History of the Jews in South Africa
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The history of the Jews in South Africa began during the period of
History
Portuguese exploration
The first Jews involved in the history of South Africa were explorers, cartographers and astronomers who were employed by the Portuguese Crown. These men were employed in attempts by Portugal to discover a sea route to the Indian subcontinent. Jewish cartographers in Portugal, many of whom were member of the Portuguese upper class, assisted explorers Bartolomeu Dias and Vasco da Gama who sailed around the Cape of Good Hope to India in 1488 and 1497, respectively.[9]
Dutch colonial era
In 1652, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) established a colonial settlement at the Cape of Good Hope under the direction of Jan van Riebeeck. Among the settlers in the colony were a number of non-practising Jews who lived in Cape Town. The first records of Jews living in the colony were a baptism record of two Jewish settlers living in the Western Cape on Christmas Day, 1669. Despite this, Jewish immigration to the colony remained small in number due to the VOC requiring all its employees and settlers to be Protestant. In 1803, the Dutch colonial authorities granted religious freedom to all inhabitants and prospective migrants; when the British invaded and occupied the colony in 1805, they issued a confirmation of this policy the next year.[9]
British colonial era
Jews did not arrive in any significant numbers at Cape Town before the 1820s. The first
However, a small number of Jews also settled among and identified with the rural white
The South African gold rush began after 1886, attracting many Jews. In 1880, the Jewish population of South Africa numbered approximately 4,000; by 1914 it had grown to more than 40,000.[11] So many of them came from Lithuania that some referred to the population as a colony of Lithuania; Johannesburg was also occasionally called "Jewburg".[12]
Second Boer War
Jews fought on both sides during the
Union of South Africa
Although South Africans Jews were granted equal rights after the Second Boer War, they again became subject of persecution in the days leading up to the
After the war, the situation began to improve, and a large number of South African Jews, generally a fairly Zionist community emigrated to the State of Israel. South African Jews in Israel number around 20,000 in the 21st century.[3][18] During this time, there were also two waves of Jewish immigration to Africa from the island of Rhodes, first in the 1900s and then after 1960.[19][20]
In this period, Jewish activism in South Africa also included attempts to secure the position of Jews overseas. In 1933, following the rise of the Nazi Party in Germany, a correspondent for the South African Medical Journal reported on the systematic oppression of Jewish medical professionals in Germany. These actions included denial of graduations for Jewish medical students, employment bans, forced resignations, raids on a Jewish medical association, and violent attacks on individual doctors. The report concluded that the actions of the Nazi regime likely had the tacit support of the German medical establishment and ended with the request that South African doctors protest the actions.[21]
Apartheid era
When the
Despite the anti-semitism of the ruling National Party, Jewish people were considered as white under the law and shared the same privileges as the Afrikaners. After the
South African Jewish opposition to apartheid
Many Jewish South Africans, both individuals and organisations, helped support the anti-apartheid movement. It was estimated that Jews were disproportionately represented (some sources maintain by as much as 2,500%) among whites involved in anti-apartheid political activities.[26] Much like other English-speaking white South Africans, Jews supported either the Progressive Party or the United Party. One organisation, the Union of Jewish Women, sought to alleviate the suffering of blacks through charitable projects and self-help schemes. Fourteen of the 23 whites involved in the 1956 Treason Trial were Jewish and all five whites of the 17 members of the African National Congress who were arrested for anti-apartheid activities in 1963 were Jewish.
Some Jewish university students vehemently opposed the apartheid movement. A large number of Jews were also involved in organisations such as the Springbok Legion, the Torch Commando and the Black Sash. These anti-apartheid organisations led protests that were both active (e.g. marching through the streets with torches) and passive (e.g. standing silently in black). Two Jewish organisations were formed in 1985: Jews for Justice (in Cape Town) and Jews for Social Justice (in Johannesburg). They tried to reform South African society and build bridges between the white and black communities. The South African Jewish Board also passed a resolution rejecting apartheid in 1985.[27]
In addition to the well-known high profile Jewish anti-apartheid personalities, there were very many ordinary Jews who expressed their revulsion of apartheid in diverse ways and contributed to its eventual downfall. Many Jews actively provided humanitarian assistance for black communities. Johannesburg's Oxford Synagogue and Cape Town's Temple Israel established nurseries, medical clinics and adult education programs in the townships and provided legal aid for victims of apartheid laws. Many Jewish lawyers acted as nominees for non-whites who were not allowed to buy properties in white areas.[28]
In 1980, South Africa's National Congress of the Jewish Board of Deputies passed a resolution urging "all concerned [people] and, in particular, members of our community to cooperate in securing the immediate amelioration and ultimate removal of all unjust discriminatory laws and practices based on race, creed, or colour". This inspired some Jews to intensify their anti-apartheid activism, but the bulk of the community either emigrated or avoided public conflict with the National Party government.[29]Moderation and liberalism
South African Jews have a history of political moderation and the majority supported opposition parties such as first the
In 1980, after 77 years of neutrality, South Africa's National Congress of the Jewish Board of Deputies passed a resolution urging "all concerned [people] and, in particular, members of our community to cooperate in securing the immediate amelioration and ultimate removal of all unjust discriminatory laws and practices based on race, creed, or colour". This inspired some Jews to intensify their anti-apartheid activism, but the bulk of the community either emigrated or avoided public conflict with the National Party government.[30]
The Jewish establishment and the majority of South African Jews remained focused on Jewish issues. A few rabbis spoke out against apartheid early, but they failed to gain support and it was not until 1985 that the rabbinate as a whole condemned apartheid (Adler 2000). The South African Union for Progressive Judaism took the strongest stand of any of the Jewish movements in the country against apartheid. It opposed disinvestment while women in the movement engaged in social work as a form of protest. This includes the Moses Weiler School in Alexandra founded by Rabbi Moses Cyrus Weiler, where for generations the school has been funded and led by women from the Progressive movement, even in opposition to the Bantu Education Act, 1953 (Feld 2014).
Today
Although the Jewish community peaked in the 1970s (at around 120,000
The community has become more observant and in Johannesburg, the largest centre of Jewish life with 40,000 Jews, there is a high number and density of
The 2016 Community Survey mini-census conducted by Statistics South Africa found the largest numbers in the following municipalities: Johannesburg 23,420; Cape Town 12,672; Ethekwini (Durban) 3,599; Ekurhuleni (East Rand) 1,846; Tshwane (Pretoria) 1,579; Nelson Mandela Bay (Port Elizabeth) 623; Msunduzi (Pietermaritzburg) 600; Mangaung (Bloemfontein) 343; Stellenbosch 316; Buffalo City (East London) 251; Mbombela (Nelspruit) 242.[33]
Kosher certification in South Africa play a significant role in the Jewish community in South Africa. Currently, there are three agencies operating in the country, namely the Union of Orthodox Synagogues (UOS) Kosher Division, Kosher Certified South Africa (KCSA), and
Lemba people
The Lemba or Remba are a southern African
Jewish education in South Africa
Traditionally, Jewish education in South Africa was conducted by the
An important change took place in 1947, when
The first religious day school, the Yeshiva College of South Africa, was established in the mid-1950s, drawing primarily on the popularity of the Bnei Akiva Religious Zionist youth movement. As an institution with hundreds of pupils, Yeshivah College is today the largest religious school in the country, with Torah studied alongside the national curriculum.
Other educational institutions sharing this same Religious Zionist /
Rabbi
In parallel to the establishment of Yeshiva College, and drawing on the same momentum,
This era also saw the start of a large network of
The 1970s saw the establishment of a
There are today several
The Progressive Movement maintains a network of supplementary Hebrew and Religious classes at its temples. These schools are all affiliated to the SA Union for Progressive Judaism. Rabbi Sa'ar Shaked, congregational rabbi of Beit Emanuel is currently involved in efforts to establish a Rabbinic Academy and Higher Education Institution in Gauteng.[57]
Limmud was introduced to the country in 2007. The Limmud South Africa conferences are held in August/September each year. South Africa's Orthodox rabbis do not participate, unlike the UK's Orthodox Rabbinate part of whom have taken part in Limmud UK; see Limmud § Relationships with Orthodoxy in Britain.
See also
- Antisemitism in South Africa
- Afrikaner-Jews
- Chief Rabbi of South Africa
- Jewish Report
- South African Jewish Maritime League
Notes
- ^ The Jews of South Africa in 2019 (PDF). Cape Town: Kaplan Centre, UCT. 2019. p. 23.
- ^ a b SA Jewish history South African Jewish Board of Deputies. Retrieved on 18 December 2023
- ^ a b "Immigration and absorption - The Council of Immigrant Associations in Israel - מועצת ארגוני העולים בישראל". mio.org.il (in Latin). Archived from the original on 7 August 2018. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ Goldberg, Dan (10 December 2013). "South African Jews in Australia Recall Life in the Shadow of Apartheid". haaretz.com. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ a b c d e Rebecca Weiner, Rebecca Weiner, ed. (2010), South African Jewish History and Information, Jewish Virtual Library, retrieved 13 August 2010
- ^ "P.W. Botha felt Israel had betrayed him". The Jerusalem Post. 2 November 2006. Archived from the original on 6 July 2013. Retrieved 2 November 2006.
- ^ Racial Unrest Spurs White Emigration From South Africa Washington Post. 14 May 1977
- ^ "World Jewish Population - Latest Statistics". simpletoremember.com. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ a b "South Africa Virtual Jewish History Tour". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
- ^ "African Journals Online (AJOL)". Archived from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ISBN 978-0-7992-2315-6.
- ^ Martin Gilbert, The Jews in the Twentieth Century, (New York: Schocken Books, 2001).
- ^ "Three South African "Boerejode' and the South African War". The South African Military History Society (Military History Journal – Vol 10 No 2). 21 November 2006.
- ^ Saks, D.Y. (9 January 2005). "Jews on Commando". Southern Africa Jewish Genealogy. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
- ^ Malherbe, E.G. (1939). Official Year Book of the Union of South Africa and of Basutoland, Bechuanaland Protectorate, and Swaziland. Vol. 20. Pretoria: Union of South Africa. p. 1047.
- ^ "Cape Town Holocaust Centre". ctholocaust.co.za. Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ The Rise of the South African Reich – Chapter 4 Archived 3 November 2007 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ The Columbia Gazetteer of the World: P to Z - Page 3471, Saul Bernard Cohen - 2008
- ^ Hirschon, Renee. "Jews from Rhodes in Central and Southern Africa" (PDF). Wayback Machine. Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 August 2021. (Encyclopedia of Diasporas, Vol 2)
- ISBN 9781851098736.
- .
- ISBN 9781850430698. Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ Chris McGreal (7 February 2006). "Brothers in arms – Israel's secret pact with Pretoria". The Guardian.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ^ ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 13 January 2024.
- ^ "Legendary Heroes of Africa - Stamps to Commemorate Jewish anti Apartheid South African Liberation struggle". Legendary Heroes of Africa. Archived from the original on 5 March 2011.
- ^ "South Africa Virtual Jewish History Tour". www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org.
- ^ "South African Jews Against Apartheid". Archived from the original on 28 March 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
- ^ "The Jews of Africa -- the Jews of South Africa". Archived from the original on 25 April 2005. Retrieved 6 July 2005. The Jews of Africa
- ^ "The Jews of Africa -- The Jews of South Africa". mindspring.com. Archived from the original on 25 April 2005. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "South African Jewish Report". Wayback Machine. Archived from the original on 31 March 2010.
- ^ "ChaiFM". Chai FM. 4 December 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Statistics South Africa census and survey datasets and metadata". Nesstar WebView. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ Feinberg, Talia (11 November 2021). ""The consumer is the ultimate winner," MK Kosher says as it expands in SA". South African Jewish Report.
- ^ Miltz, Nicola (27 January 2022). "New hechsher stirs the kosher pot". South African Jewish Report.
- ^ Parfitt, Tudor and Trevisan-Semi, E. (2002). Judaising Movements: Studies in the Margins of Judaism. London: Routledge Curzon.
- ^ Parfitt, Tudor (2000). Journey to the Vanished City: the Search for a Lost Tribe of Israel. New York: Random House.
- ^ le Roux, Magdel (2003). The Lemba – A Lost Tribe of Israel in Southern Africa?. Pretoria: University of South Africa. pp. 209–224, 24, 37.
- .
- ^ van Warmelo, N.J. (1966). "Zur Sprache und Herkunft der Lemba". Hamburger Beiträge zur Afrika-Kunde. 5. Deutsches Institut für Afrika-Forschung: 273, 278, 281–282.
- PMID 8900243
- ISBN 978-1-930143-89-0.
- PMID 25431579.
- ISBN 978-0-12-420195-8.
- ^ "King David School Linksfield (Secondary)". 14 November 2018. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
- ^ "King David School Victory Park (Secondary)". 14 November 2018. Archived from the original on 14 November 2018. Retrieved 14 November 2018.
- ^ Shapiro, Lauren (18 January 2012). "Umhlanga Jewish day school opens". MyShtetl. Archived from the original on 2 September 2013. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "The South African Jewish Board of Deputies". shemayisrael.co.il. Archived from the original on 12 February 2007.
- ^ Shaun Zagnoev (2020). Rabbi Tanzer leaves magnificent legacy, sajr.co.za
- ^ Ilan Preskovsky (2020). A tribute to Rabbi Avraham Tanzer, jewishlife.co.za
- ^ "SA-SIG - Southern Africa Jewish Genealogy: Youth Movements". Retrieved 5 April 2016.
- ^ "List of Approved Yeshivot, As of June, 2007" (PDF). www.rabbis.org. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
- ^ "Machon L'Hora'ah". Machon L'Hora'ah. 21 May 2008. Archived from the original on 21 May 2008. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "South African Jewish Report" (PDF). sajewishreport.co.za. 9 October 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2011. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ "Ma'ayan Bina". Ma'ayan Bina. 11 December 2014. Archived from the original on 11 December 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
- ^ aish.org.za
- ^ SOLOMON, MONICA (November 2019). "SAUPJ-WUPJ-REPORT" (PDF). South African Union of Progressive Judaism (SAUPJ). Retrieved 5 December 2019.
- ^ "Shalom Independent Congregation - Masorti Olami". masortiworld.org. Archived from the original on 23 December 2010. Retrieved 8 August 2021.
References
- Adler, Franklin Hugh (2000) (Adler, F.H. (2000). "South African Jews and Apartheid". Patterns of Prejudice. 34 (4). Informa UK Limited: 23–36. S2CID 145724288.)
- ISBN 978-0-947461-09-6.
- Feld, Marjorie N. (2013). Nations Divided: American Jews and the Struggle over Apartheid. Palgrave Macmillan. p. 191. ISBN 978-1-137-02972-0.
- ISBN 978-0-620-27097-7.
- Shain, Milton; Mendelsohn, Richard (2008). The Jews in South Africa: An Illustrated History. Jeppestown: Jonathan Ball Publishers. ISBN 978-1-86842-281-4.
- Shimoni, Gideon (1980). Jews and Zionism: The South African Experience 1910-1967. Cape Town: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-570179-1.
- Shimoni, Gideon (2003). Community and Conscience: The Jews and Apartheid South Africa. Hanover, N.H.: University Press of New England. ISBN 978-1-58465-329-5.
External links
General
- South African Jewish Board of Deputies, the central representative institution of the South African Jewish community
- Jewish South Africa
- Jewish Virtual History Tour of South Africa – Jewish Virtual Library
- Jews in South Africa – Jay Sand
- Lithuanian Jews make big impact in South Africa – Reuters
- South Africa – Jewish Encyclopedia
- "Jews on Commando", Saks, D.Y. (2005), Southern Africa Jewish Genealogy
- Zimbabwe Jewish Community history web site A comprehensive overview of the history of the community, from early settlement in Northern and Southern Rhodesia to life today.
- How the guard has changed since Rhodes stormed the SA economy, "Without the Jewish people, the country would have taken many more years to evolve", The Sunday Times
- The Jewish Community of Johannesburg, 1886-1939. Rubin, Margot W. University of Pretoria, 2006
- The Jewish community in the post-apartheid era: same narrative, different meaning, Herman, Chaya. University of Pretoria, 2007
- Southern African Jewish Rootsbank Database
Jewish education
- Schools
- Full listing: jewishweb.co.za
- King David Schools
- Herzlia Schools
- Yeshiva College of South Africa
- Torah Academy School
- Theodor Herzl School
- Phyllis Jowell Jewish Day School
- Cape Town Torah High