Octogenarian awarded for keeping South African olim alive

South African-born advocate Hertzel Katz, who turns 90 this year, was deeply moved when he was recognised in December 2021 for his tireless efforts towards sustaining South African olim in Israel. However, actually being able to help those in desperate financial straits means a whole lot more to Katz.

Olim in Israel have been able to put food on the table thanks to Katz initiating two different funds, which his wife, Lola, says “would never have existed without his input”.

Katz, who made aliya in 1969 leaving behind a thriving legal practice, couldn’t bear to see other olim suffer, and was determined to change their situation. “Hertzel has always done things because he believes it’s important to help,” Lola says. “He has never asked for plaques on the wall in his name or buildings named after him. He has given of his time and leadership qualities.”

In 1982, under the auspices of Telfed (the South African Zionist Federation in Israel), he initiated the Keren Fund that has managed to assist 400 needy South African olim financially every month.

Some have struggled to feed their children. Katz ensured that communal fridges were created to enable those in need to take food without anybody knowing who they were. This staved off the potential humiliation and shame of poverty.

The Telfed team explained that some had fallen into financial ruin following wars in Israel. The family breadwinner would serve in the army and that might somehow lead to him losing his job, thereby removing his income.

In 2012, when Katz recognised that some South Africans were in urgent need of financial help for whatever reason, he initiated another fund called SURF (the Special Urgent Relief Fund).

This fund has allocated NIS 210 547 (more than R1 010 000) to South Africans since its inception. It helps between 15 to 20 South African olim a year. Generally, its beneficiaries have been in Israel for 30 or 40 years. They have somehow found themselves in urgent need of money, whether it is to fix their glasses, teeth, or to pay rent.

A South African family recently received NIS 3 650 (more than R17 000) to help pay their rent after their landlord threatened to evict them.

The family, whose identity can’t be revealed, has encountered several blows since making aliya.

The husband is finishing his ulpan and hasn’t been able to find a job yet as he has needed to take care of his wife who suffers from various health issues. One of their children also needed significant medical treatment.

Their fridge was empty, and their situation was dire, financially and emotionally.

Their home in South Africa was sold recently for half of its value. They had no funds left from the sale after covering the outstanding bond on the house.

For Katz, a proud Zionist, making aliya was his dream. Says Lola, “In fact, when he proposed to me, he said, ‘I want you to marry me. But you have to know I want to go and live in Israel.’”

He fulfilled his dream with his wife and two sons, leaving behind his widowed father and his wife’s widowed mother.

Katz dedicated most of the following 53 years to working for Telfed as well as advancing the South Africa Israel Chamber of Commerce, Israel-South Africa bilateral relations, and the South African community in Israel and at large.

Though he was fortunate enough to be admitted to the Israel Bar Association the year after he made aliya, he couldn’t bear to see so many olim living in Israel in dire need of financial assistance. So he chose to focus on the latter.

Using his involvement with Telfed as a platform, he started Keren Telfed.

The naysayers initially told him, “You’re crazy. It will never work.” Nevertheless, Katz went ahead, launching the fund at the Knesset in front of a special group of invited guests. “Amazingly, people responded to it,” says his wife.

Being part of the administration of Keren Telfed, Katz was all too aware of the lengthy process to apply for funds.

So, when the Telfed team told Katz that it wanted to honour him for his 80th birthday, his wife remembers his response as, “I would like you to set up an urgent relief fund.”

The fund was named SURF because at that point, Katz, never one to seek the limelight, didn’t want to appear the honouree.

However when it was renamed the Hertzel Katz Urgent Relief Fund in tribute to Katz and his legacy of kindness, compassion, and commitment to the well-being of South African olim, he said he felt “really appreciated”.

“I’ve been working for many years in various departments, and normally only the people who work with me appreciate it,” he says. “Now people are making it public, and that’s much more than I had in my past.”

His wife says people who are benefiting from the fund will now know it’s “because of a person who has devoted his whole life, in South Africa and in Israel, to the South African Zionist Federation and helping olim in Israel.”

Telfed Chairperson Robby Hilkowitz says there are so many reasons South African olim get into financial distress. “As people have tended to live longer, and as yields available on assets and pension funds have declined, a lot of people simply outlive their money,” he says. “It happens a lot in South Africa. It happens in Israel too.

“In Israel, you have additional factors. Olim sometimes find the financial needs different to what they were in their home countries. Israel is an expensive place to live. The cost of living here is high, and most cases we deal with have a multitude of factors. Some relate to general economics. Others relate specifically to immigration.”

Liat Amar Arran, the director of the Israel Centre South Africa, says, “I believe some people making aliya aren’t really considering the meaning of starting a new life in a new country without knowing Hebrew and without securing a proper job before coming to Israel. If they aren’t strong enough to make a good life in Israel, they’re falling into distress. Families that are making aliya from South Africa are already carrying a deficit of money. They hope that Israel will give them a better start and opportunities. Some of them succeed, and some of them don’t, like everything in life.”

Amar Arran says the Israel Centre is finding that some olim have to build their life from scratch. “They are washing dishes, they are babysitting, and sometimes they are too proud to do that kind of job. Then they need support. We try as the Israel Centre to emphasise to people how much they need to plan in advance, come to Israel with savings, and understand that Israel is expensive in some ways.”

Amar Arran would never recommend that people make aliya to rely on welfare support in Israel or make aliya if they are relying on welfare services in South Africa. “I always say that if you’re not managing, rehabilitate your life in South Africa and then make aliya. Don’t think it’s going to be better in Israel unless you have a big support system in Israel.”

Israel, in general, has a lot of people not earning enough to live a proper life, says Amar Arran. “More than a million kids are under the poverty line. But people usually aren’t starving. There’s a lot of welfare support. We put the kids into the right educational system, and we give them the psychological or emotional support they need to start looking for a job.”