The year that was

MARY KLUK
They included a Freedom Seder, a pre-Purim evening celebrating the role of women and pre-election “Great Debates” between some of the competing parties. We were particularly proud of the success of our “Make Us Count” campaign, which included putting together an IEC-accredited observer team from across the religious and ethnic spectrum to assist election officials on polling day.

On the global front, through the World Jewish Congress and other important international Jewish bodies, our community continued to play an active part in the international Jewish conversation. Many of our lay leaders and professional staff have over the past year participated in global forums and workshops, “talking shop” with their counterparts from all parts of the world and sharing ideas, expertise and experiences in managing our common challenges.

Identifying with South Africa and its achievements, helped to foster a sense of optimism and belonging among our community. However, the atmosphere changed for the worse mid-year with the outbreak of the 50-day Gaza conflict.

Adding to our natural anxiety over the safety of fellow Jews under constant threat, were concerns over the position closer to home. The war provoked the country’s worst outpouring of anti-Semitic sentiment in decades, something greatly facilitated by the dominating role now played by the now ubiquitous social media.

We also recorded dozens of cases of face-to-face verbal abuse against members of our community. Remarkably, no cases of violent assault or vandalism were recorded throughout this very tense period. In other Diaspora countries it was a very different story.

Following the conclusion of the war, we fortunately witnessed anti-Semitism levels quickly decline to just a handful of incidents each month. We hope and pray that next year will be a peaceful one for Israel and its neighbours.

The central mandate of the Board is to protect Jewish civil rights, including combating all forms of anti-Semitism. This dominated our work throughout the Gaza war period. Every incident that came to our attention, was thoroughly investigated and evaluated. In many cases, it was not possible to take the matter further, but such a conclusion was only reached after careful deliberation.

Among other responses, we laid criminal charges, lodged a number of complaints with the Human Rights Commission and maintained a vocal presence in the media. Several of the matters have since been resolved while others are ongoing. Regardless of how long it takes, we will pursue each and every one of them until they have been suitably concluded.    

To those holidaying elsewhere, hope you will take the opportunity to make connections with the local Jewish community and help to stimulate Jewish life in the areas you visit. Coming as you do from strong, vibrant centres of Jewish activity, you have so much to give to the smaller communities, and at the same time, you will be much enriching your own vacation time

I would like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a restful December break and look forward to resuming our ongoing conversation in the new secular year.