Sinai Encore: confronting today’s burning issues

OWN CORRESPONDENT

More than 4 000 Jews descended on Sinai Indaba in Johannesburg last week, after 1 100 people attended in Cape Town the weekend before. The forum’s eclectic assortment of speakers included rabbis and roshei yeshivot, psychologists, political advisors, academics, entertainers, mystics, and business leaders.

“Our world is moving so quickly, with dramatic changes in the field of genetics, shifts in global power, leaps in technology, and the spiralling cost of living fundamentally changing our lives and the world we inhabit. This year’s Sinai Indaba confronted these and other burning issues,” said Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein.

“Our challenges may seem new, but their solutions are encapsulated in our eternal Torah wisdom. As our sages say, ‘Turn it [the Torah] over and over, because everything is in it.’”

SOUND BITES FROM THE TALKS

“The kabbalah teaches that we are all part of one soul. When we pray together, when we dream together, bond and connect together, something changes for all of us.” – Rabbi David Aaron

 “My mother taught me the gift of being proud of who you are. I am the daughter of Sarah, Rebecca, and Leah. The daughter of G-d, the daughter of the Jewish people. And that is a legacy.” – Slovie Jungreiss Wolff

“Stop waiting for the world to make you happy. It won’t.” – Rabbanit Yemima Mizrachi

“In relationships, there is physical compatibility, emotional compatibility, and intellectual compatibility. But there’s also spiritual compatibility – two people who simply share a vision. A couple may be in their 90s, but they share a sparkle, something that doesn’t change, that doesn’t wither, that only deepens with time.” – Rabbi Simon Jacobson

“At the end of the Cold War, there were two competing outlooks – one peaceful and positive, the other talking about a new form of intensified warfare. Today, we see [that] the pessimistic view of the world is more connected to reality.” – Major-General Yaakov Amidror

“We are Jews. We have to be more than moral – we have to be holy.” – Rabbi Zev Leff

“The older I get, the more I realise that the key to wisdom and success in life is to learn how to fail and keep on failing, so that I can fail better.” – Dr David Pelcovitz

“Because of the Microsoft commercial, ‘Too Close’ suddenly had 80 million Shazams. Radios started playing my music all over the world. And I’m in yeshiva, completely oblivious.” – Alex Clare

“Going to shul is a very challenging exercise because so few of us have really experienced what shul is supposed to be, and what it’s really all about.” – David Sacks

“We are on the verge of a genetic revolution.” – Rabbi Dr Akiva Tatz