WJC’s Lauder to speak at SAJBD Conference

MARY KLUK

I am pleased to report that Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), has agreed to be the keynote speaker. The WJC is at the forefront of international efforts to promote the welfare and ensure the safety and security of Jewish communities everywhere.

The Board has a close working relationship with the organisation and is an active member of its executive committee. We expect the theme of the conference to very much revolve around the rise of global anti-Semitism and how to counter it, and here it can be anticipated that Mr Lauder will provide us with many crucial insights into what is taking place.

University exams

When university exams have been set on Yomtov or Shabbat and these dates cannot be changed, an arrangement now exists between the Board and the relevant universities that religious students can write their papers immediately after the festival or Sabbath, where required, having been under the supervision of a rabbi during the preceding period.

After Shavuot, Unisa students wrote their exams at Beyachad (now an official Unisa exam venue), with Unisa invigilators and National Director Wendy Kahn in attendance. On the following Motzai Shabbat, University of Johannesburg students wrote their papers on the same basis. 

We thank all those who participated in this process, from the various university administrators and invigilators to Rosh Beth Din Rabbi Moshe Kurtstag and the rabbonim who looked after the students with such dedication and sensitivity.

Thanks, of course, are also due to our professional staff, and here, I am happy to quote from a very warm letter of appreciation received from one of the students involved: “I feel so appreciative for the hard work of so many people, the enormous effort and huge amount of logistical planning as well as what must have been months and months of delicate and highly sensitive negotiations.

“It is inspiring to know and to personally experience the role that the Jewish Board of Deputies plays in up-keeping the dignity and rights of the members of the SA Jewish community, whatever their cause.”

Jewish Affairs – an invaluable communal resource

Last week, the editorial board of the journal, Jewish Affairs, held their first meeting for 2015. The journal appears thrice annually (Pesach, Rosh Hashanah, Chanukah) and publishes articles dealing with Jewish history, literature, art and religion.

It has been brought out under the auspices of the SAJBD since 1941, and is now widely recognised as being South Africa’s leading Jewish historical, cultural and current affairs journal.

Jewish Affairs is now also available electronically on the SAJBD website www.jewishsa.co.za. It is an invaluable communal resource that records the myriad activities and achievements of our community, and I encourage everyone to take advantage of it.     

• Listen to Charisse Zeifert on Jewish Board Talk, 101.9 ChaiFM every Friday 12:00 – 13:00.