Over four decades later, his legacy lives on There are few Southern African Jews that have not heard of Chief Rabbi Israel Abrahams – even if they were not from Cape Town. So, it was not surprising that members of the SA community in Israel congregated one night in 2014 to honour his memory on […]
South Africans love hiking. How could they not with some of the best trails in the world. Ask any who have done The Otter Trail along the Garden Route, the Pipe Track around Table Mountain, the hike up Champagne or Giant’s Castle in Natal, the Wild Coast the …well, its endless! Israel, unlike South Africa […]
By David Lewis It all started by two dudes from Durbs and a bloke from Zim – The Cyclenix Mountain Biking Group We classify our riding level as intermediate but the accent is always on fun and good company. Our riding companions are our friends; not our competitors! The Path Ahead It was November […]
South African in Israel explores the complex interactions between man and water. With many regions in South Africa experiencing severe drought, it is intellectually ‘quenching’ to come across such an illuminating perspective on the issue of water, particularly by someone who has such an enriching connection to South Africa. Nina Selbts of Savvyon – a city […]
Exhibition International Premiere – Tel Aviv What a buzz! It was early evening in downtown south Tel Aviv, with folk standing around a pavement bar, wine glasses in hand at the entrance to the prestigious art studio of Shuki Kook. The occasion was the solo exhibition and International Premier of wildlife artist –Ralph Resnik. There […]
Google ‘Kibbutz Revivim’ and you will find that it was established in 1943 by a youth movement group from Rishon LeZion that included new immigrants from Austria, Germany and Italy on land given to them by the JNF (Jewish National Fund). Nowhere does it reveal the South African connection! The story begins in the 1930s […]
South African enterprise in the early days of the State was recognised by the naming of a street in Netanya after a company founded by South African investors and its manager, the late Zundel Segal. When Zundel, immigrated to Israel in 1952, “he was a man with a mission,” said his widow, artist Tziporah Segal. […]
Throughout the days of Mandela’s passing in December 2013, it rained incessantly. So too in Israel! During the memorial service at the residence of South Africa’s Ambassador, Sisa Ngombane in Tel Aviv the heavens opened. It was said in tributes that as rain brings “life, rejuvenation and hope,” so too “has Mandela’s life on earth […]
The passing in 2014 of Professor Joseph Borman was felt far and wide. This eminent cardiac surgeon performed the first successful heart transplant in Israel and was a great friend of Prof. Christiaan Barnard. “You know, if I never understood exactly why I am in Israel, today I found the answer. I feel so much […]
If you chance to stroll along the stone paths of the wooded Beit Berel Campus outside of Kfar Saba in central Israel, you may be surprised to overhear conversations in Xhosa, Tswana, Zulu or Afrikaans. Participants of every shade of colour from South Africa’s “Rainbow Nation” are currently attending a unique ‘Community Development & Leadership Training’ […]
The ‘legacy of linkage’ between South Africa and Israel is colourfully illustrated in the life of Arthur Goldreich who passed away in Israel in 2011. Goldreich’s role in the ANC underground was sensational if fleeting. Most of his life, following his dramatic escape from a downtown Johannesburg police station in 1963, was spent in Israel. […]
For Dr. Gail Loon-Lustig, Chairman of Beth Protea, a recent walk in Jaffa, led to the closing of a circle that began as a young medical student at UCT in the early seventies. Sitting through a series of riveting lectures on “soft tissue tumours and lymphomas” by pathologist Dr. Len Kahn, Gail was enthralled in […]
Dr. Mary Gordon never Stopped fighting So, who was the South African doctor who had left such a lasting legacy in Israel and has a unit at Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon named after her? “Where and how can I best serve? Must always have prayed on the mind of Dr. Mary Gordon. She never took […]
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 […]
When Prof. Leslie Leiserowitz of the Weizmann Institute was awarded the 2016 Israel Prize for ‘Chemistry and Physics’ with Prof. Meir Lahav, he was only the third South African Israeli to receive Israel’s highest civilian award. The other two recipients were Dr. Ian Froman in 1989 for his contribution to society through sport, and Hillel […]