Welcome to 2024 with wishes of a happy and healthy one for everyone. The changing of years is always a time for reflection on the past year and looking forward to the coming one. While for some this can be a time of joy and excitement, for those who are grieving or going through a difficult time, it can be a time of heightened emotions and sadness. My wish is that in 2024 you find peace, comfort, good health, meaning and supportive connections.
Through the CJSA our members are able to reconnect and enjoy socialising, visiting interesting places on outings, experiencing a variety of fabulous restaurants, and being in the company of others, as well as finding support from other members and our caring social workers.
There is much to look forward to. Our newest activity, Gyrokinetics, is offered at Milnerton and Southern Suburbs, and members are enjoying the sessions and feeling the benefits of exercising.
We are hosting our first art exhibition since we reopened after COVID, and our artists are so excited to be able to show their talents. We will be exhibiting paintings, mosaics and any other form of craftsmanship that people wish to showcase. Whether you are a member or not, there is an opportunity for you to show your talent on Tuesday 5th March at 7 Albany Road. This will also be an opportunity for you to view our Sea Point home which we now share with the Union of Jewish Women. Light snacks will be on sale so it will also be a day where you can spend time relaxing, reviewing and shmoozing with friends. We look forward to seeing you there.
Recently a group enjoyed a three-night stay at Goudini. We have booked again as the experience was so good. Choosing a date for the break can be a challenge but this year we have managed to secure the 9th – 12th April. Bookings are already open. Please contact the office or your social worker if you are interested in joining the group for the three-night break.
The last few months have not been easy for the Jewish community and there is heightened tension and stress in many of our homes. We are extremely fortunate that there are so many committed people taking care of the Cape Town Jewish community – whether health-care professionals, CSO, or our incredible Cape SAJBD members who work tirelessly to ensure that we are informed and safe at all times. It is so important for us to continue with our daily lives but at times it is only normal to feel overburdened or overwhelmed.
That is why self-care is so important and even more so that we practise it without feeling selfish about doing so. Until recently, if you spoke of self-care, it was often thought that you were self-indulgent, spoilt or lazy, and so you thought long and hard about expressing the fact that you were looking after yourself in an ‘indulgent’ way.
But we acknowledge that self-care is important. If you do not look after yourself, the chances are that you become burnt out. We should not be expected to be excessively or exclusively concerned with others, without giving time to ourselves. How important it is to take a few minutes out of your day to focus solely on yourself, giving yourself time to breathe and refocus. It certainly does not help anyone if you push yourself constantly – even when your body is resting, your mind will continue to race, which negates the rest period.
To invest in self-care, you need to listen to your body, mind and spirit – take time to rest if you need a break. There is nothing wrong with being still for a while, even if nothing is achieved during this time. Stop thinking that you are lazy or selfish when you take time out and attend to your own well-being. Instead of feeling selfish, begin to feel Self–Full as you give yourself permission to be compassionate to yourself. By doing this, you will find that you will be more in control of both your mental and physical health – it’s necessary to be selfish and lazy in order to preserve yourself and cope with daily issues.
We look forward to welcoming each of you to our centres throughout the year. We hope that you will enjoy the in-house programmes on offer as well as the great selection of weekly YouTube programmes that we distribute. We welcome any suggestions, offers of assistance and ideas you might have so that we all continue to stretch, revitalise and grow ourselves in every way possible.
Lastly, and most importantly, we are so proud that both our Chairman, Robyn Black, and Social Worker, Stacey Melmed, have been chosen to join the Eliot Osrin Leadership Programme for 2024. We wish them joy as they travel this journey, knowing that the course will give both of them an opportunity to upskill and grow, and that CJSA and the community will certainly benefit from the knowledge they gain.
Diana Sochen, Executive Director
Social and Personal
Births:
Marlene Lyons – Great-granddaughter,
Ella Blumenthal – Great-granddaughter,
Ernest and Estelle Kaplan – Great-granddaughter
Engagement:
Marcia Orlin – Granddaughter
Special Birthday:
Dorothy Woolf – 80th
Mary De Beer – 70th
Anniversary:
Liz and Selwyn Kantor – 59 years
Welcome to new members:
Charlene Lipshitz, Derek Lurie, May Sher, Peter Tuchten
Well wishes to those who have been under the weather:
Collette Levin
Our wishes of strength to those who have recently lost loved ones:
Fay Ruttenberg — Sister, Miriam Dick
Martin Bronks — Mother, Reisa Bronks
Esme Jacobson — Sister, Reisa Bronks
Cape Jewish Seniors Association
Director: Diana Sochen, 021 434 9691, director@cjsa.org.za
Admin: Amanda, 021 434 9691, admin@cjsa.org.za
CJSA on Facebook
• Published in the February 2024 issue – Click here to start reading.
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