Three years ago the Jewish Agency sent me together with my family to be an emissary in the Cape Town Jewish Community.
It might sound bizarre to some, but as Israelis, we rarely ask ourselves the meaning of ‘being Jewish’. However, when we packed our things and flew to the southern tip of Africa to work with this Jewish community, I needed some understanding of what it means to be part of the Jewish People.
I heard various answers along the way, but the one concept that stood out for me was the Jewish people as ‘one big family’. Looking at it in this way, I was ‘the cousin from Israel’ that was coming for a visit. From the perspective of the Jewish Agency, my mission here was to strengthen the family ties. Some people were interested to hear how ‘the family’ is doing.
Some wanted to know what the plans were for the future. Others were not so sure about our ‘family history’ and like in any family (some will claim, even more so in a Jewish one) there are family faribles. People were upset with some of the ‘family’s behaviour’ and I needed to explain and mediate. In all of those cases, it was important to me to keep the family united.
For the last three years, I have had the privilege, as the head of the Israel Centre, to conduct many ‘family visits’. Running educational workshops in schools, celebrating and commemorating important events, joining the youth movement camps, speaking at shuls, addressing the seniors and engaging with university students being only some examples.
Now, my term has come to an end, and it is time for me to go back to my family. Looking back at this amazing time I feel that my family has grown dramatically.
Space is short, so I won’t mention people by name but I want to thank all my friends, teachers, colleagues, mentors and partners along the way. These three years were a very strong and meaningful experience for me and I feel privileged to have had them.
Hopefully, I didn’t fail in my mission and had something to contribute to the family bond.
Shalom, Hagai Dagan
