Israel Maisels, former president of the South-African Board of Jewish Deputies, who is leaving for Rhodesia where he has been appointed as a judge, said here last night that it was the duty of any Jew in any part of Africa to play his part in the social and political life of the general community as well as the Jewish community. He emphasized that the continent of Africa was today “sorely troubled” and said that none could evade its problems.
Mr. Maisels spoke at a farewell reception in his honor. “I have very little sympathy for those who say we should not take sides,” he said. “Jewish organizations, of course, cannot take sides and may not throw themselves into political affairs. That is a different thing from saying that Jewish citizens must keep out of such affairs. This attitude is morally indefensible and ethically wrong. I do not exclude the Jewish clergy. Ethics cannot be confined to the walls of synagogues.”
Namie Philips, president of the Board of Deputies, reviewed Mr. Maisels’ legal career and his record of leadership in Jewish communal and congregational affairs. Harry Cohen, vice-chairman of the Zionist Federation, paid tribute to the Zionist leadership of Mr. and Mrs. Maisels, while their work for the United Hebrew Congregation was lauded by Simon Lewis. Chief Rabbi Louis Rabinowitz praised Mr. Maisels’ “passionate determination to make his profession of law an opportunity to be an exponent of Justice in its highest form.”
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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.
