Choice and accountability

We are saddened to learn of the passing of Dr Edith Eger at the age of 98. Sent to Auschwitz at 16, she lost both her parents on the day of their arrival, and survived horrors that most of us cannot begin to fathom. And yet, what Dr Eger chose to do with that suffering is nothing short of extraordinary. She spent decades as a renowned clinical psychologist, devoting her life to helping others heal from trauma, and transforming the darkest of human experiences into a lifelong act of service. Her 2018 memoir, The Choice, and its central message that we cannot always choose what happens to us, but we can always choose how we respond, carries a meaning that we should all take onboard. 

At a time when Holocaust memory is under sustained assault, when survivors’ testimonies are being weaponised, distorted, and denied, the life of Edith Eger stands as the most eloquent possible rebuttal. I remember fondly how she addressed the Gauteng community during COVID-19, telling us that she loved South Africa and imploring us to remain realists and not idealists! 

Dr Eger did not survive Auschwitz to become a symbol of victimhood. She survived it to become a healer. May her memory be a blessing, and may we honour it by refusing, as she did, to be imprisoned by hatred or despair. 

It’s heartbreaking to realise that the number of Holocaust survivors is decreasing and that soon we will be without anyone who experienced this tragedy firsthand. It is crucial that we use our opportunities to engage with these most precious people while we still have access to them. 

I must also address a matter that has required the Board’s attention this week. An element of a speech delivered by Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein has caused great upset to a fellow faith community. During his address, the chief rabbi said that Pope Leo XIV’s hands are “dripping with blood”. These comments went beyond criticism, were not substantiated, and caused hurt to fellow South African citizens. 

Over the past two and a half years, other faith groups, including the South African Council of Churches and some of its affiliates, have caused genuine hurt to the Jewish community through statements, postures, and silences. As the Board of Deputies and as the South African Jewish community as a whole, we rejected attempts to demonise or cause offence to our community, and called out leaders who were the source of this hurt. That same standard must be upheld when the source of divisive rhetoric is one of our own community leaders. The use of such terms can be harmful to the Jewish community, whose safety and security we have an obligation to protect. 

In the coming weeks we will be reaching out to the Catholic Church in South Africa in a spirit of open and honest dialogue.