Cape Jewish Chronicle

In this edition, heralding our entry into the final ‘furlong’ of 2007, we see that communal activity both within the family and without is energetic and ongoing. Which explains why this November issue, anticipated to be lighter in pages and megabytes, is in fact rather hefty.

Once again then, eschewing suggestions of highlights, we advise readers to peruse the issue yourselves. We are confident you will find much to satisfy your curiosity and interest in terms of what has been happening over the past month or so as well as some of what’s ahead, not to mention the many advertisers you may wish to patronise.
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A lunch meeting with Professor Malcolm Hedding, international executive director of the International Christian Embassy based in Jerusalem, is always a ‘must’. Listening to this highly informed, articulate and passionate supporter of the State of Israel and the Jewish people lifts spirits to greater heights than any other protagonist could achieve.
This is one special guy.

And so it was on Tuesday 16 October, when he addressed a cross-section of leadership of the WP Zionist Council, Board of Deputies, Christian Zionist organisations and associate bodies, at the Albow Centre.

In an overview of various areas of interest and concern, Hedding provided insights on a full range of issues affecting the Jewish state at this time, and prospects of what lies ahead. He discussed the SA-Israel ‘axis’, which he said was problematic because of this government’s stance vis-a-vis Iran, and its refusal to support the calls for sanctions against its regime.
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Just before Rosh Hashanah the Board was engaged in the latest round of its extended battle against Radio 786 when the Constitutional Court considered the latter’s application to strike down certain provisions of the Independent Communications Authority of SA legislation relating to complaint and adjudication. The aim of the application was to overturn ICASA’s ruling upholding the Board’s complaint against Radio 786 for antisemitic broadcasting.

The Board, as fourth respondent, strenuously argued against the application. Judgment has been reserved and we wait the outcome with interest. I warmly ommend the Board’s legal team, and in particular Mervyn Smith and Ivan Levy, for the outstanding work they continue to do in this important matter, on which hang many crucial issues concerning freedom of expression and the continued illegality of hate speech in South Africa.
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The winning of the 1995 Rugby World Cup by South Africa was a wonderful step in reconciliation. Nelson Mandela will forever be identified with that glorious moment in our rugby history. Here are some quotes attributed to him by Jennifer Crwys Williams in the book edited by her ‘In the words of Nelson Mandela’.

“On the Rugby World Cup, South Africa, 1995 Our whole nation stood behind a sport which was once a symbol of apartheid. When it was 12/12 I almost collapsed. I was absolutely tense. When I left the stadium my nerves were completely shattered. I’m still recovering.”

The last quote was from an interview with the ‘New York Times’ in 1997, while the first quote had the following footnote:

“None more so than Nelson Mandela himself. He appeared at the final wearing captain Francois Pienaar’s No 6 shirt – and brought the entire country along with him, surely one of the most successful efforts at reconciliation in South Africa.”
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MaAfrika Tikkun was invited to submit their Informal Education programmes for the 2007/8 Impumelelo Innovations Award programme, the goal of which is to unearth unique projects of exceptional quality, which are replicable. Such programmes enhance the quality of life of poor communities and encourage good governance. They provide clear examples of successful collaboration between government, civil society and the private sector, in solving community problems.

The letter from Langa High Principal, Mr Poobalan Murugan, clearly illustrates this, highlighting the successful working relationship between MaAfrika Tikkun and Langa High, one of the first high schools where MAT programmes were presented since 2003.

Sixteen year-old grade 10 Herzlian, Simone Abramson, has become a major media celebrity after winning the top award for the best female project at the National Eskom Expo for Young Scientists, held at Pretoria University at the end of September.

Her ‘The Future of Identification’ project had won her a gold medal and ‘Best Project by a Female’ award out of 480 entrants at the earlier regional leg of the event at the MTN Science Centre at Canal Walk on 16 August.

Simone’s device involves a new method of identification of human beings by calculating formulae from four unique measurements derived through a Fundus photograph of the back of the eye.
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