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On the country road again with the “Travelling Rabbi” FEBRUARY 2007
Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft & Ivan Kessel – Langebaan
Tea, tefillin and a trip down Ceres’s memory lane were just some of the highlights of a February’ tour of the country towns in the Western Cape by “Travelling Rabbi” Moshe Silberhaft (country communities’ rabbi of the Jewish Board of Deputies) and Suzanne Belling, executive director of the Cape Council of the Board.
First stop on day one was a “first” official visit to Langebaan, where former Capetonian Ivan Kessel “came, saw and stayed”. Ivan is the only Jewish resident of the picturesque coastal town, where the water is bluer than the Mediterranean and the lagoon boasts an unspoilt island reserve, forbidden to man (and woman).
He rarely leaves the resort, save to visit family in Cape Town, where his son, Marc, resides, or on one of his regular trips to Israel to see his daughter, Lauren Gani, and baby granddaughter. Ivan downloads the Jerusalem Post daily on his computer and keeps abreast of events in the Middle East. But he seldom has a chance to daven with a real live rabbi, so he donned his tefillin and recited the Shema as fluently as if he had just celebrated his bar mitzvah.
Second stop was the Boland town of Moorreesburg, home of yet another sole Jewish resident, David Weil, who runs a butcher’s shop, the name and address of which any resident can tell you! David has lived in Moorreesburg since 1970, after living in Cape Town, Robertson and Beaufort West.
Last stop of the day trip was spent in Prince Alfred Hamlet, the village adjacent to Ceres, to visit Jos and Gwen Kahn. Gwen reported on the Ceres/ Wolseley Hebrew Congregation’s reunion, which she and Jos organised last year. She said the foundation stone of the first shul was laid in 1923 and the last minyan was held in 2000.
The reunion took place at the Ceres Museum, which has a fine exhibit of items connected with Jewish Ceres/Wolseley and surrounding areas including items from the Ceres Synagogue, photographs of the once vibrant Jewish business life – hoteliers, shopkeepers, farmers, travellers – all calling the Koue Bokkeveld home.
She said Alec Natas had written a poem commemorating Ceres and recalled the days when his father was rabbi of the community. All those at the reunion went to the Jewish Cemetery where Rabbi Desmond Maizels had intoned the Haskarah.
Rabbi Silberhaft inspected the cemetery, which is well-maintained, with the tombstones in good order.
Jos and Gwen now live in a spacious wooden cabin, which they moved into following the earthquakes in Ceres. Gwen opens her home at Pesach time, where she arranges totally kosher sedarim for her family.
The next day Suzanne and the Rabbi set out from Cape Town for Worcester, where they visited centenarian Louis Lange and his wife, Joyce. Louis celebrated his 100th birthday in December last year, surrounded by family and friends.
Two years ago, Louis was still driving a car and going to work every day to one of the largest Coca Cola franchises in South Africa and is still a director of the company, founded in 1906 by his father.
Known as South Africa’s “Mr Coke”, Louis has a renowned sense of humour. He quips: “I am still around because the lines are busy and He can’t get through!”
The Langes have three daughters – Marion, Renaye Kramer (married to the entertainer, David Kramer) and Daphne Orkin and five grandchildren.
Last stop was a return visit to Robertson, to the home of Leslie and Becky Saacks, who is dedicated to caring for the defunct Robertson Synagogue and the Jewish Cemetery, in addition to being curator in the town’s museum.
Becky is a walking encyclopaedia and can give the names and histories of Jewish residents past and present in the town and all the surrounding areas. The couple was joined by Louis Rosenzweig, also a resident of the town.
Then on to visit Pauline Fromer, who runs a guest house in Robertson. She is the widow of a former American diplomat in Mauritius, where the couple lived for many years. Pauline travels to Cape Town frequently and attends services in the Gardens Synagogue.
She paid tribute to Becky Saacks for her dedication to preserving the Jewish history and identity in Robertson.
Preceding the trip, Rabbi Silberhaft officiated at the unveiling of the tombstone of Gerald Goodman, the late shamus of the Hermanus Hebrew Congregation, and met with the HHC president Jonathan Lipman.
He also addressed a gathering at the home of Ida Jacobson in Paarl, attended by some 50 people.
Gwen & Jos Kahn with Rabbi Moshe
Silberhaft |
