Yom Hashoah 2021 shows our ability to adapt

When the country went into lockdown in March last year, it was obvious that the traditional, countrywide Yom Hashoah ceremonies couldn’t be held, and that the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) would have to come up with an alternative way of marking this very important day on the communal calendar. It was decided to organise a single national online ceremony in which all regions would participate. The Holocaust centres in Cape Town, Durban, and Johannesburg were an essential part of the whole process, and here, we had the advantage that our national president, Mary Kluk, who headed up the national planning committee, was also the director of the Durban Holocaust Centre.

Far from being a stop-gap, second-best alternative to the traditional in-person gatherings, the first-ever united Virtual Yom Hashoah ceremony was a great success. More than 17 000 people (many overseas) participated, and the feedback was extremely positive. I’m happy to report that this year’s online ceremony was even more successful, with 40 414 people viewing the presentation to date. We have received fulsome praise from across the board for an event variously described as moving, profound, dignified, and forward-looking, as well as very well put together. Once again, all praise is due to Mary and her committee, to our professional staff, and perhaps above all to the survivors, around whose testimonies and messages for the future the entire event was organised.

Another positive lesson we can take from all this is how well our community has been able to adapt to the extraordinary circumstances it has found itself in over the past year and more. Taking full advantage of the many opportunities offered by the online communications revolution, we have been able to ensure not only the continuation of normal communal activities, but if anything, an improvement in their quality and reach. It bodes well for our ability to meet and overcome whatever future challenges our community will face.

More underhanded malice from BDS

At a time when South Africans perhaps more than ever need to work together in addressing the many urgent issues confronting our society, certain fringe groups continue to push radical ideological agendas at the expense of the country as a whole. They include the various BDS (Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions)-oriented groups, which never lose an opportunity to sow conflict and division in order to spread hatred against Israel and its supporters. This week, we saw yet another instance of this when the South African BDS Coalition came out with a demand that a Jewish candidate for appointment to the Constitutional Court be rejected because of his association with the SAJBD. As the Board is the elected representative of South African Jewry, and since the vast majority of Jews roundly reject the rabidly anti-Israel BDS ideology, this is tantamount to calling for Jews to be excluded from public office in South Africa.

In our response, we criticised this self-evidently bigoted, discriminatory, and totalitarian initiative. We are nevertheless confident that all those genuinely committed to our country’s democratic, non-racial values will reject with contempt this latest attempt by BDS to sow division and hatred in our society.

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