July 11th 2008 – Raanana Bowling and Squash Club
By Dave Bloom
Good morning to you all, Boker tov lekulam, Mangwanani, Livukile…..
Wow !! what an amazing turnout – you weren’t all supposed to come !! this is probably the largest gathering anywhere and for a very long time of what can only be described as a very rare species of the human race and of course the Jewish people. This has indeed turned out to be an Ndaba …and for those who don’t know the word means “a great sitting down”….I certainly hope everyone has a chair…..
I would firstly like to bring you greetings from the South African Zionist Federation in Israel (known as Telfed) and am pleased to have its chairman Maish Isaacson and director Sid Shapiro and President of its Board of Governors Morris Borsuk with us this morning. The Central African Zionist Organisation – we knew as CAZO always worked hand in hand with Telfed and we have always valued that relationship and mutual support.
When our small committee met for the first time several months ago to begin planning this event we agreed that if 100-120 people came we would be very pleased. Today there are more than 250 of you and kol hakavod to those that have come from far and wide…we have visitors from Denmark, California, Zimbabwe and closer to home from Eilat, from kibbutzim, moshavim and cities all over Israel…including former youth movement shlichim who played an important role in our aliyah. Indeed we even have a recent olah amongst us – originally from Zimbabwe…we welcome to Leah Hyman.
This is not just a get-together of former members of the Zimbabwe Jewish Community more like a family reunion. It’s that warm and fuzzy feeling of sharing a common past, a familiarity with wonderful shared experiences. I must add my pride for those of us that chose to make Israel our home. It is short of a miracle that from a tiny community in the depth of Africa so many of us chose to come on Aliyah and fullfill our Zionistic aspirations that were born and nurtured in what was then Rhodesia.
I look around this hall and see so many faces which take me back to days when we smelt the first African summer rain, when 28 degrees centigrade was considered suicide month, when the dairy den choc 99 cost 12 cents, the unique flavour of Mazoe orange juice in a plastic bottle at school, the streets lined with exploding colours from mauve jacarandas and red flamboyants, the institution of the Sunday drive, the green leather seating in the rail compartments, the endless weekends at Wingate and Park View Sports club, the youth movement camps and seminars, the bowler hats at school….I could go on and on….
Fast forward to Israel 2008 and here we are at the Raanana Bowling and Squash club and a small sample of that life has been recreated here in Israel.
I hope some of you will have a chance to view the 6 minute presentation being screened on the wall showing some of the images of that common memory which binds us all together….a pictorial sketch of the story of a proud, productive, creative and committed Zimbabwe Jewish community.
Another computer in this hall provides online access to the Zimbabwe Jewish Community website where you can also view a lot of archival material which is now available over the Internet and records the history of the community.
But just like any family reunion we must also remember that some of our own are not with us and are still left in Zimbabwe and battle to maintain themselves in a country which has all but collapsed economically and politically. I don’t have to tell you that Zimbabwe has gone from being a regional economic powerhouse to an international pauper and that a small legion of corrupt and power hungry individuals are ignoring the will of their own people to maintain their wealth and control – at whatever cost – including starvation, intimidation, stealing elections and more seriously killing over 100 opposition supporters in recent months.
Your presence here today is also an expression of the heartfelt concern we have for all Zimbabweans.
I would like to take this opportunity to highlight the precarious situation of the few remaining Jews in Zimbabwe and tell you a bit about what has been done to date.
For the last several years funds have been raised around the world through organisations like the Joint Distribution Committee, World Jewish Relief, Chai South Africa and some generous individuals to mainly support the Savyon Lodge and over USD 300,000 has been collected. Besides the funding of food and medicine which is trucked in from Johannesburg every month a large generator was purchased, security fencing put up and entrance road repaired. However there is an ongoing need for funding Savyon’s operations.
In the last year – due to the horrific inflation – many of the community who retired comfortably and considered themselves financially secure have found themselves seeking financial and welfare support. Through the good offices of the African Jewish Congress and its spiritual leader Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft – additional funds have been raised to fund food, medicinal and welfare support to members of the community. Today we have people in Harare receiving monthly support and in Bulawayo some are taking their meals at Savyon Lodge because they struggle to locate and purchase food for themselves.
I know that at least one of our guests here this morning thought he would escape discussions about inflation and fiscal discipline and so my apologies to you Professor Fischer but I am holding in my hand here a bearer cheque for 500 million Zimbabwe dollars. At my last calculation this note is worth 5 US Cents or about 16 Agurot. Tomorrow it will worth a lot less. I received an email this week from Harare telling me that a weekly newspaper costs ZW$ 2 billion, a bar of soap costs ZW$ 55 billion…..can you believe it that this note cannot buy a single egg.
As a result of this economic fallout the powerpoint presentation being showed here this morning will show you pictures of the latest delivery of food and medicines which was trucked into the community in Zimbabwe just last month.
In addition to this the Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation has sent us an appeal to help them with funding their activities which includes the only Rabbi in Zimbabwe. Rabbi Alima and his wife are doing amazing work in keeping the Bulawayo community together – with daily minyan, schita of chickens, funerals, chaggim and help with Carmel School. The Rabbi is holding the community together and his shlichut is important for maintaining the vestiges of Jewish life in Bulawayo.
Despite all these challenges – the Jewish communities of Harare and Bulawayo are still involved in trying to help the wider Zimbabwean crisis – whether it is a school in Matobos , an AIDS program, handicapped children or displaced persons.
Proceeds from today’s reunion will be going to all of the above needs and I would like take this opportunity to ask you if you can provide additional help. There are pledge forms at the computer table and you can choose which of the three causes you wish to support –
Food distribution and Welfare, Savyon Lodge or the Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation - however modest – thanks to our strong currency every shekel goes a long way in Zimbabwe.
In addition for a modest fee you can purchase a CD which will include all the pictures and video clips taken at today’s event as a momento .
I would personally like to thank the team that put this all together – Marvyn Hatchuel, Buzz and Monica Menashe, Gaby and Freda Haimovitz, Debbie Zabow and Jack Trappler and to thank them for all their hard work…thanks to our volunteer photographer Louise and a very special thanks to Freda Haimovitz and her volunteers for preparing this morning’s spread of food, drink and others for helping with the hall…forgive me if I haven’t named you all …but I would like to mention an especial thanks to Sharon Bernstein and the staff at Telfed for handling a lot of the administration work.
I will wrap up, if I may on your behalf, in wishing the State of Israel a hearty Mazaltov on its 60th Anniversary and call on us all to say a prayer of peace for all the people of Zimbabwe, for our brethren in that country, for Israel and our missing soldiers. I wish you much health and happiness, that we continue to value our heritage whilst ensuring that this country goes from strength to strength.
Please join in singing……..Oseh Shalom