With only three Springboks living in Israel today, they are a rare breed indeed. Telfed Magazine met recently the superlative “Bokke” – Wilf Rosenberg (rugby), Teddy Kaplan (weightlifting) and Aubrey Kaplan (water polo).
When 76 year-old Wilf Rosenberg arrived in 2009 on a group ‘Red Carpet’ aliya flight from Johannesburg, the term ‘Red Carpet’, had an added dimension. Waiting to welcome the illustrious Jewish Hall of Famer was not only the usual Telfed reception team, but a group of reporters. In the ensuing days, articles appeared on Wilf in both the Haaretz and The Jerusalem Post.
Considered one of the greatest rugby players of all time, he was dubbed the “flying dentist,” because of the way this periodontist would fearlessly hurl himself over the try line. The son of a rabbi, he first made it big first with the South African Springboks and later with the Leeds Rugby League Club where in 1960-61 he broke the single season scoring record with 48 tries – a record that still stands. The other record that still stands, “I am the only Jew to have ever played Rugby League.” This was not the case in South Africa where there have been ten Jewish rugby Springboks. Fondly referred to as the “Minyan”, they are: Morris Zimmerman, Louis Bradlow, Fred Smollan, Dr. Cecil Moss, Professor Alan Menter, Joseph ‘Joe’ Kaminer, Okkey Geffin, Syd Nomis, Dr Wilf Rosenberg and Joel Stransky.
Testing Time
Dannie Craven, says Wilf, “believed that South Africa would not win a test
series without a Jew in the side.” He not only “believed this passionately” but
put it to the test with Wilf during the British Lions tour of South Africa in 1955.
It was the first Lion’s after the Second World War. Wilf at age seventeen, was the youngest player ever
So how did it happen that Rosenberg became one of the greatest rugby players of all time – an accomplishment that earned him an induction into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame in 1994?
Born in Cape Town in 1934, he spent his childhood in Australia, where he began to play rugby at the age of six and was quickly singled out as an exceptional talent. Even now, over 60 years later, Rosenberg remembers every last detail: How his coach at the Sydney Grammar School asked Ron Rankin, a fullback for the Wallabies, to come to the school and have a look at the best players. Pointing to Rosenberg, who was 13, Rankin said, “Look after the boy. He will play for Australia.'” But soon Rabbi Rosenberg moved his family back to South Africa and Wilf got his big break in 1955 when Jack van der Schyff missed the post in the last minute of the game. Rosenberg was then chosen for the second test in Newlands, Capetown, where South Africa played the British Lions. So began Rosenberg’s career as one of South Africa’s most beloved players, where he dazzled the crowds with his speed, fearlessness and signature stunts: His head thrown back, he would outsmart his opponents with a “dummy,” a fake pass, cut through the backline and then dive over the try line to score. “It looks as if I am diving into nothing,” said Rosenberg, thus the moniker, “The flying dentist.”
“The thing about Wilf was he was an excellent rugby player both on attack and defense,” said Susser, a reporter for the Jerusalem Report and JTA. “He was both a superb runner with the ball and very, very fast.”
Looking back, Rosenberg admits that he was fearless. “I didn’t care. All I had on my mind was that I had to score.” He can’t explain how he gravitated toward the sport, either, other than to say he was “born to Rugby,” not that he was encouraged by his parents.
“One time someone asked my father how he could allow his son to play rugby on Shobbos,” Rosenberg recalled. “And he told them, ‘My son was born with a God-given talent. Who am I to argue with God?'””They acted as if I was not playing rugby,” said Rosenberg, but they didn’t prevent him from following his true calling, either.
And even though his parents never went to one game – a fact offset by his brother, Maurice, who attended every single game, bar none – it was his father who clinched the deal for Wilf to go professional.
Rosenberg was on his honeymoon in Durban with his wife, Elinor, when he got a telegram from his father that read, “Pack your bags. I’ve signed you up for Leeds.” It seemed that on a visit to England, agents for Leeds surprised Rabbi Rosenberg at the airport and offered the young Rosenberg an astounding ₤6,000 to sign with them– an offer Rabbi Rosenberg could not refuse.
“I knew about rugby league growing up in Australia, but I never had any dreams of playing the game until my father made it a fait accompli,” said Rosenberg.
Adding to the allure was the fact that Rosenberg would be the only Jew to play rugby league – a distinction that holds to this day.
“A Jew playing rugby league? Unheard of!” said Rosenberg.
South Africa, however, has had its share of Jewish rugby players. A painting called the “Springbok Minyan” famously depicts ten of them, including Morris Zimerman and Louis Babrow, both well-known players from the late 30s. Of course, the most recent celebrated Jewish South African rugby player is Joel Stransky of Invictus fame, the star of the 1995 World Cup game.
While Rosenberg was playing rugby league he was also in dental school, earning the highest marks and specializing in periodentology. As he remembers it, he lived a very fast life, juggling his dental practice with rugby and a growing family. Rosenberg and his wife raised three children, one settled in Israel and the others live in Australia. Rosenberg’s wife died in 1989.
