YOM HASHOA COMMEMORATED AND YOM HA’ATZMAUT CELEBRATED IN ZIMBABWE – MAY 2009

David Coltart, (MDC Senator) Minister of Education, Government of Zimbabwe,
lighting a candle at the Yom Hashoa ceremony in Bulawayo as Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft looks on

Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, Ilan Baruch - non resident Israeli Ambassador to Zimbabwe,
Phillip Hassan – President of the Sephardi Congregation in Harare &
Sam Benatar – President - Zimbabwe Jewish Board of Deputies and Chairman
- African Jewish Congress Zimbabwe Fund - Harare

On 3 May, nearly three-quarters of the Bulawayo Jewish community gathered at the Holocaust memorial in the Jewish cemetery for the annual Yom Hashoah ceremony. Amongst those in attendance was MDC Senator David Coltart, the newly appointed Minister of Education. The ceremony was conducted by African Jewish Congress Spiritual Leader Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, who also officiated at a communal unveiling ceremony for eight headstones.  

Senior members of the community were called up to light the first five memorial candles in remembrance of the six million Jewish victims of the Holocaust while Coltard lit the sixth. Reminding the gathering that 2009 was the International Year of the Child, Rabbi Silberhaft said that just as fighting for justice and standing up against oppression was a time-honoured Jewish ethic, so was Minister Coltard striving for the cause of justice and human rights in his own country.  

While in Bulawayo, Rabbi Silberhaft met with the residents of Savyon Lodge, the Jewish aged home, and with the leadership of the Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation to plan the way forward following the return to Israel of Rabbi David Alima. During his visit to Zimbabwe, he also attended the Yom Ha’atzmaut ceremony in Harare with non-resident Israel Ambassador Ilan Baruch.  

With regard to the prevailing mood in the crisis-torn country, Rabbi Silberhaft observed that under the new Finance Minister there was a definite sense that the economy was beginning to improve. However, fears of future arbitrary acts of nationalisation in light of the fact that Robert Mugabe remained in power continued to act as a brake on international investment.