Other items in today’s report include:
*News of Jewish organizations
*At the synagogues
*Political bytes
*In memoriam
SAN DIEGO – The South African Jewish American Community, better known as SAJAC, has issued its annual magazine for 2020, reporting that San Diego State University Prof. David B. Cline is conducting oral history interviews with community members. The magazine’s writers also offer suggestions on coping with COVID19, and Alzheimer’s Disease, and additionally they profile young entrepreneurs, visual artists, and poets, among other articles.
The glossy, well-edited, 70-page magazine welcomes newcomers and returnees to the local South African Jewish community and bids farewell to more than a half-dozen community members who died since the last annual magazine. It also includes an interview with Holocaust Survivor Fanny Krasner Lebovits who lived in South Africa for 31 years after the Holocaust, before eventually making the move to San Diego with her late husband Louis Krasner.
There also is a bit of nostalgia, with articles reprinted from 1987 when SAJAC formed to help South African emigres adjust to life in the United States. One article suggested that “you know you’re settled when …, among other signs, “you don’t tell all black people that you’re Australian” (a reference to South Africans embarrassment over their ex-country’s former racist system of apartheid) “you spell recognize with a zeeee (instead of an ‘s’ as they do in other English-speaking countries)” “you sometimes forget you weren’t born here” and “You laugh at Johnny Carson’s jokes.”
Cline, who currently is SDSU’s interim director of Jewish Studies, disclosed in an article that “twenty students, seven graduate students and 13 undergraduates, conducted 24 oral history interviews with 26 individuals. The interviews covered topics from individuals’ family stories of emigration to and settling in South Africa originally, general life in South Africa, and family histories, politics and apartheid, activism, religious life, cultural life, the decision to emigrate and the emigration story, community building and retention in the U.S. and current stories and relationships to South African Jews in other countries and back in South Africa. And these were just some of the topics.”
Another highlight was an article by Jacob Kamaras detailing the South African Jewish community’s close connections to Congregation Adat Yeshurun. Brian Marcus, a South African emigrant who now is president of that Orthodox congregation, “explains that most South African ex-pats, even though they may not have been strictly observant, grew up attending Orthodox services where musicality, ruach, and spirituality were emphasized. The SA Jewish experience is similar to Jews from Mexico and British Commonwealth countries. That is why so many find a spiritual home at Adat. Being part of a close-knit community and doing acts of kindness for the community is something the Adat community truly values and these are all important elements of its character.”
Many Jewish South Africans trace their roots to Lithuania, or nearby Latvia, so the magazine also included articles about visiting Lithuania and how that country has honored the 300th birthday of the Vilna Gaon.
An article promoting the Yiddish Arts & Academic Association of North America (YAAANA) by its founder Jana Mazurkiewicz Meisarosh, informs that “South African Jewry is an inseparable and fascinating part of the history of Yiddish culture. Lithuania was once the beating heart of Jewish culture in Europe. These communities produced some of the most fantastic expressions of the Jewish soul .., in art, academia, and spirituality. The creative energy was carried by their descendants as they fled anti-Semitism in search of new lands of refuge, to the Land of Israel, America, England, and South Africa.”
As a lifetime journalist, I feel congratulations are in order to SAJAC for providing a very interesting and informative magazine!
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News of Jewish organizations
*Marcia Wollner, Western Region Director for the March of the Living, says that Holocaust Survivor Mala Tribich, MBE, a Polish-born Jew who was hidden by Righteous Gentiles until her capture by the Nazis and incarceration at Bergen-Belsen, will address an Internet gathering of the March of the Living at 10 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 30, as part of the “When You Listen to a Witness, You Become a Witness” Survivor Speaker series. Registration and information via this website.
*Hillel International plans to demonstrate three versions of the Kol Nidre during its Yom Kippur observance on Sunday evening, Sept. 27. According to a news release, the program will include a dramatized reading in English by Danny Burstein, six-time Tony award nominee, capturing the weight of these words in a way that is relatable and yet awe-inspiring; a traditional Iraqi version performed by Sharone Sayegh, who recently appeared in national touring and Broadway productions of Come From Away and The Band’s Visit; and a classic Ashkenazi rendition led by Grammy award-winning Broadway actor (Fiddler on the Roof, The Band’s Visit) Adam Kantor channeling the voice of his great grandfather, who was a famous cantor, and joined by the University of Maryland Hillel acapella group Rak Shalom.” More information via this website.
*The Holocaust Living History Workshop at the Library at UC San Diego has announced its programming for the upcoming academic year. The schedule is as follows:
–Wednesday, October 14, 2020 • 5:00 p.m. Virtual Event
All in the Family: Jonas Noreika and the Quest for Truth about the Holocaust in Lithuania – with Silvia Foti and Grant Gochin.
Register via this website.
–Wednesday, November 4, 2020 • 5:00 p.m. Virtual Event
Kristallnacht on Film: From Reportage to Reenactments, 1938-1988 – with Lawrence Baron
Register via this website.
–Thursday, January 21, 2021 • 5:00 p.m.
The Lou Dunst Memorial Lecture
Yiddish Glory: The Lost Songs of World War II – with Anna Shternshis and Psoy Korolenko
More information via this website.
–Wednesday, February 17, 2021 • 5:00 p.m.
Sexual Barter in Times of Genocide: Reflections on Sexual Violence, Agency, and Sex Work – with Anna Hajkova
More information via this website.
–Wednesday, April 14, 2021 • 5:00 p.m.
“The Last Stage” by Wanda Jakubowska (1948) film screening – with Marek Haltof
More information via this website.
–Wednesday, May 5, 2021 • 5:00 p.m.
Film as Witness to the Holocaust: A Victims’ Perspective – with Leora Bilsky
More information via this website.
–Thursday, June 3, 2021 • 5:00 p.m.
Mengele: Unmasking the “Angel of Death” – with David Marwell
More information via this website.
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At the synagogues
*Rabbi Yissocher Frand of Los Angeles will address by Internet Congregation Adat Yeshurun and Torah High school of San Diego at 7:30 p.m. tonight (Tuesday) on the topic “Teshuva: In This Unimaginable Year.” Register via this website. Young Israel of San Diego is among the synagogues also promoting this event
*Rabbi Mendy Begun of Chabad of Chula Vista reports that Yom Kippur services will be held at the Hampton Inn, 2424 Fenton Street, Chula Vista, with Kol Nidrei beginning at 6:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 27; and morning services beginning on Monday, Sept. 28, at 10 a.m. Reservations via this website.
*Beth Jacob Congregation has set Thursday, Sept. 24, at midnight as the deadline for those wishing to order lulav and esrog (for Sukkot) via this website.
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Political bytes
*San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond, who represents the North County, is sponsoring a petition calling on California Gov. Gavin Newsom to allow local authorities, rather than the state, to decide when mandatory restrictions are needed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
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In memoriam
Mildred (Levin) Millman, 100, died Saturday, Sept. 19, it was reported by Am Israel Mortuary. Gravesode services officiated by Rabbi Avi Libman of Congregation Beth El were held today at El Camino Memorial Park, 5600 Carroll Canyon Road, San Diego.
Donald H. Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com