SAUJS Update July 2017

By Jordan Seligmann, Chairperson

Last month SAUJS was quite active on campus, with a big improvement on member participation and attendance at events.

SAUJS continues to be proud of our Jewish heritage and Zionist beliefs on university campuses, and continues to see to the needs of Jewish students.

Yom Yerushalayim is a very significant day to Jews all over the world, as it marks the reunification of Jerusalem and the return of control of The Holy City to Jewish hands for the first time in 2000 years. SAUJS celebrated this occasion with a braai at UCT. We hosted the event at the Kaplan Centre complete with a gazebo in case it (hopefully) rained, along with Israeli flags and blue and white balloons for decorations. A good time was had for everyone involved, as we had great boerewors and salad, as well as a good atmosphere with Israeli music playing. Overall the event was a great success with large attendance.

Celebrating such a significant day to Jews all over the world with something so distinctly South African is a good metaphor for what it means to be a diaspora Jew. We manage to strike a balance between keeping our distinct collective identity and integrating into the society where we live. This is what makes being a Jew so unique – being part of the society where we happen live, and yet being part of Am Yisrael irrespective of where we live.
Around the time of publication of this article will be when students at UCT will be writing their exams and looking forward to their holidays. We wish all our members good luck for their exams, and to look forward to more SAUJS events when university resumes next semester.

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