ANT KATZ

Anthony Reich looks relaxed, laid back, more Cape Town than Joburg – and certainly more Ra’anana than Tel Aviv! But that is in Joburg – by the sounds of it he leads a much more hectic life in at home Israel.

Anthony grew up in Grahamstown, in the Eastern Cape, where his folks were the local innkeepers and his dad ran the town as mayor for many years too.

Nu, so how did he end up becoming the Israeli correspondent for ChaiFM?

After completing his studies, Anthony and his wife Janene left South Africa 24 years ago. They first went to the UK for eight years, and then to Israel with two young sons in the (northern hemisphere) summer 1998.

Their two sons, Ayal (22) and Liran (20) are both currently serving in the IDF.

A passion to communicate

Anthony is a newsman by default. His work has always been in IT and banking, but he is passionate about what’s happening around him.

He currently has two day-jobs, one as the CFO for a large Israel-based hedge fund – and the other is an interest in a company that develops software systems for hotels (including, of interest, some of the new ones in the Sochi Olympic village.)

What drives him?

Anthony says: “What drives me to do the radio show is that I have always been Interested in communicating.”  But Anthony’s interest is not to simply share what’s in Israel’s daily media.

“I like to think that I am giving an alternate view,” he says, “to hopefully present a slightly different view than the general media.”

Anthony is a fervent Zionist and feels almost duty-bound to pass on to Israel advocates in SA “information to enable them to defend Israel verbally when they need to do so,” he says. He wants to “reinforce SA Jewry‘s views of Israel,” he says. “I feel an obligation to do so.”

Anthony Reich says that Israel has “so many wonderful achievements” and had created so much in what was such an “adverse environment” and that is the message he tries to portray.

He gets mad with Israel “naysayers” and feels that “it’s a pity that even some Jews around the world fall into this group.”

Where does he find the time?

So where does he find the time in his busy day to prepare for, and broadcast, his radio slots? He says he spends about an hour and a half each day – between all of his other activities. “I get up at 5.30 for Shul in the mornings and prepare then,” he explains. But then, for the next 18 hours or so, he is constantly on the lookout for what he may be able to use the following morning.

Anthony was last in SA four years ago. He says he and Janene haven’t travelled together since Ayal went into the army as they feel that one of them needs to constantly “be there as a back-up system to our kids.”

Have Anthony and Janene integrated themselves to the extent that they feel Israeli? “Definitely,” he says without having to think about it. “Socially we interact with English-speakers – but not exclusively.”

The boys, he says, live between two mother-tongues – speaking mainly English at home and Hebrew out of home. For anyone who would like to catch up with Anthony Reich or give him direct feedback on his radio broadcasts, he is available at anthony@aylee.com.