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Sally Frankenthal of the University of Cape Town believes South African Jews consider aliyah to Israel seriously,
but then decide to move elsewhere.
leave, he would choose Israel.
Sally Frankenthal said
many Jewish emigrants think
about going to Israel and
usually "quite seriously" But
in the end, they opt for other
destinations.
She referred to one specific
case involving a man who was
the chairman of the local
aliyah movement. His wife,
on the other hand, did not
want to go to Israel. They
finally settled in Perth,
Australia. "He probably will
establish an aliyah center in
Perth!' she said. "That's the
irony."
Her point is well made.
South African Jews, for the
most part, continue to be
very Jewish-minded wherever
they settle — whether in
Perth or San Diego or Tbron-
to or London. They get deep-
ly involved in their new
communities. They join
synagogues and Jewish or-
ganizations. Their kids often
continue to attend Jewish
day schools. They are by no
means lost to the Jewish peo-
ple. In fact, in many places
they have helped to dra-
matically strengthen and
revitalize local Jewish
centers.
"I think the only safe thing
one can say is that the ma-
jority of South African Jews
have thoughts about emigra-
tion on their agenda," noted
Frankenthal, "even if they
don't actually do it at the end
of the day or even if they're
not going to do it in the next
five to 10 years. I doubt that
there 'are very many families
who unequivocally are com-
mitted to staying in the
longer term."
Even South Africa's Chief
Rabbi, Cyril Harris, noted
that while "there is great
loyalty here to Judaism, there
is also great loyalty to Israel
and to Zionism — but it tends
to be very superficial. At the
end of the day, it doesn't tend
to mean anything in concrete
terms."
Not everyone agrees that
the relatively small number of
South African Jews moving
to Israel — which some esti-
mate as high as 20 percent —
represents a failure of
Zionism. Given the difficulty
of life in Israel, some South
African Jewish leaders argue,
it should actually be seen as
a Zionist success. How many
American Jews or Jews from
other First World countries
are making aliyah? one leader
in Cape Town asked.
The answer, of course, is not
too many — less than one per-
cent among American Jews.
But then again, they are also
not emigrating, they stay put
in their own countries. South
African Jews are on the move,
but not to Israel.
But Israel, too, must share
the blame. "One of the factors
is that the State of Israel has
not done its homework prop-
erly either in aliyah or in
yeridah (Israelis who leave),"
Rabbi Harris said.
Shlomo Gur, the Israel Em-
bassy's number two diplomat
in Pretoria, said it was unfor-
tunate that more South
African Jews aren't choosing
Israel, but he expressed hope
that the numbers will in-
crease. "There's a lot to be
done and a lot to be desired in
order to achieve it!'
A Future In
South Africa?
Is there a future for South
African Jewry?
Solly Kaplinski, 41, gradu-
ated from the Herzlia Jewish
Day School in Cape lbwn in
1965. Today, he serves as the
school's headmaster. There
are 1,800 students at Cape
'Ibwn's Herzlia school, which
goes from kindergarden
through high school. Some 70
percent of the city's Jewish
children attend the school.
The other 30 percent go to
public or other private
schools.
By any standards, Herzlia
is quite impressive. The com-
plex consists of several
buildings, complete with
classrooms, auditoriums, a
chapel, gymnasiums — in
short a complete, modern
facility with a breathtaking
view of Cape lbwn and the
surrounding mountains.
Kaplinski said there were
2,600 students at Herzlia at
its peak only a few years ago.
Now there are 1,800 — the
clear result of emigration and
zero population growth.
"We'll be dropping by about
100 kids a year," he said. "I
think we'll eventually level
out at about 1,200-1,300
kids."