Our theme at this year’s Absa Jewish Achiever Awards ceremony on 21 October 2023 is “We are more than!”
And as South African Jewry, we really are so much more than we believe we are or believe we’re capable of being. This is why there are so many incredible Jewish achievers in our community.
“At a time when so many in our community are disheartened and disillusioned, it’s important to try and find perspective in our situation,” says Howard Sackstein, SA Jewish Report and Absa Jewish Achiever Awards chairperson this week.
And so, on Youth Day on 16 June, the SA Jewish Report launched our Absa Jewish Achiever Awards 2023 campaign with the catchphrase: “We are more than our past.” On the SA Jewish Report wrap, we ran the iconic image of the 13-year-old Hector Pieterson – who had been shot during the 1976 Soweto uprising – being carried through the streets and his sister, Antoinette Sithole, running alongside. It was this picture that galvanised the world against apartheid. So too did the man in the photograph next to this (on the wrap), the late South African President Nelson Mandela. Says Sackstein, “These images show that we are more than our past, and we’ll be so much better in our future.
“When you look at the chaos in this country of the 1970s and 1980s, you have to admit that today, in spite of our numerous troubles, South Africa is a much better society.
“So, it’s clear that as a community, we’re so much more than our past, so much more than onlookers or bystanders to history,” says Sackstein. “We’re more than darkness, and more than colour. In fact, we’re the builders, we’re the innovators, we’re the creatives, and the entrepreneurs who have built South Africa.”
It’s for this reason that the Absa Jewish Achiever Awards “celebrates the extraordinary and the disproportionate contribution our community has made to South Africa”, Sackstein says.
He points out how much achievement we have to celebrate in this country. “We celebrate the progress we made for and in South Africa after we arrived here mostly as penniless refugees from Eastern Europe. We have since built communities, industries, and philanthropic organisations that have created jobs, filled bellies, and uplifted the people of South Africa,” he says.
It has been a progression that will be evident in this year’s Absa Jewish Achiever Awards’ theme, and the exciting build-up to the ceremony on 21 October. “Our progress starts with our past and what we have overcome, and ends with a proud statement that ‘we are South Africa’. The dusty soil of this nation sticks between our toes and the rhythm of Africa beats in our South African Jewish hearts. This is something worth fighting for.”
So, set aside any disillusionment and find those exceptional achievers in our community who should be given deserving kavod at this year’s Absa Jewish Achiever Awards. Nominate now. Go to bit.ly/jaa23nom
