Hope lives in the work that we do

As an optimist, I’ve always believed that despite the complexity and unpredictability of life in South Africa, we must try, wherever possible, to make a difference. To the country, yes, but first and foremost to our own community.

For more than 20 years, I’ve volunteered for the Jewish Women’s Benevolent Society (JWBS), and I’ve come to believe deeply that caring for our own is vital. Where we can, I believe we should also assist the broader community, especially in times of national disaster when our community has always stepped up.

With our numbers shrinking and needs growing, we can’t assume that someone else will step in. Our community has unique vulnerabilities and a limited pool of people to rely on. Larger national organisations often have far broader networks and greater access to resources. We don’t.

Yet through targeted, often “under the radar” acts, Jewish organisations across South Africa provide food, clothing, education, housing, healthcare, companionship, and dignity. Always with compassion. Always with care. For many in our own community, this is the only safety net they have, and it’s life-saving.

Hope, for me, lives in that care. It lives in the incredible generosity of our community. In the strength of the organisation I’m proud to volunteer for – the JWBS. In the volunteers who give of themselves. In our shared commitment to treat every beneficiary with dignity and respect. And in the simple truth that when someone is in need, they have somewhere to turn.

My hope is that our community will remain strong, not only surviving, but continuing to uplift others as it always has. This can happen only if this generation and the ones to come choose to get involved. I’m hopeful that the next generation will step forward and continue to make a difference.

Because in a country where numbers are shrinking, costs are rising, unemployment is high, and needs are greater than ever, we must ask ourselves:

If not us, who?

• Leigh Brouze is co-chairperson of the Jewish Women’s Benevolent Society.