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2 HASHALOM December
2016 / January 2017
December
2016 / January 2017
HASHALOM
3
ANNIVERSARIES
Prof Antony Arkin
EDITORIAL
I have just returned from Israel having attended the World Zionist
Organization’s Zionist General Council XXXVII/2 as the South
African Jewry’s representative. Next year will mark many important
anniversaries in the history of Zionism, Israel and the Jewish people.
It will be 120 years since Herzl called the first Zionist Congress in Basel
in 1897, which formulated the Zionist platformand plan of action for the
implementation of its goals. We have also entered the centenary year
of the Balfour Declaration. This was the topic of the keynote address
to the Conference by Prof Shlomo Avineri. The document, signed on
November 2, 1917 by the British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour, was
the first recognition by a world power of the right of the Jewish people
to their national homeland in Palestine. “His Majesty’s government
view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for
the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the
achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing will
be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing
non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status
enjoyed by Jews in any other country”.
As Richard Kemp argues in the
Gatestone Institute
it was the single most
significant step taken in restoring Jewish self-determination in their
historic territories. Under the San Remo Resolution three years later,
the Balfour Declaration was enshrined in international law. In 1922 the
League of Nations gave Britain a mandate to govern Palestine, to create
just such a national home.
Significantly, it will also be 50 years since the miraculous victory by
Israel against five Arab nations intent on extinguishing the Jewish state.
However, after only six days Israel not only defended itself, it liberated
Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria, the cradle of Jewish civilization.
One of the great motivators behind the Balfour Declaration was the
Prime Minister David Lloyd George. At the Zionist Federation dinner held
in his honour in 1931 he said: “The Jews surely have a special claim on
(Palestine). They are the only people who have made a success of it during
the past 3000 years. They are the only people who have made its name
immortal, and as a race, they have no other home. They found no home in
Egypt or in Babylon. Since their exile they have found no home as a people
in any other land, and this is the time and opportunity for them once more
to recreate their lives as a separate people in their old home and to make
their contribution to humanity as a separate people, having a habitation
in the land which inspired their forefathers. Later on it might be too late”.
Later on it might be too late.
These prophetic words became a devastating
reality formillions of Jews in the years to come. TheBritishAdministration
was largely sympathetic to the Arab population. Only 17 years after the
Mandate was issued, the British effectively repudiated its terms by
placing draconian limits on immigration and land purchases seemingly
forestalling any hope for the Jewish state. This act of appeasement
at conciliating the Arabs also trapped millions of European Jews, who
might have looked to Palestine as a place to escape the Nazis.
The World Zionist Conference emphasized that the Balfour Centennial
might by an apt moment for both peoples to seek to redeem the hope
that Jewish rights could be respected without harming those of their
Arab neighbours via a two-state solution.
In demanding that Britain apologize for a 99 year-old statement
supporting a national home for the Jewish people, Palestinian President
Mahmoud Abbas exposes the true position of the Palestinian leadership,
that the Jewish people have no right to a national home, the Jewish state
has no right to exist. The Balfour anniversary is a timely reminder that the
Palestinians remain in a mindset that makes peace unattainable.
Contact: Robyn Bradley P.O. Box 10797 Marine Parade 4056
Production Manager: Mrs Robyn Bradley
The views expressed in the pages of Hashalom are not necessarily those of the
Editorial Board or any other organisation or religious body unless otherwise
individual.
Hashalom Editorial Board:
Editor: Prof Antony Arkin
Sub Editor: Colin Plen
Editorial Board: Mrs Mikki Norton, Mrs Michelle Shapira
Commitee: Dr Issy Fisher, Ms Diane McColl, Mrs Lauren Shapiro, Mr Colin Plen
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Editoria
l
02
Out of Perspective
03
Mishna Impossible
04
Israel
05
John Howell: Celebrating one hundred years of the Balfour 05
Declaration
The new, level-headed Trump
06
Will Trump stick to his Jerusalem promise?
07
Jewish World
08
Leonard Cohen: Artist, mensch and ‘kohen gadol’
08
Hanukkah FAQ
09
Jewish genius is in danger
10
Community New
s
11
Bubkes
11
Past Tense
12
KwaZulu Natal Zionist Council
13
Union of Jewish Women
14
John and Anna Moshal honoured with GIFT Giving Award 17
Talmud Torah
19
Durban United Hebrew Congregation
20
Wotsup Wizo
21
Limmud
22
Divote
23
Durban Holocaust Centre
24
Eden College
25
Beth Shalom
26
Young Israel Centre
26
Umhlanga Jewish Centre
27
Durban Progressive Jewish Congregation
28
Netzer
28
SAJBD
29
Above Board
30
Cooking with Judy and Linda
30
Social and Personal
31
Diary of Events
31
On our Cover
31
Ryan Saul Awarded: “Innovative Project of the Year”
31
OUT OF PERSPECTIVE
En route to Jerusalem, nestled between the Haredi yishuv of
Telstone and the Israeli-Arab village of Abu Ghosh, lies a boarding
school known simply as the “Kfar” (the Village). Now this particular
school perhaps represents some of the major shortfalls of Social
Policy in Israel. But more about this later, because the dedicated
and nurturing staff that run it also represent a lot that is good about
Israeli Social Welfare Practitioners. The school enrolls high school
youth classified by Welfare services as being “at high risk”. Basically,
this means that due to certain circumstances (e.g. behaviour and
social pressures) some youth are at higher risk of travelling down the
wrong path in life and have a higher probability of leading a crime-
ridden lifestyle. Their parents do not have all the necessary tools nor
are able to guide the child in a safe environment. The Kfar provides
a secure atmosphere where the kids can be educated, protected and
disciplined. Upon leaving, they would ideally have learnt enough and
have matured enough to cope with life after school.
For simplicity, the Kfar is classified as an educational boarding
school, where the emphasis is on teaching, guiding and providing life
skills. The Kfar consists of the boarding establishment (BE) and the
school, each with their own management. The BE has a manager,
madrichim, and supporting administrative staff. The school is led by
a principal, with teachers and coordinators for each grade. Nothing
uncommon so far, but straddling both parts is a host of support staff
and advisors who make up the professional therapy team. These
are mainly psychologists, social workers, and therapists of all kind
(specialising in art, music, animal therapy etc.). There are also Shnat
Sherut volunteers, high-school graduates who volunteer a gap year
to work in the community, and whose responsibility is that of mentor
or role model to the school kids.
So who are these children at the Kfar and what is their background?
Children at risk do not hail from any particularly geography as they
come from all around the country. They may come from a secular or
religious home, Arab or Jewish. Their families may have been here
several generations, or come during the mass immigrations from
Ethiopia and the FSU. There are also Black-Israelites youth and
even teenage children of foreign workers. It is probably only in the
army one would find such diversity? What issues do the teaching
and professional support staff need to deal with? There is a whole
gamut of problems arising from inadequate social welfare coverage
in Israel. However, welfare standards are very rarely isolated from
other social ills, but are rather complicated by divorce and in-
fighting amongst parents, drug-abuse and depression. There may
be behavioural issues like suffering from bullying and displays of
aggression, or even trauma from loss of a parent. Needless to say,
many have criminal records.
Given the problematic backgrounds, treating the student in the
bubble-like environment of the Kfar, effectively disconnecting
the ecosystem of family and home-town from the individual in
therapy, means progress is slow. Going back on the weekend to a
troubled home environment also retards any headway made during
treatment sessions. Some parents are not involved as much as
they could be. Once having left the school, all the responsibility falls
squarely on the youth to support him/her-self. Their surroundings
usually remain static whilst they themselves have made many
self-improvements. However, given limited resources for welfare
spending, these interventions of targeting individual youths-at-risk,
rather than whole families or even communities, is likely the best
policy option. Whilst the overall system is imperfect, so is the actual
institution. Like any work organisation, there are tensions, lack of
coordination and miscommunication between the staff at the Kfar.
There are clear levels of seniorities and hierarchies, where it is not
always obvious for volunteers and interns to fit in and leverage their
expertise. The students are well-aware who wields more power
in the BE and school, and some try to exploit this to avoid being
disciplined.
But for all these challenges, the educational and professional staff
remain dedicated to their work. The teachers are not specialist
miracle workers, rather regular employees of the Ministry of
Education. However, they work irregular hours, and are available to
their students at all times, day and night, on their mobile phones.
They may need to sit with a student having a bad day, or simply
give a hug. They may give up their lunch to a hungry student, so
that he/she will stay in class and not wander off to find something
to eat. They keep no secrets, and any absence of students due to
suspension or another reason is discussed openly how it affects
the class dynamic. The teacher is seen as a friend who talks their
language, but is respected as an educator, not a peer. The madrichim
at the BE try and give life skills and guidance out of the classroom,
dealing with more sensitive topics like drugs and sex. They eat meals
together, and don’t put themselves above the kids. They may even
visit and take care of them at home, as was the case when one youth
got sick from alcohol poisoning. Finally there are the therapists who
go beyond normal hours of work, and who often come visit them on
weekends at the BE or at home, and will often buy them food and
drink at their expense. There is no end to the problems, but everyone
at the Kfar is committed to building a better future for its youth.
Hardyouth,
hopefulfuture
DavidArkin