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10 HASHALOM April
2017
April 2017
HASHALOM
11
I absolutely adore my husband and love him unconditionally, but I
can’t deny that once in a while (usually around March/April time),
I sometimes find myself wishing he could just be a little more…
well…
Sephardi.
Not that I’m
Sephardi
myself. Like the majority of the SouthAfrican
Jewish population, I am
Ashkenazi
– my forebears came from
Lithuania before they settled in Durban, some via Johannesburg,
Krugersdorp, and Bethlehem (the one in the Orange Free State).
My husband’s predecessors originally hail from the same Litvak
region, though they travelled through Rhodesia and the Cape of
Good Hope before producing a son that ended up on SA’s east
coast.
If, however, his early ancestors had made a short, 2000-year-odd
stop in Spain or Morocco,
Pesach
would be a lot more agreeable
for me. You see, although Jewish lineage is carried through
the maternal bloodline (so a Jewish mother’s children will be
considered Jewish no matter who their father is), conference of
culture descends through the male’s ancestry, meaning that when
a Jewish woman marries a Jewish man from a different culture,
she takes on his
halachic
interpretations and
minhaggim
(traditions).
For those of you who aren’t au fait with the
different sects of Judaism, allow me to briefly
give you some background. Let’s call this Jewish Sects Ed 101:
After the destruction of the holy temples, the Jews were sent
into exile and ended up settling all over the known world (well,
in the places that they managed to escape being massacred).
There were a few areas in particular where they gathered, and
over time they took on some of the cultures and customs of the
neighbouring communities, especially when it came to matters
like food, music and dress.
(CAVEAT: Centuries later – from around the early 1800s – modern
new forms of Judaismbegan to be cultivated, includingmovements
like Reform, Conservative, Conservadox, Reconstructionist and
even some curious religious hybrids like Jews for Jesus. These
do not fall under today’s discussion. Due to limited space – and
my limited knowledge – I’m restricting this study to the natural
development of cultural varieties of ye olde regular traditional
orthodox Jew.)
So, back to our history/geography lesson: after the exiles, some
Jews moved north (well, technically, a little northwest) and ended
up establishing communities in places like Latvia, Lithuania, and
Germany. These Jews became known as
Ashkenazim
, after the
contemporaneous Hebrew name for Germany,
Ashkenaz
(in
modern Hebrew the country is simply called
Germania
, but the
cultural label for Jews of the region has stuck).
Other Jews travelled west and settled on the Iberian peninsula
(that’s Spain and Portugal), or across the Med in northern Africa.
Spain in Hebrew is
Sepharad
, so these Jews became known as
Sephardim.
Still others migrated east to countries like Syria, Iraq or Iran. These
became known as
Mizrachi
Jews, after the Hebrew
mizrach,
meaning east. Those who fled southeast to Yemen are today
known as Yemeni Jews, and those who made it as far as the Far
East (for is that not how it got its name?) are dubbed Asian Jews.
Some ended up in even further-flung places but there weren’t
enough of them to warrant an anthropological label (but you can
bet your Kosher-le-Pesach-lasagna they have a
Chabad).
Over time, these geographical distinctions and the interaction
with neighbouring communities led to variations in culture and
practice, occasionally even to differing interpretations on matters
of
halacha
(Torah law).
Now let me be the first one to point out that there’s merit in
marrying someone with a similar culture to you. There’s less room
for argument – both within the couple and within the extended
family – if you’re both used to doing things the same way anyway.
And yet. And yet…
Oy,
no matter how delicately I go about this, I’m going to make
some new friends and some new enemies with this one. So I
guess I might as well dive right in.
Sephardim
have an edge on us
Ashkenazim
because they get to eat rice and beans on
Pesach
. We’re talking
hummus
on
matzah
, people! But it’s not
just on
Pesach
that the
Sephardim
seem to have gotten the well-
cooked, fragrantly spiced end of the deal. Their tunes are zingier.
Their clothes are more colourful. Their food rocks (especially
for vegetarians). They know what to do with a chilli. They play
drums at weddings. They speak proper Hebrew (not Hebrew
with a Yiddisher accent, which is about as convincing as a
kugel
speaking isiZulu).
But then again, there are aspects of
Ashkenazi
culture that are
pretty awesome too. Yiddish humour is untouchable. Poland gave
us the bagel.
Klezmer
has its own special charm. Well-made
kneidlach
(like my mom’s, naturally) are worth marrying in for,
and who can deny that a crispy, golden latke is a thing of beauty?
Mmm, pass the crème fraîche…
On balance, perhaps I didn’t do so badly after all. (I’m sure
Warren is breathing a sigh of relief right about now.) We may do
some things a little differently, but at the end of the day, it’s about
the application of the same laws and values anyway. Whether we
are
Ashkenazi, Sephardi,
or somewhere else on the map – we
may do some things a little differently, but at the end of the day,
it’s about the application of the same laws and values anyway. We
all wrap up the
seder
with a prayer for
le’shana haba’ah
– next
year in Jerusalem.
So whether you’re eating your
matzah
with
hummus
or cream
cheese this year, whether you’ll be marking the end of Passover
with
mimouna
(a traditional
Sephardi
post-
Pesac
h feast) or
celebrating with pizza, I wish you a
chag kasher ve’sameach
.
Until next time.
BUBKES
Why I should have
married a Sephardi
By Lauren Shapiro
PAST TENSE
By Pundit
PAST TENSE
HASHALOM APRIL 1967 – Extracts
GUEST EDITORIAL
under the title –
IS OUR SYMBOLISM A LIVING
REALITY?
The writer, Adelaide Lichtenstein, stressed the importance of
remembering great events of the past, citing theWarsawGhetto andMasada.
Then followed a report of what was planned for the 7th May Day of
Remembrance production at the Club conceived and written by Jack Usdin,
Adelaide Lichtenstein and Marlies Stark, and produced by Ms. Lichtenstein.
MAYORAL LUNCHEON
At the time a luncheon for the Mayor of Durban was an annual event, and in
1967, it was Margaret Maytom who was thus entertained. After disclosing
Durban’s then current plans for development the Mayor is reported to have
said “I believe nothing short of a calamity will hinder Durban’s growth. It is
a city with a tremendous future which, I think, will reign one day supreme in
size and population in the country.”
Perhaps the Mayor overlooked the fact that Johannesburg and Cape Town
were Durban’s competition.
IN TOWN AND OUT
congratulated
• Mr. and Mrs. Viv Klaff on the birth of a son in Jerusalem and Mr. and
Mrs. George Silverman, the grandparents of the little boy.
• Miss Fern Levy who had received her Masters degree in Social Science.
• Mr. and Mrs. Charles Adley on the marriage of their daughter Malia to
Ian Grant of Sydney, Australia.
• Mr. and Mrs. Alex Levine on the marriage of their daughter Naomi to
Benny Forster of Canada.
WELCOME! NEW MEMBERS D.J.C.
Here followed a list of the names of the new members – there were 97. I
counted them! Just imagine!
THURSDAY CLUB.
Reported an interesting and well attended debate on the topic “Money spent
on space travel could be better employed elsewhere.” Jesmond Blumenfeld
andNatalie Essers moved themotionwhichwas opposed by Elisha Puterman
and Laurie Sugarman. On a show of hands the motion was defeated.
D.J.C. YOUTH SECTION
chose as their
YOUTH PERSONALITIES OF
THE MONTH
the Head Boy, Robert Swil and the Head Girl Fleur Yewdall,
of Carmel College. Attractive photographs accompanied their brief C.V.’s.
PEOPLE’S COLLEGE
Rosalin Usdin reported on an interesting lecture by Rabbi Dr. Sherman of
Cape Town on “The Birth of Christianity out of the Spirit of Judaism.”
Evelyn Aziz reported on the A
GM
of the
SYNAGOGUE WOMEN’S
GUILD
held in the Minor Hall which was filled with women. When, before
or since, has a meeting of the SWG been so well attended?
Isa Stark reported on the launch of the 1967 U.C.F. Campaign, which was
addressed by Mr. Leon Lewis, President of the CNJ and Mrs Rose Kaufmann,
Communal Jewish Leader of America. Ms. Stark went on to describe
forthcoming events, a morning market and the second series of the Adult
Education Section, which would be a course of all aspects of Sociology –
speakers to be Fatima Meer and Prof. Engelbrecht.
What a hive of activity the Cub was in 1967!
HASHOLOM April 1942 – Extracts
EDITORIAL – THE STATE OF OUR YOUTH-
this was an
impassioned plea for the Club, or failing the Club, the Council of Natal
Jewry (CNJ), to give a lead in the serious matter of the co-ordination
and promotion of the activities of Jewish youth.
JEWISH HISTORY – THE CORNER-STONE OF JEWISH
EDUCATION, BY Amelia Levy,
was an interesting and well-reasoned
plea for Jewish Youth to receive a good grounding in Jewish history as a
foundation of their Jewish education.
COLUMBUS AND THE JEWS
written anonymously by one J.K.
described how many Jews and some prominent former Jews (Marranos)
had been prominent in assisting Christopher Columbus in various ways
in connection with his notable search for an alternative route to India,
which resulted in the discovery of America. The author suggests that
Columbus himself may have been a Jew or of Marrano extraction.
IN THE FOYER,
a monthly light-hearted romp about Club matters
was written, for the first time by “The Bellgirl” in the place of the usual
Bellboy. This had to happen – put it down to the exigencies of War.
MANY HAPPY RETURNS,
which is described as
A SHORT STORY
BY HAROLD M. BLUMBERG,
is the story of a little girl’s 8th birthday
party and her fears that her Bobbe would embarrass her in front of her
Christian school-friend. Needless to say, Yiddish accent and all, Bobbe
turned up trumps.
IN TOWN AND OUT
Congratulated:
• Mr. and Mrs. B Caplan on the birth of a son.
• Mr. and Mrs H. Isaacs, and Mr. and Mrs. L Masters, who had each
recently celebrated their silver weddings.
Welcomed:
• Capt. N. Menachemson C.F. who had arrived in Durban from “up
North”.
• Pte. Barney Gordon on leave from “up North”, who had been
joined by his wife, who was serving in the W.A.A.F on leave in
Durban from Pretoria.
D.J.C. SECTIONAL NOTES
reported that
• The Canteen had served nearly 18,000 men in March
• Mr. S. Kahn of Butterworth Hotel had asked the Canteen to provide
400 meals free and had agreed to pay not only the cost of the meals
but also the loss thereon to the Canteen. An amount of no less
than £50 was involved.
• At least two tennis courts were being relaid with “resilient ant-heap
and Sydenham grit”.
• Mr. B. Shotland had represented the Club at the A.G.M. of the
Durban Private Courts League at which it had been agreed that all
competitive tennis events would be cancelled forthwith “for the
duration”.
• Mesdames Barnett and Woolfson were to be congratulated
on reaching the final of the Durban and District Ladies Pairs
Competition (Bowls of course) where “they went down to a much
more experienced couple.”