Back again after a trip to South Africa

It was an extremely enlightening experience for me and hopefully I’ll find the time to sit down and write about it in detail. 

 

For now I will suffice with the following observations. South Africa is a country of extreme paradoxes and the status of South African Jewry is similarly paradoxical. The Jewish community is successful but at the same time it is under great and growing stress from a government imbued with Arabist propaganda and hatred of Israel and from a growing and powerful Muslim community. In cities like Johannesburg it is threatened by massive crime and a failure of the state to provide protection to its citizens. This problem is not unique to South African Jews, but combined with the unique problems facing the community it makes life more unpleasant and dangerous. 

 

Facing these challenges is an impressively and deeply committed but increasingly confused,  fractured, aging and somewhat demoralized community. 

 

Bottom line, I am absolutely convinced that South African Jewry should make aliyah. Israel has most of the economic advantages of South Africa, much greater security and of course, it is a country where Jews can hold our heads high.

 

Because of my travels, I didn’t have the opportunity to post last week’s Tribal Update which was simply a masterpiece so here it is, a week late. In a couple of hours I will post this week’s show as well, which is also pretty awesome. 

 

 

It’s good to be home. G-d bless Israel.