The centenary of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies,
the leading civil rights and political body of the South
African Jewish community, was celebrated in style last week,
with a four-day series of events involving a host of
prominent local and international leaders. The Board was
founded in April 1903, mainly to assist Jewish immigrants in
settling in South Africa. Subsequently, it branched out into
combating antisemitism and a wide array of academic and
cultural programs.
South African President Thabo Mbeki was the keynote speaker
on the opening night, which took place in Sandton and was
attended by about a thousand people including a large press
contingent. Other prominent speakers were Rabbi Israel
Singer, chairman of the World Jewish Congress, and Malcolm
Hoenlein, Executive Chairman of the Conference of Presidents
of Major American Jewish Organizations. Mr. Hoenlein, a
strictly observant Orthodox Jew, is widely regarded as one of
the most influential Jewish leaders outside Israel, with
close ties with the American government.
Author Rabbi Berel Wein was the guest rabbi at the opening
event, a Shabbaton which attracted an attendance of nearly
400. Immediately following the main Board conference on
Sunday, an international meeting of the World Jewish Congress
took place, the first time this body held a meeting in South
Africa. US civil rights leader Martin Luther King III was
guest speaker at the opening dinner, and also took part in
the main WJC conference.
President Mbeki paid tribute to the role Jews played in
building up South Africa and contributing to the struggle for
democracy. He expressed regret that, according to surveys, a
majority of Jews felt pessimistic about the future of the
country and did not see a place for them in it in the long
term. He encouraged the community to view their role as South
Africans positively.
Special awards for outstanding service in the field of human
rights were presented at the opening to Sir Sydney Kentridge
and the late Israel Aaron Maisels, both of whom had been in
the forefront of lawyers who had fought against
institutionalized racial injustice and the erosion of the
rule of law.
One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of
a "Gift to the Nation" from the Board of Deputies to the
president. The gift was a specially commissioned bronze bust
of Moses holding the Ten Commandments, which will be placed
in the new Constitutional Court Museum.
The main conference on Sunday included focuses on anti-Israel
bias in the media and the security of world Jewry as well as
more locally-focused sessions on the role and work of the
Board of Deputies over the previous century.
