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A survivor speaks

Yom Hashoa 1/05/08

Ella Blumenthal shares her experiences and deliver s a cogent message
I was born in Warsaw, the youngest in a family of seven children. I had seven nieces and nephews. My father was a chasid, a respected and well-to-do textile merchant. My mother and the entire family were very frum. I was a happy teenager until the invasion of Poland. I will never forget the images in the Warsaw ghetto – of starvation, epidemics, streets lined with corpses, starving children in rags begging for a piece of bread, human hunting, roundups, raids and deportations. In spite of surviving three concentration camps, after the liberation I tried to integrate into a normal society and after getting married, raised and educated my four children. But, I wasn’t able to talk about my suffering and fight for survival because the open wounds were still bleeding.

Now after many years, the tears have dried up and the scars have healed and I am now able to share it with you. It is now a few days after Pesach. At this exact time but in 1943, 65 years ago, the Warsaw ghetto was set alight and I was there.

This is indeed the end of an era!

as M Beinkinstadt of Canterbury Street finally closes its doors

At the end of July one of Cape Town’s oldest existing family businesses, M Beinkinstadt, will be closing its doors — ending not a chapter, but an 105 year old ‘volume’ of service to and association with the Jewish and wider community of this city and far beyond.
Some 5 years ago, on the centenary of the business, I traced the history of the hundred years, beginning thus … “If Moshe Beinkinstadt of Vilna were to take a walk in the now extinct ‘District Six’ today, he would be proud indeed to see that the business he established at number 38 Canterbury Street a hundred years ago, is still in family hands, and being run by his grandson, Michael Padowich.” Today, I would imagine Moshe pausing in contemplation at the front doors of the old building and nodding, with a sigh, “Yes, my beloved grandson, now is the right time for the final chapter … for you to close the doors.” Moshe founded the business in 1903, and ran it for the first 4 decades of the century, after which his son-in-law, Berl Padowich, husband of his only daughter Bertha, took over.

‘Bechol dor vador : The Holocaust in South African Jewish Consciousness’ … Richard Mendelson

Yom Hashoa 1/05/08

Yom Hashoah Vehagevurah – Holocaust and Heroism Day – Thursday 1 May
The Pesach Hagadah speaks eloquently and powerfully of the historical imperative of transmitting the memory of the Exodus from Egypt from generation to generation: Bechol dor vador chaiav adam lirot et atzmò keillu hu yatzà mimmitzraim – In every generation, every individual must feel as if he personally had come out of Egypt. So it is with the commemoration of the Holocaust and the transmission of its memory. We feel the same imperative to remember and honour the memory of the martyrs of the Holocaust. We are now the fourth generation of South African Jews to commemorate the Shoah. Many here today are of the generation who lived through the Holocaust years; some – dwindling number – directly experienced its horrors, and we pay tribute to them as the living and heroic witnesses to our people’s tragedy; others here today, including myself, are of the post-war generation, the children of the late 1940s and 1950s, born after the Holocaust, and others still are their children and even grandchildren. The memory of the Holocaust, like the memory of the Exodus from Egypt, is one of the crucial bonds between these generations; one of the critical ties that bind us together as a South African Jewish community; one of the principal elements that define us as South African Jews. From the start, from the war years themselves, the Holocaust has played this vital role.

Israel at 60 Special – Israel hits the big six-o

Pride, contemplation and concern the enduring sentiments as anniversary celebrated
Israel is 60 years old, a milestone the world has been reflecting on all week. As is inevitable when it comes to Israel, these reflections have been a mix of glowing positives and angry condemnations, as friend, foe and the undecided reflect on the historic anniversary. Israel itself has been celebrating while commemorating, and glowing with pride while undertaking profound soulsearching. Across the globe, reaction has been flowing all week. Here in London, Prime Minister Gordon Brown went to the Kinloss Synagogue to give a speech in praise of Israel, calling it “one of the greatest achievements” of the 20th century.
The British PM reminisced about his long standing personal connection to Israel and the Jewish people. “You may ask why it is that a young primary school child, brought up as I was in a mining town in Scotland in the 1950s, came to feel a huge attachment to the trials and the tribulations and the achievements of Israel. And the reason is that my father was brought up and learned Hebrew, supported the attainment of the State of Israel in 1948 and for decades was a member of the Church of Scotland’s ‘Church and Israel Committee’.
“He became a regular visitor to Israel, at least once or twice a year for many decades. And his interest in Israel meant that much of my early life revolved around the history of this ancient and modern land and its people.

2008 May

Image and video hosting by TinyPicThe last (Pesach) issue was intended to offer some ‘non-consumable’ material for the seder table – but not to interrupt or interfere with the traditional Haggadah reading and discussions arising, of course.

What did, and still does, emerge from that issue is the amazing impact of the article on the closing of the fish shop in the Gardens. The demise of what must be viewed as an ‘institution’ of the community is bound to touch a lot of people – and Fernando’s fishy recollections added much poignancy. There were a number of folk who felt left out of his memories and anecdotes. Perhaps a follow-up article is required. But not in this issue!

The way ic it

Since this issue has to be completed before Pesach, to ensure that you will be reading it around 1 May and so that we, who are working sooo hard to get the 40 pages done, can have the time to do the requisite shopping and enjoy unpressured pre Pesach preparation (try saying that fast) this article is being written well in advance of Haggadah night. So it is largely speculative on how things turned out, not only on the seder nights, but, in fact, for the entire matzoh-munching period.

Did you enjoy the candle-lit experience, the cold repast (except for the not negotiable hot chicken soup and kneidels) as advised on the front page of our last issue? Or did you simply disregard the UOS appeal? If the former, you were the simple son, if the latter, naturally, the wise one.

Personally, I thought that was our best April Fools joke ever, as so many people, bemusedly, reluctantly and with some annoyance, actually did believe it. I have collected a few of the responses of the simple or perhaps they should be described as confused sons which you can read on page 32.

A board perspective

The Board fully supports the principle of freedom of expression, recognising that this is one of the cornerstones of any democratic society. There comes a time, however, when the boundaries between fair comment and offensive propaganda are crossed. Such was the case with a cartoon by Zapiro that appeared in all the Independent newspapers on 12 March. In essence, this accused Israeli Jews of celebrating their deliverance from persecution whilst simultaneously committing the same acts of oppression against the Palestinians.

Using the contacts we have built up with the local media over the years, the Board was able to ensure that responses to the cartoon appeared in all the papers in which it was originally published. This included the publication of a full opinion piece in The Star and Mercury and numerous letters in the Cape Argus and Pretoria News.

Morality and survival

Recent psychology points to a fairness instinct in all humans, which goes along with other similar torturing, beating, bombing and gassing. Around 100 million people met violent deaths in the course of political conflict in the 20th century alone.

How does one reconcile these two apparently mutually exclusive human truths altruism and extreme brutality? And what does it imply for Jews specifically, faced as we so often are by hostility to the point of genocidal intent?

Strangely enough, it looks as if the very instincts we admire, the capacity for kindness and fairness, may be one reason why our species is prone to such extraordinary brutality. Put simply: along with altruism comes hatred and desire to harm those who are perceived to transgress the moral norms of the group.

‘Diamonds, Divas and Democracy …

It is not every day that the young people of the community are invited to such glamorous events, but everyone was made to feel like a true socialite at the sparkling YAD Launch of 2008. Stepping into the elegantly decorated hall at GrandWest, the guests were greeted with an evening of glitz and entertainment.

In true Jewish style, a delicious buffet started off the evening, catered to perfection by Merle Rubin and her team. The meal was followed by the smooth sounds of the Sterling EQ quartet, adding a touch of diamond glamour to the atmosphere. More entertainment included the slick style of MC and stand up comedian Loyiso Gola, who was voted Stand up Comedian of the Year 2007, showing us a different side of Cape Town and that the best thing for democracy is to laugh with each other and at ourselves!

2008 April

April issue thumbnailApril and Pesach coincide this year and we celebrate this happy synchronicity with a special and very colourful issue, which we hope readers will savour slowly in the ‘before-glow’ of the sedarim, in order to share discussion on the contents between readings of the Haggadah and the conventional excessive feasting.

In accordance with Parkinson’s Law, that ‘work expands according to the time available for its completion’ – not that we regard your reading of this paper as work – we would suggest that you cover about three pages daily, to fill the time available for the reading.

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