The Cape Town Jewish community has lost one of its great connectors and cultural entrepreneurs with the passing of Avron Kaplan z”l in early June.
For decades, Avron was a familiar figure through The Living Newspaper, the platform he founded in 1987 to bring prominent local and international speakers to Cape Town audiences. Through these events, he raised funds for the Camps Bay Congregation, while enriching community life with thought-provoking discussions and remarkable personalities.
As the Cape Jewish Chronicle noted in 2009, Avron “single-mindedly, passionately and doggedly” brought an impressive array of speakers to Cape Town. Among them were Indian diplomat and author Vikas Swarup, whose novel Q&A became the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire; Booker Prize-winning author Bernice Rubens; Jewish astronaut Jeffrey Hoffman; Rabbi and author Shmuley Boteach; former Australian judge Marcus Einfeld; Alan Committee; Nik Rabinowitz; Mira Nair, the Indian filmmaker, who is the mother of the controversial New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani; Alan Dershowitz; Helen Suzman; Chris Barnard; Marius Barnard; and Michael Friedman, head of Frankfurt’s Jewish community.
Beyond his speaker events, Avron ran a popular film club that introduced Cape Town audiences to movies otherwise unavailable in South Africa. In some cases, he successfully challenged apartheid-era censorship restrictions to secure screenings for private audiences.
A past Chairman of Camps Bay Shul (1970-72), Avron also served for many years on the committee of the Jacob Gitlin Library.
Many older Capetonians will remember his enthusiasm, determination and ability to bring people together around ideas, culture and conversation. Through the speakers he hosted, the films he screened, and the institutions he supported, Avron left a lasting mark on community life.
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