Solly Kaplinsky & Jay Ruderman in SA

ANT KATZ

Earlier this year, the RUDERMAN FOUNDATION awarded the United Herzlia Schools in Cape Town the foundation’s prestigious Ruderman Prize in Disability Award earlier this year for the school’s inclusion efforts.

Now, Jay and Shira Ruderman are coming to South Africa next month to visit the school and learn more about local efforts in including people with disabilities into Jewish communal life.

Jay Ruderman is the president of the Ruderman Family Foundation and his wife, Shira, is the director of the foundation’s Israel operations. They will be in South Africa from 25 November to 6 December.

What is The Ruderman Family Foundation?

The foundation is based in Boston, USA and Israel. It advocates for, funds, provides issue expertise and advances the cause of the inclusion of people with disabilities throughout the Jewish community. The foundation believes that people with disabilities need and deserve the same opportunities as everyone else, and every community needs and deserves their contributions. Inclusion is fair, essential and strengthens us all, they say.

The United Herzlia Schools – Cape Town, South Africa were one of six recipients of the 2013 prize. The other recipients were: Sunflower Bakery- Gaithersburg, Maryland; B’nai Amoona Synagogue – St. Louis, Missouri; Arlene Fern Community School – Buenos Aires, Argentina; and AMIT- Israel.

This prize is awarded to organisations for their commitment toward the full inclusion of people with disabilities into society and for their vision of providing the same opportunities for everyone in their communities.

Jay Ruderman will be accompanied by Solly Kaplinski, the Jerusalem-based executive director of overseas Joint Ventures for the giant US-based philanthropic NGO, The Joint Distribution Committee – commonly known as the Joint.

Solly is pictured at right with his old friend Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft during a recent visit to South Africa

Solly’s inclusion is most appropriate as he was head of Herzlia for many years before moving on as an educator in Canada and subsequently moving to Israel where he took charge of the redevelopment of Yad Vashem. Thereafter, he became the Joint’s international point man.

Who is Solly Kaplinsky?

“I’ve been blessed to be part of an organization that’s helping so many Jews in Israel and in over 65 countries around the world,” Solly Kaplinski says humbly of the huge responsibility he carries on his shoulders.

Read more about SOLLY KAPLINSKY one of SA’s most successful Jewish organisational exports, and about his recent trip taking young South African Jewish executives on a BALTIC TOUR to explore their roots and the current business opportunities available in what has become a flourishing rejuvination of the Jewish communities in the region.

What is the Joint Distribution Committee?

Since 1914, the JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE (JDC) has given global expression to the principle that all Jews are responsible for one another. Working today in Israel and in more than 70 countries around the world, JDC’s mandate is to rescue Jews in danger, provide relief to those in distress, revitalize overseas Jewish communities, and help Israel overcome the social challenges of its most vulnerable citizens. JDC also provides non-sectarian emergency relief and long-term development assistance worldwide.