SA Lifestyle Community

Geoff Ramokgadi’s covenant with Judaism

Dec 13, 2018 Go comment!

Wearing a yarmulke, Geoffrey Modise Menachem Ramokgadi draws stares from most people he encounters, whether in his adopted country of Swaziland, his home town of Rustenburg, or in the synagogues and Jewish shops of Johannesburg.
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Tough, teasing, enigmatic: Abramowitz’s debut novel is a stunner

Dec 13, 2018 Go comment!

FutureLife: A Protea is not an Artichoke is not a book about horticulture. It’s not a book about breakfast cereal. In some sense, it’s not even a book. It’s a work of paper-and-print performance art written by one of South Africa’s best new authors. It’s also, beguilingly, an autobiography of someone else – who, as it happens, doesn’t exist.
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New novel dwells on Jerusalem’s dark side

Dec 13, 2018 Go comment!

Like a city in the shadow of an oncoming storm, a novel can be dark, brooding, and forbidding. In spite of being set in the Jerusalem of 1961, Zvi Jagendorfs Coming Soon: The Flood features none of the city’s brightness.
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KosherWorld Chanukah bash the icing on the doughnut

Dec 13, 2018 Go comment!

KosherWorld hosted its annual community Chanukah Party on Thursday, 6 December.
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Record-breaking Chanukah doughnut tower

Dec 13, 2018 Go comment!

It is not every day that Johannesburg sees a Guinness World Record attempt – and this one was extra sweet.
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Gap-year seminar for youth leaders cements unity and identity

Dec 13, 2018 Go comment!

The Israel Centre – Jewish Agency’s Partnership2gether Peoplehood Platform hosted its second gap year seminar in November for Jewish youth who are on year-long programmes in Israel. The seminar aims to foster co-operation and understanding between South African youth movements and peer movements in the Israel partnership region of Beit Shemesh Mate Yehuda.
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Education ‘change maker’ honoured in Switzerland

Dec 13, 2018 Go comment!

While global citizens gathered in South Africa over the weekend to celebrate Nelson Mandela’s centenary and raise money for deserving causes, a South African citizen was being celebrated in Zurich, Switzerland, for his work in the field of child and youth development.
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New Beit David shul consecrated in Durban

Dec 13, 2018 Go comment!

The new Beit David Synagogue was consecrated at the Durban Jewish Club in Durban on Sunday, 2 December. A mincha service led jointly by Rabbis Sa’ar Shaked and Emma Gottlieb was followed by the consecration service and ceremony at 20:00.
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South Africa Friends of Sheba off to a flying start

Dec 13, 2018 Go comment!

Ivan and Lynette Saltzman hosted an event to celebrate the launch of South African friends of Sheba in their home in Johannesburg on 6 December. The initiative aims to strengthen the relationship between the South African Jewish community and Sheba Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Israel.
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Silk Butterfly Project a soulful way to celebrate Jewish heritage

Dec 13, 2018 Go comment!

When psychiatrist Dr Elisabeth Kübler-Ross visited the Maidenek concentration camp in 1946, she found hundreds of butterflies etched on the walls of the children’s barracks. Some had been engraved with pebbles, and others scratched with fingernails, but all of them represented a message which took Kübler-Ross 25 years of working with dying patients to fully comprehend. In spite of the awareness that their young lives were drawing to a close, the children left the butterflies as representations of their eternal souls, which would live on forever.
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UJW celebrates another capacity year of Brain Boost

Dec 13, 2018 Go comment!

Brain Boost, a stimulation group run by the Union of Jewish Women (UJW), celebrated the end of 2018 with a farewell tea held at Friends Restaurant on 4 December. Brain Boost was established in 2016 after the UJW identified the need to establish a group to support those affected by memory loss. It has since grown to full capacity.
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A healthy stomach is a healthy mind

Dec 13, 2018 Go comment!

If you have a healthy stomach, you have a healthy physical, mental, and emotional approach to life.
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English and American soccer clubs join forces against anti-Semitism

Dec 13, 2018 Go comment!

Russian billionaire and owner of the Chelsea Football Club, Roman Abramovich, is joining forces with Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Revolution football club, to fight anti-Semitism in the United States.
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ORT partnership teaches business skills to disabled

Dec 06, 2018 Go comment!

People with disabilities don’t get a lot of development opportunities after school, says Naomi Schauer, Chevrah Kadisha’s Programme Co-ordinator Disabilities. That’s why Chevrah Kadisha Protected Employment has embarked on a learnership programme with ORT SA and partner Hudaco Industries to teach a group of 10 disabled people business skills.
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UJW adult education division celebrates another successful year

Dec 06, 2018 Go comment!

The adult education division (AED) of the Union of Jewish Women (UJW) recently celebrated another successful year of weekly thought-provoking and stimulating talks. Members danced to the sounds of the Beatles, Buddy Holly, Tom Jones, and others as they celebrated the year that has been. Hilary Fineberg and Marcia Kaplan were given certificates of appreciation for their committed service of more than 40 and 60 years respectively.
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WIZO spreads festive cheer

Dec 06, 2018 Go comment!

Every year, the women of the Women’s International Zionist Organisation (WIZO) endeavour to spread a little festive cheer to those less fortunate in our society. This year, Sithandiwe Disabled Care Centre was the recipient of these efforts, with WIZO throwing a Christmas party for its recipients and caregivers.
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Israeli embassy celebrates skills sharing platform

Nov 29, 2018 Go comment!

Guests from South Africa and Swaziland attended a networking forum hosted by the Israeli Embassy on 25 November for more than 60 alumni of Mashav (Israel’s Agency for International Development Cooperation).
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Houghton Golf Club honours caddies

Nov 29, 2018 Go comment!

Many golfers depend on caddies, yet these staff members have little job security, recognition, or support. Caddies are seldom employed as permanent staff at golf courses. This means that they are unable to access the benefits of full-time employment, including a regular pay cheque.
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Barkai sets ice swim record in the South Pole

Nov 29, 2018 Go comment!

Ram Barkai is a 61-year-old Israeli, now living in Cape Town, who has fallen in love with ice swimming. He started off doing “normal” swims – including the stretch to Robben Island, across the Sea of Galilee, and around Cape Point.
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ORT Jet shows power of collaboration

Nov 22, 2018 Go comment!

“The word that encapsulates ORT Jet is ‘hope’”, said Ian Janet, ORT Jet veteran volunteer mentor at the ORT Jet Annual Awards, recently. ORT JET, the enterprise development division of ORT SA, was established to assist, support, uplift, and empower small-to-medium-sized businesses within the South African Jewish community.
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