seismic normalisation agreements signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Sudan, and Morocco. All of these agreements were signed between August and December 2020, representing nothing short of a sea change in Arab-Israeli relationships. The year 2021 therefore presents a golden opportunity to seize this momentum.

“We will achieve this by strengthening the community’s identification with Israel and its Jewish identity through meaningful cultural events. We will seek to find the best international speakers to address not only the Jewish community but also non-Jewish communities in South Africa.”

She has already made a number of changes. “We are creating four new departments in the SAZF to focus on specific elements of our mandate,” Singer says. “This includes a business forum to encourage trade relationships and investment between South Africa and Israel, a legal forum to build institutional legal knowledge for the SAZF and to create opportunities for law students and practising lawyers in our community, and a sports forum to encourage sports as a bridge building tool between Israel and South Africa.”

Regarding the future of Zionism in South Africa, she says, “We are increasingly seeing warming relations with Israel, also in Africa. Hopefully, South Africa will similarly align itself more pragmatically in the future. With regards to Jewish and other Zionist communities, we are grateful to live in a country with a Constitution which protects freedom of religion and association.”

Singer is excited to work with the newly elected SAZF Cape Council chairperson, Cape Town-based businesswoman Karen Marsden Sank, along with other highly respected businessmen, industry experts, and communal leaders. There are also three new co-optees on the SAZF Cape Council: Lauren Fine, a practising attorney, renowned motivational speaker, and all-round tech guru; tech entrepreneur Dale Imerman; and Jordan Seligmann, former SAUJS co-chairperson and the co-founder of the non-profit youth organisation Progress SA, which aims to promote liberalism and democracy in the country.