(The writer of the following article, a New York attorney, recently returned from an extensive visit to South Africa, where he made a study of the cultural and communal life of the Jewish communities in the larger centers of South Africa.)
The communal life of the Jew in any part of Africa must have some traditional appeal to his coreligionists everywhere for Africa is the continent which played a role in history first–the continent of the Pharoahs and the Israelites, the cradle of civilization and probably of humanity itself.
Several years after the conclusion of the great Anglo-Boer war, responsible government was offered by England to the Boers, and thereafter by an act of English Parliament of May 31, 1910, the present Union of South Africa was established. It consists of four provinces, the Cape of Good Hope, Natal, the Orange Free States, and the Transvaal, comprising an area of 472,317 square miles The white population is some two million of whom about 80,000 are Jews.
The wandering Jew, ever on the alert where he can best lead his life in freedom and independence, and influenced therein by the prospects of his children as much as by his own, first came to what is now the Union, nearly one hundred years ago. The Jews are scattered mainly in the towns and cities, some twenty-five thousand of them living in Johanesburg, the metropolis and largest city in South Africa and third largest city on the continent. Originally coming from many lands, the great majority of the Jews in the Union today are Russian Jews and their descendants.
Vocationally, they are to be found everywhere as traders, merchants, shopkeepers, in finance, industry, the learned professions, and some in agriculture. In industry, commerce, finance, the professions and in politics, they exert an influence far beyond their numerical strength. This is equally true in their representation in the universities. With the Jews’ traditional thirst for higher education, they number many in these institutions. They possess many scholarships, awarded to Jewish students for Oxford and Cambridge, much out of all proportion to their number. In this connection it is notable that the cleavage between Jewish and non-Jewish students which one so often finds in American colleges and universities, is practically unknown in the Union.
Of the 148 members comprising the lower House of Parliament of the Union, called the House of Assembly, six are Jews. There are Jews in the several provincial assemblies and a few judges. It is a peculiar coincidence that the chiefs of the two Union capitals, Louis Grandner, mayor of Cape Town, the legislative capital, and Solomon, mayor of Pretoria, the administrative capital, are both Jews.
COMMUNAL ACTIVITIES
In the religious, communal and civic activities, they have Congregations, Chevra Kadishes, Talmud Torahs. Gemileth Chassodims, sporting and gymnastic organizations, sick benefit and loan associations, the Hebrew Order of David, a national institution with lodges in numerous cities, many benevolent societies, literary circles, Young Israel societies, in the large cities, Jewish orphanages, and homes for the aged, United Hebrew schools, Jewish communal council, Jewish ladies’ societies, Jewish guilds and many Jewish educational institutions.
Then there are organizations of groups emanating from specific cities in the old world. such as United Minsk Sick Benefit and Benevolent Society, Wilner Sick Benefit Society, Kovno Sick Benefit and Benevolent Society and others. In addition there are the two outstanding representative institutions, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies was organized in 1912 whose general functions are to take appropriate action with reference to all matters affecting Jewish interests and welfare and whose scope of activities extends beyond the borders of the Union. It has some eighty constituent bodies. Hiesh Hillman, an outstanding Jew in the country is chairman. The South African Zionist Federation is another powerful organization.
On the political horizon of the Union of South Africa, the name of the Right Honorable John C. Smuts stands out as a veritable beacon of light. Soldier, statesman and scholar, he has the good will of the great mass of the people in his country and the respect and affection of the Jews. In the country’s history he played a great role and still is considered among the nation’s great. During the Anglo-Boer War, he was in command of the Boer forces in the Cape. During the World War he led the military forces in German Africa. Later he cooperated with General Allenby in Palestine. In the National Convention of October, 1908, he was spokesman in the movement for the formation of the Union and after its creation he was Minister of the Interior, Minister of Finance, Prime Minister. and is now the Minister of ## He represented his country at the Paris Peace Conference, and was the author of "The League of Nations: A Practical Suggestion," the substance of which subsequently became the Covenant of the League. He was president of the South African Association for the Advancement of Science and is the author of a philosophical work entitled "Holism and Evolution."
NAZIS INSPECT AFRICA
Last fall at about the time the writer came on a visit to the Union, a group of Nazis arrived with the implicit if not avowed intention of carrying on their nefarious propaganda. General Smuts as Minister of Justice issued a public warning to the effect that the Union was not propitious soil for anti-racial propaganda, and that the hand of the law would be laid upon those whose activities might result in public disorder, or a breach of the peace. And this warning had the desired effect for the Nazis were silenced.
THE ZIONIST MOVEMENT
The South African Zionist Federation is part of the world-wide Zionist movement. It has about 120 societies, or branches, with headquarters in Johannesburg. The Federation holds conferences every two years when the executive council and officers are elected. the council has sixteen members, acts as governing body and has appropriate sub-committee. Then there is the Women’s Zionist Council with some forty affiliate societies. Finally the Zionist Youth Movement has about fifty branches, each having boys and girls as members. Both the Women’s Zionist Council and the Zionist Youth Movement carry on their activities in cooperation with the Federation.
The Jewish interests in general and the Zionist cause in particular are espoused by two weekly publications, the Zionist Record, headed by Davad Dainow, for over ten years editor and manager, is the organ of the Federation. It is published in Johannesburg. The South African Jewish Chronicle is published in Cape Town. There is in addition a fine monthly journal called The S. A. Menorah, official organ of the Zionist Youth Movement. The S. African Jewish Year Book, of national scope, is published in the Union.
Among outstanding Jews who visited the Union in recent years are Dr. Chaim Weizmaun. The University of The Witwatersrand, at Johannesburg, in appreciation of his "great services to humanity," conferred upon him the honorary degree of LL.D. Colonel Kisch, Nahum Sokolow, Dr. Schmarya Levin, the late Lord Melchett and last fall Maurice Samuel, also toured the country.
THEIR LEADERSHIP
No account of Judaism and the Zionist movement in the Union, however sketchy, would be complete without mention of some of the leaders and workers. L. Braudo, is the chairman of the executive council of the S. A. Zionist Federation. J. Alexander, M.A., is a graduate of Oxford, former lecturer on history at the University of Grahamstown and for some fifteen years has been the Council’s secretary. He is a frequent contributor to The Zionist Record. Mr. and Mrs. Morris Alexander are especially distinguished for their zeal in many activities in religious, cultural, educational, Zionist, and other civic affairs. Mr. Alexander is a member of Parliament. Mrs. Alexander is a writer. She is the daughter of the late Professor Schechter, distinguished American Jewish scholar. Among others are Morris Kentridge, member of Parliament; S. Janower, chairman of the Jewish National Fund; Messrs. Benzion S. Hersch, N. Kirschner and J. Gitlin, who have given many years of valued service and are among the members of the Federation’s council; Dr. and Mrs. D. Ordman, Mr. and Mrs. Maurice Franks, Mr. and Mrs. Woolf Senior of Johannesburg, Dr. J. L. Landau, chief Rabbi of Johannesburg, and Rev. A. P. Bender, of Cape Town, who are among the spiritual leaders of South African Jewry.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
