Jewish Life Digital Edition April 2013 | Page 3
FROM THE TEAM
FROM THE EDITOR
WWW.JEWISHLIFE.CO.ZA
WELCOME
CREDITS
PUBLISHER & MANAGING DIRECTOR
W
elcome to our annual issue celebrating Israel. I’ve just
booked a ticket to the Holy Land, my first trip since I
accompanied South Africa’s first mass aliyah in 2008, and I
simply can’t wait! This issue has filled me with even more
anticipation, bringing to life the kaleidoscope of cultures
and flavours of this incredible country. And I already know
what my reading material will be on the flight, though I
can’t quite believe I will have the luxury of eight hours to
myself (since I’m leaving my kids at home)! I will be
reading Yehuda Avner’s acclaimed book, The Prime
Ministers, an extract of which you will find on page 46, in anticipation of Ambassador
Avner’s appearance at this year’s upcoming Sinai Indaba. Israel as a Jewish democratic
state is a modern miracle of biblical proportions that continues to give me chills, as I
reflect on how farfetched this reality would have seemed to past generations of Jews.
Imagine the faith that was required to actually believe the biblical prophecies of the
ingathering of the exiles, of the rebuilding of Jerusalem, or to believe that one day, in
the cities of Judah, in the courtyards of Jerusalem, the sound of joy and happiness, of
a groom and his bride would ring out. To the Jews of the Spanish Inquisition, to the
European victims of the
Crusades, to the thousands of
towns and villages decimated by
pogroms, to the millions
helplessly awaiting their murder
in the Shoah, it must have
seemed an impossible fantasy.
And yet three times a day our
great-grandparents
affirmed
their faith that G-d would fulfil
His promises and bring the
visions of our Prophets to life. I’m not sure I would have withstood such a test of faith.
A Jewish state and army to defend our people wherever they may be are realities I
was privileged to be born into. The fulfilment of millennia of Jewish prayers and
aspirations certainly give me, personally, the faith I need to believe in equally
fantastical sounding prophecies, like the coming of Moshiach and the Resurrection of
the Dead. I think it was Golda Meir who said a Jew who doesn’t believe in miracles is
simply not a realist. Enjoy this special edition.
EDS PHOTOGRAPH: ILAN OSSENDRYVER
ISRAEL AS A JEWISH
DEMOCRATIC STATE IS A
MODERN MIRACLE OF
BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS
THAT CONTINUES TO GIVE
ME CHILLS.
Martyn Samuels
[email protected]
EDITOR
Paula Levin
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ON THE COVER:
CELEBRATING ISRAEL, PICTURE BY ILAN OSSENDRYVER
CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR WINNERS: Lorraine Youngworth wins a
two-night stay at 54 on Bath; Stan Miller and D Perlstein each win a copy of Rav
Shalom Arush’s latest book, The Garden of Education; Oscar Sher wins a signed
copy of Genesis and Genes by Yoram Bogacz; and Viviane Ziskind wins a signed
copy of From Where I Stand, by Rabbi Yossy Goldman. Mazeltov to all our winners!
ABC 100% AUDITED
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JEWISH LIFE
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