Introduction

Two books have been indexed for this blog:

• The South African Jewish Yearbook: Directory of Jewish Organisations and Who's Who in South African Jewry 1929, 5689-90, edited by Morris De Saxe and published by the South African Jewish Historical Society in 1929
• South African Jewry 1967-68. A Survey of the Jewish Community; Its Contributions to South Africa; Directory of Communal Institutions; and a Who's Who of Leading Personalities, 2nd edition, edited by Leon Feldberg and published by Feldhill Publishing Co, Johannesburg, South Africa in 1968.

Together they provide an invaluable snapshot – forever frozen in time – of South African Jewry and its immense contribution to South African life.

This blog has 3204 biographies (779 from 1929 and 2,425 from 1967/8) and several longer articles. Every word in the biographies and articles is searchable through the search box. This is useful if searching for locations, spouses, type of employment etc. Use the page, label or search box to find the information you are seeking.

To distinguish entries from the two books, the records for 1929 have '1929 Yearbook' at the top. Where a person appears in both Yearbooks I have put their entries on the same page.

There are also a number of longer articles.

1929 Yearbook

• The Jewish Communities of Rhodesia and the North by the Rev. M. I. Cohen (Minister, Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation.)
• The Educational Value of South African Jewish History by Dr. J. H. Hertz, Chief Rabbi of the United Synagogues of the British Empire
• The Jewish Board of Deputies in South Africa by Percy Cowan
• Mr. Siegfried Raphaely (President, S.A. Jewish Board of Deputies)
• South African Zionism by Jack Alexander
• Mr. A. M. Abrahams (President, S.A. Zionist Federation)
• The Binyan: A South African Business Enterprise in Palestine by I. B. Rudaizky
• The Hon. Mr. Justice L. Greenberg
• The Jewish War Victims' Fund
• Saul Solomon by M Rabinowitz
• The Jewish Press in South Africa by J. S. Judelowitz
• The Jew in South African Literature by S A Rochlin
• The South African Young Israel Movement by Lewis Pinshaw

• South African Jews in the Universities by Arthur Lourie

1967/8 Yearbook

• Editorial: Planning for the Future by Leon Feldberg 
• A Bird's-eye view of South African Jewry Today by Edgar Bernstein
• Jewish Contributions to Medicine in South Africa by Dr Louis Herrman
• Jewish Religious Life in South Africa by Rabbi Prof J. Newman
• At the turn of the century: Social and economic aspects of South African Jewish life at a formative stage by Gustav Saron
• Jews in the Platteland: the Small Communities of the Rural Towns by Rabbi E J Duschinsky
• Hyman Morris: A Pioneer of Johannesburg Jewry by Muriel Rathouse
• Some Jewish Scientists Associated With South Africa by Eric Rosenthal

This project is in memory of my father, Lionel Harris Hodes, General Secretary of the South African Zionist Federation from 1969 – 1973, for his communal service and contribution to South African Jewry.

Jeremy Hodes PhD

Albury, Australia

July 2026

The Jewish Communities of Rhodesia and the North by the Rev. M. I. Cohen (Minister, Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation.)

IT is only of recent years that the great importance of local history has been fully recognised. Each Jewish community represents a fresh attempt at self-expression and self-justification, and the more isolated the community, the more dependent on its own resources, the more clearly its essential character is revealed. Colonel Kisch has recently paid a remarkable tribute to the Jews of South Africa. Now South African Jewry is essentially the product of the last half century. The majority of its members came here from the East of Europe. They were poor and without means for the most part; they came as strangers in a strange land, with no help from without, and at most they got here a fair field and no favour. We hear a good deal about the immigration of Lithuanian Jews. It was essentially that type that built the Jewish community in South Africa, and, so far as we have made good, our story is a vindication of the “Russian Jew." The Jews of Rhodesia form part of South African Jewry, but they grew up in isolation to a large extent, and so their story may be considered apart. Their stay goes back just one generation. The pioneers are fast disappearing, and we have a new home-bred generation, and it is well to sketch the origin and growth of this young community. Jewish traders came into this territory even before the signing of the Charter—as, for example, Paddy Cohen, who witnessed one of the letters sent by Lobengula to Queen Victoria. As early as 1869 there was a D. M. Kisch at the Tati Concessions. Rhodes's right-hand man in much of his work was Alfred Beit, of whose activities we may read in such books as J. G. McDonald's "Life of Rhodes." Not only did he help to an enormous extent in the actual creation of Rhodesia, but he left a vast fortune which has been used unceasingly in the opening up and further development of the country. This money has built railways and telegraph lines and schools and hostels; has been utilised in the creation of a wonderful system of scholarships, and is so invested and used as to be a perennial source of fresh creation, so that it is impossible to estimate all that Alfred Beit will ultimately mean to Rhodesia. Without doubt, next to Cecil Rhodes, we must consider Beit as the second greatest influence in the creation and development of Rhodesia.

Among the earliest companies in this territory was a well-known Rothschild Syndicate. Before the railway reached Bulawayo, in 1898, the country was developed to a large extent by means of ox and donkey transport. In this transport Messrs. Weil Bros., of Mafeking, played a large part. Thus at the beginning of the Matabele War they supplied the Chartered Company with 360,000 rations. Messrs. Mosenthal Bros. also played a useful part in the early days. In the original Occupation Column of 1890, there were a few Jews, but it is now difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain exactly how many. Any information on this subject would be most welcome. Some think that Dr. Goodye, of the Police, was of Jewish origin. Immediately in the wake of the Occupation Column, Jews began to enter the country, both from the South via Tuli and from the East via Beira. They were mostly young men without means, ready to rough it, and they did their share in the opening up of the country. Many stuck to the country through all its vicissitudes and have made good. Joe van Praagh and Julius Altson walked to Salisbury from Beira. Van Praagh became Mayor of the Capital and Altson manager of a very important firm, both playing an important part in the early days of Salisbury. Nat. Arnold and the Bernsteins were among the pioneers of Umtali. Godfrey Jacobs and L. Susman opened the Masonic Hotel in Salisbury in 1891, and Moss Harris the Albion Hotel. Susman was also the first man to work a Rhodesian mine, and the battery at this mine, the “Salisbury Reef," was officially started by Cecil Rhodes in March, 1893. Susman was also the first man to start an up-to-date brewery in Rhodesia. Amende and Mack were financiers who represented the French South Africa Co. as early as 1892.

Salisbury.

The Salisbury Hebrew Congregation was formed in 1895, when there were about sixteen Jews in Salisbury. At the initial meetings, something like 400 guineas was subscribed in a few minutes. The first President was Sam Hyman, and he was followed in turn by Messrs. H. Morris, J. van Praagh, and Harris. Monty Jacobs and Morris Freeman were Hon. Secretaries in turn. The first Minyan during the High Holydays of 1895 was held at Julius Altman's store, when there was an attendance of about 20, and a storekeeper named Kaplan read Musaph. In 1896 services were read by Messrs. Mack, Rosenthal and Freeman. During the war of that year there were some dozen Jews in the Salisbury laager.

As early as August, 1895, the "Nugget," a cyclostyle paper, brightly and spicily written, and with smart cartoons, was founded and edited by Alf. Lyons. F. Mack was President of the Chamber of Mines, and Henry Morris the first Jewish J.P. Mr. Mack accompanied the 1893 column to Bulawayo, and was wounded at the battle of Bembesi. The Jewish population of Salisbury steadily increased, and there were some 70 in 1900, a vigorous and hopeful young community. Later, owing to various causes, the Jewish population of Salisbury largely decreased, and many of its ablest members left the country. During this period of depression, Messrs. Harris and Friedman, and later Louis Landau, took a leading part in communal life. The latter was instrumental in founding the Chevra Kadisha, and also served on the Town Council. During this period also, the Rev. M. I. Cohen addressed several meetings in Salisbury and was instrumental in starting the first Zionist Society there. From 1908 the Jewish population of Salisbury began again to increase, and it has done so continuously to this day, when the congregation is assuming ever-growing importance. The original Shool was built in 1901, but later proved too small, and was sold in 1912, preparatory to building a larger and more centrally situated building. Services were held at the Masonic Hall, the Drill Hall, and the A.B.C. Bank. Rev. Rubin acted as Minister from 1909-1912, Rev. Mark Harris 1913-1915, Rev. Levy 1915-1918, and Rev. J. J. Rosin, J.P., from 1918 to the present day. Among those who served on the Town Council at various times were H. Harris, I. Kirschbaum and H. L. Lezard, who was Mayor of Salisbury for two years during the war and was awarded the Empire Service Order for his services; also Messrs. B. I. Hoffman and L. Braude. Messrs. Nat Arnold, Sam Robinson, R. Bernstein, Jack Goldberg and L. Braude have served as Presidents of the Congregation and have done splendid work for the community. Some of them have also done excellent work on the Town Council and other public bodies. The new Shool was erected in 1916 and is already too small for its purpose. In 1920 the Guild Hall was erected. All the usual Jewish societies exist to-day, one of the most useful is a Young Men's Club, known as the Salisbury Young Judean's Club, whose chairman is Mr. Gerald Rosin, B.A. The Salisbury Community have contributed very generously of recent years to Zionist purposes and to the War Relief Fund. They have maintained ten of the children of K'far Yeladim in Palestine, besides contributing to the general upkeep of that institution.

The Salisbury Congregation is active throughout Mashonaland. In this province Jews have been pioneers since its inception, and have played their part in all spheres of life. Their stores dot all parts of the country, and they are among the first to serve on various Village Management Boards, and now they are being represented increasingly in the professions. In 1926 the Jewish population of Mashonaland amounted to some 650 souls, and has since increased considerably. A considerable element in this population consists of people who came from Rhodes Island, and are strongly differentiated from the main body of the community. For convenience, I have dealt with the Salisbury Community first, but the main centre of Jewish life in Rhodesia hitherto has been Bulawayo, and it is now necessary to consider that centre.

Bulawayo.

The turning point in the history of Rhodesia was 1893, when Lobengula was finally overthrown. In the force that occupied Bulawayo there were quite a number of co-religionists. I have already mentioned that F. Mack was wounded at Bembesi; Trooper Abe Levy, of the Victoria Rangers, was shot at Shangani, October 25th, 1893, and died next day. Among the others was Jack Palca, who afterwards discovered the Lonely Mine. Frank Leon Vogel was among those killed during Wilson's last stand. Leon Gabriel acted with the forces as Reuter's correspondent. At the initial sale of stands at Bulawayo in 1894, there were no fewer than 20 Jewish buyers. There were also many Jewish buyers at the initial sale of stands at Salisbury and Gwelo. H. Mortimer Zeffert claimed to be the first Jew in Bulawayo. A general meeting of the Jewish residents of Bulawayo took place at the tent of Messrs. Rosenblatt and Moss, on the 12th of August, 1894, and formed the Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation. Those present were Messrs. J. Jacobson, J. Boam, J. Cinamon, S. Goldring, D. Goldman, E. Granger, S. Heyman, R. D. Hanson, S. Jacobs, I. Levi, J. Moss, M. S. Levin, S. Nathan, I. Rosenblatt, S. Rabinowitz, J. Saber, E. Saber, E. Tertis, V. Wolf, J. Wolffe, H. M. Zeffert. Mr. J. Saber was elected President, J. Boam, Hon. Secretary and Treasurer, J. Wolffe, J. Cinamon, S. Nathan and M. S. Levin, Committee. Two stands were obtained from the Government for the building of a Synagogue, and also a grant of land for the purpose of a cemetery. At first services were held only on the High Holydays, and in 1894 were held in the unfinished dining room of the Charter Hotel, next year at Meikle's store, and then in the Stock Exchange building.

The Congregation was at first the only institution, and acted as Benevolent Society and Chevra Kadisha, and, above all, as the authorised representative of the Jewish Community. Communal activity was intensive, and meetings of all kinds were frequent and not seldom very prolonged and heated. Mr. Saber acted as President for the first few years, and Mr. Boam was followed as Hon. Secretary by Messrs. E. Frank, A. Davis, A. Hirschberg, E. Granger and H. M. Zeffert, who all rendered yeoman service to the young community. Among the early workers, Mr. S. Goldring was one of the most active, and from 1895 Mr. Aaron Jacobs began a communal activity which has gone on to the present day, and marks him out as one of the creators of our community. The war of 1896 only temporarily stayed the work of the Congregation, which was speedily renewed. There were many co-religionists in the laager, and all the able-bodied did their duty. A good many fought in the various combatant forces. Dr. Levy, the District Surgeon, was wounded in one of the encounters, and a good many Jews were among those reported missing in the outside districts. A number of Jews acted as officers, and in all the main laagers in the country our community was represented. Among those who won the 1896 medal was the late Isaac Epstein, of Pretoria, then a newcomer from Russia, where, he had served in the army.

After the war many newcomers arrived, many of them almost destitute, and this led to the formation of the Bulawayo Hebrew Aid and Benevolent Society, in April, 1897. Mr. A. Jacobs was the President, D. S. Cohen, Treasurer, B. V. Basch, Hon. Secretary, D. Goldman, A. Freilich, M. Brown, J. Beemer, E. Sytner, Committee, and Messrs. Norman Moss and B. Locker, Auditors. This Society has played a fine part in our communal life down to the present day, when it is managed by a sub-committee of the Hebrew Congregation. At a later date the Jewish Ladies' Benevolent Society was formed and has always co-operated in the most harmonious fashion with the men's society. Still later the Chevra Kadisha developed an important benevolent activity. In the matter of Jewish charity our community has nobly maintained the highest traditions of our people, and we pride ourselves upon the fact that we have never been a burden upon the general community. The necessity for helping newcomers in 1897 did not cause the Congregation to lose sight for a moment of its own purposes, and a competition was held in order to obtain the best design for a new shool. This competition was won by Mr. A. A. Abrahams. Negotiations were also continued with the late Dr. H. Adler with a view to securing the services of the Rev. Francis Cohen as minister. Eventually the foundation stone of the shool was laid with Masonic honours on the day of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in June, 1897. The stone was laid by the Hon. Arthur Lawley, Deputy Administrator. In the event, however, it was found that the cost of the building far exceeded the resources of the Congregation, and the actual work of erection had to be suspended.

A Split.

At a later date this foundation stone, with a new inscription, was utilised for the permanent shool, and was laid afresh by Mr. E. Basch, then President of the Congregation and Mayor of Bulawayo, on the 17th May, 1910. The Community had now largely increased, and among its members were E. Basch, C. Salomon, the Landau brothers, Abraham, Coleman, and Mark Joseph, D. S. Cohen, F. N. Joseph, Norman Mandelson, and many other highly capable men. One of these was Mr. Abner Cohen, who, no doubt, aspired to the Presidency of the Congregation. Under his leadership a split occurred. It was stated that there was no shool and no education, that the committee engaged a minister without consulting the members, and that they squandered the communal funds. Abner Cohen and his friends formed the Bulawayo Jewish Congregation, hired a room in town, started regular services, and brought up an iron building from the coast with a view to its erection as a shool. Many new members were enrolled and the matter was even carried into the public Press. The Hebrew Congregation was also active, and the officers were always ready to meet the new body with a view to the settlement of grievances. Ultimately Deputies from both sides met and an agreement was arrived at. A brick building was put up as a temporary shool, which was intended later to serve as a minister's house. Behind it the iron building of the Jewish Congregation was erected to serve as a schoolroom and meeting place.

The first service in the new shool took place in February, 1898, and a Purim entertainment served as the consecration ceremony. The split had resulted in a large accession of members and considerably augmented the resources of the Congregation, which retained its original name, the Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation. From this date the Congregation had its own religious and social centres. Since the beginning of 1898 we have never held a single meeting outside our own buildings. The old, simple buildings have been replaced by much more imposing structures, and to-day our communal hall is not merely the centre of Jewish life in Bulawayo, but it is frequently hired by other sections of the general community for all kinds of political, social, and cultural purposes.

In February, 1898, the Bulawayo Jewish Social and Debating Society was established. This society did not last very long, but at the same time another society was formed which was destined to have a creative effect upon the Community, viz., the Bulawayo Chovevi Zion Society. The first President was Mr. Morris Landau, a man of great energy and business capacity, but the moving spirit behind the Society was Mr. Isaac Epstein, a man of noble character, who was one of the creative forces in South African Zionism and whose actual influence is known to but few. At first the Society was affiliated to the London Chovevi Zion, but later joined the S.A.Z. Federation. It held regular social functions and the whole of the community joined it. Besides, it conducted a wide propaganda throughout Rhodesia. It co-operated with the shool in educational matters, and in various communal activities, established a Jewish library, and has maintained its activity uninterruptedly down to the present day. Its Chaplain, the Rev. M. I. Cohen, helped to organise the first Zionist Conference in South Africa. He drew up the first report of the Federation, and from that date our Society has played its part in the development of Zionism in South Africa.

After the Matabele War and the plague of rinderpest that followed, a great depression set in and large numbers of able men, who had played a leading part in the pioneer days, left the country to the great loss of the Congregation and the community in general. The year 1898 saw the beginnings of Jewish educational activity. Miss Frank, Miss Cinamon, Miss Loewenstark, Mr. A. B. Diamond, Mr. Freilich and the Zionist Society all took a part in this work. Miss Loewenstark conducted a Sabbath service for the little ones, while some 20 children were taught on Sundays. An Education Board was formed, and for some time Miss Loewenstark conducted a small day school which received Government support. The Congregation could not yet afford a minister, but at the end of 1898 Mr. C. Friedlander was appointed Shochet, Mohel and Reader. Various laymen conducted services on the Yomin Nouroim, and sometimes a little choir assisted.

In 1897-8 Mr. Hirschler, a co-religionist, was the first Mayor of Bulawayo. In 1895-6 Messrs. Alec Davis and J. Boam edited the “Bulawayo Sketch." Alf. Lyons edited the " Nugget," the name of which was afterwards changed to the "Owl," when it was edited by Lionel Goldsmith.

The first marriage in the Congregation took place in 1895, and also the first interment in the cemetery. Among those who fought in the 1896 war were several brothers Tayfield, one of whom was an experienced fireman, and organised and trained the first local fire brigade. No fewer than five of the Tayfield brothers fought in the Boer War. In 1894 Messrs. Cohen and Guttman struck the Old Nick Reef on the Bulawayo Commonage. In 1896 Dr. Levy, M.B., of London, was the District Surgeon. He returned to England shortly after the war, and only recently have we had any other Jewish doctors in Rhodesia. The early days of Rhodesia attracted many adventurous spirits, and among them quite a few Jews.

Appointment of Minister.

The school conducted by Miss Loewenstark did not satisfy many members, and Mr. F. N. Joseph wrote to the Congregation suggesting certain reforms with a view to unity and to the bringing out of a minister. This letter had the desired effect. A new committee was appointed in 1899, of which Mr. M. Immerman was President, F. N. Joseph, Vice-President, M. Landau, Treasurer, and D. S. Cohen, Hon. Secretary, while Messrs. E. Basch, J. Bergman, S. Jacoby, I. Epstein were among the members. Unity was produced, new members were enrolled, all accounts cleared off, and by August a cable was received from the Rev. M. I. Cohen, indicating his acceptance of the position of Minister. Mr. Cohen left England in October, but owing to the outbreak of war was compelled to stay some time in Cape Town, and only reached Bulawayo via Beira on the 25th March, 1900. With the appointment of the new committee, Mr. J. Saber resigned his membership of the Congregation and soon after left the country.

There were at that time about 300 Jews all told in Bulawayo, and about another 100 in the rest of Southern Rhodesia, including some 70 in Salisbury, and 20 in Gwelo, where a Congregation was formed in 1901. There were also a few storekeepers in different parts of the country, especially in Selukwe. At about this time, too, "Zambesi" Gordon and Julius Stern began trading in Barotseland and they were soon followed by Jack Goldberg, Max Kaminsky, Ely and Harry Susman, A. B. Diamond, and others. The Jews were the pioneers of the Zambesi cattle business. They paid the penalties of pioneering, and Messrs. Danziger, Gelman, Salant and Natkin lie buried along the Zambesi. Isidore Pieters was trading at Kalomo as early as 1903, and there died of blackwater fever. Harry Beemer was another of the pioneers of Northern Rhodesia. A. B. Diamond reached Lealui in 1904 and made his way overland to Lobito Bay in 1905. He was the first to accomplish this feat, travelling over 1,200 miles through Barotseland and Angola. In 1909 he found a route from Barotseland to the Congo Free State free of the dreaded tsetse fly. His companion on this journey was Stirling, an American Jew. By 1909 the Uhlmans had reached the Congo and one of them died there. Among other Congo pioneers were Esterman and Joe Dubbin, who had a most adventurous career. The Jewish community in the Congo dates from 1911, when the Chevra Kadisha was formed and the first Minyan held. Mr. Diamond was the first President of the Congregation.

Livingstone.

With the arrival of the railway at the Falls a Congregation was established at Livingstone, and the Jews were prominent among the earliest settlers. In 1910 there were 38 Jews out of a total population of 260. Of these pioneers of Northern Rhodesia the most active were the brothers Susman. For many years they travelled continuously throughout the length and breadth of Barotseland, Northern Rhodesia, the Congo and Angola, meeting with all kinds of dangers and hardships. They have established great ranches in Southern and Northern Rhodesia, developed agriculture on a large scale, and have shown pioneering qualities of the first order. A number of Rhodesian Jews, including four of the Granger brothers, served in the Boer war. One of the first to be killed was Adler, while serving under Plumer, at Tuli. The railway had reached Bulawayo in 1898, but the war again stopped communications with the South. Rhodesia was then practically unknown to the majority of Jews in South Africa, and was popularly supposed to be the haunt of fever and more or less of a death trap. In any event the community had be entirely self-supporting.

At the beginning of 1900 Bulawayo supported a Congregation, Benevolent Society, and Zionist Society, and in April of that year the Chevra Kadisha was founded. Mr. E. Kollenberg was the first President, and the Rev. M. I. Cohen the first Secretary. The little school formerly run by Miss Loewenstark was abolished, and the pupils sent to the ordinary day schools, while afternoon and week-end Hebrew classes were established. Mr. Cohen also visited the day schools to impart scriptural instruction. His assistants for many years were young ladies who had themselves graduated from the Local Hebrew Classes. From the time of the Boer War the men began freely to bring over their families. The number of women and children largely increased, and the population became a settled one. The presence of a minister led to systematic work in all directions. Services were conducted regularly and the work of the Congregation was put upon a proper basis. Most of the work of the community was done by young men, either English or Anglicised, who were often strongly opposed to the older generation. The youths formed themselves into the "Idlers' Club" in 1901 under the presidency of Jack Moss. They had regular social meetings at their own club room, had their own sporting club, and even for a time ran their own paper, “The Idlers' Gazette." The minister himself on arrival was only 23 years of age, and immediately threw himself heart and soul into co-operation with the young people. The Idlers became a tower of strength to the community. Its members joined all institutions, and many of them later became the heads of the community. Mr. E. Basch was the Hon. President, and Rev. Cohen Hon. Chaplain, and the members included Louis Landau, H. B. Ellenbogen, Harry Landau and many other excellent workers.

The older section of the community had never yet met the type of English minister. Time was wanted for the two generations to learn to understand each other. It was Zionism that proved the ultimate meeting ground. Members differed widely in religious views, but all agreed they were bound to serve the interests of the community. In time they perceived that in a small community only unity can achieve results, and learned to give and take, and to abide loyally by the decision of the majority. The old people got their legitimate demands, though the young people might have to do the bulk of the paying and the work. The bonae fides and the honourable disinterestedness of the young workers were obvious to all and, as usual, personality had its due scope. The principle was service of the community, ”Lishmo," that community being understood in the widest sense as representing the whole Jewish people. Several times we were attacked in the Press, but these attacks were dealt with promptly and successfully. The children were educated whether the parents paid or not. Benevolent funds were administered generously. Jewish functions were carried out with dignity and reverence. The young people grew up in this atmosphere of enlightened public spirit, and as they taught their parents English so they taught them to fall into line with the general spirit prevailing.

In time most of the questions at issue were settled. The community became established and so gradually a unity of spirit arose, and for the last 25 years no attempt has been made to disturb that unity, which was recognised as the source of all achievement. At a later stage the young people grew up and intermarried, and the unity became ever more concrete. This gratifying harmony of spirit actuated not only the community in Bulawayo but throughout Rhodesia. It is only within the last few years that newcomers have started entering the territory in large numbers, and these have naturally brought new ideas and ways of thought, but fortunately the established community has been able to absorb them with every advantage. In 1902 Mr. E. Basch became President of the Congregation, and he filled this position with distinction for 12 years. He was also on the Town Council for many years, and for four consecutive years he acted as Mayor of Bulawayo. He was a splendid Chairman, and conducted affairs with dignity and impartiality. Mr. Basch filled many offices in the life of the town, and he was brilliantly seconded in all his work by Mrs. Basch, who was one of the finest workers Bulawayo ever possessed. It was said of her that her work was one per cent. personal and 99 per cent. public. She obtained the O.B.E. for her Red Cross work. Her premature death in 1926 was a great blow to the community. The Congregation was always remarkable for the complete harmony that prevailed between its lay and clerical heads.

Before the Boer War the community had been comparatively poor, but steadily. it developed itself economically, and from this time dates the beginning of the great fortunes accumulated by Mr. C. Salomon and Messrs. Landau Bros. Up to this time the storekeepers had imported their goods from Port Elizabeth, but henceforth the merchants began to have their own representatives in Europe. The Jews certainly created the Kaffir truck business in Rhodesia. They opened their stores in every part of the country, shared in all its pioneering hardships, and helped materially to develop its commercial life. The early settlers for the most part knew little English, they could not obtain jobs, and were practically forced into the one line of business. Morris Landau was not only a great business man but proved a splendid communal worker till his departure for England. He was succeeded as Treasurer of the Congregation by his brother David Landau and later by Louis, who had already done yeoman work, both in Bulawayo and Salisbury. Louis Landau was for many years the right-hand man of Mr. Basch, and the two made a splendid combination. Later Mr. Landau became President of the Shool and the Guild, was leader of the local Jewish defence unit during the war, and was one of the best Town Councillors Bulawayo ever had. Other sterling workers were S. Goldring, Aaron Jacobs, J. Joseph, M. D. Loewenstark, Isaac Epstein and H. B. Ellenbogen.

Zionism.

The Zionist Society was largely responsible for an intensive Jewish spirit. The Anti-Semitism prevalent tended to foster this spirit. It was not easy in a small, isolated community to maintain a Zionist Society through all the lean years preceding the Great War, but we managed to do so and to raise comparatively large funds for Zionist causes. Also there was a generous response to the Kishineff and various other similar funds. We were also, from the first, supporters of the South African Jewish Orphanage. By 1910 we had built a permanent Shool and the old building became the communal hall. Up to 1912 the main services of the Yomim Nouroim were conducted by laymen, but in that year the Rev. A. Weinberg was appointed Chazan. Gradually services were not only held on Friday evenings and Saturday mornings, but also on Saturday evenings, and during the last few years we have had a daily evening service. A mixed choir was established for the High Holy Days. At times we have had children's Sabbath Services, but they have been discontinued. The "Idlers' Society” was gradually transformed into the Guild, which is now the sole Society providing for the social needs of the community. Mr. Jack Moss, Founder and President of the "Idlers," was also the first President of the Guild. He held this office for many years and is in no small degree responsible for the wonderful success of that Society. Mr. Moss is also Choir Master of the Shool, has been Secretary of the Congregation, and an all-round worker in many fields. The present Chairman of the Guild is Mr. Cecil Jacobs, who has maintained the high standard of his predecessor.

The Guild and the Zionist Society were the first to have ladies on their committees, and these ladies have been very largely responsible for the success of those institutions. From 1912 to 1926 Mrs. Basch was President of the Ladies' Benevolent Society, now the Jewish Ladies' Communal League. Mrs. H. L. Rubinstein was the founder and first President of this Society, which specialised in benevolent work where women and children were concerned, collected for the South African Jewish Orphanage and co-operated with the other societies wherever the help of women was necessary. This fine Society has done much to maintain the unity and harmony of the community.

Another Society which developed a benevolent side was the Chevra Kadisha, which has now a very fine loan fund. Mr. Moses Rabinowitz was president of this body for many years, and was also the head of the Bulawayo "Chevra Shass." Previous to the establishment of the Ladies' Society, Mrs. Aaron Jacobs for many years did splendid work of a charitable nature, and during the War she established a Jewish Women's Working Party, which did very good work for the Red Cross. During the last two years Mrs. H. B. Ellenbogen has been President of the Jewish Ladies' Communal League. In April, 1904, the Jewish population of Southern Rhodesia amounted to 585 all told. By May, 1911, this had increased to 1,288. By this time the Salisbury Community was beginning to develop rapidly, and smaller communities were rising in Gwelo, Gatooma and elsewhere. In Elisabethville the first President, Mr. A. B. Diamond, was followed by Messrs. Ruda, Robinson and Levenberg, while Rev. Ornstein acted as the first minister.

Rev. Cohen had, from the first, taken an interest in educational work, and he drew up the report which was responsible for the establishment of a public undenominational system of education in Rhodesia. Of the first committee of the schools in Bulawayo, which consisted of seven members, Mr. Basch was Chairman and Mr. Cohen one of the most active members. On two occasions also Mr. Cohen has given evidence before Education Commissions in this country. The new schools enormously improved the standard of secular education, but they began to compete heavily with our Hebrew Classes. Moreover, Bulawayo became a large educational centre, and the number of Jewish boarders gradually outnumbered our day scholars. As these boarders were only allowed to attend Hebrew Class on Saturdays and Sundays, they steadily lowered the standard of our Hebrew Classes, and made their conduct more and more difficult. This question of Jewish education has thus become the most acute and difficult of all our communal problems.

[Since this was written, a certain amount of reorganisation has taken place, in which the S.A. Board of Jewish Education has assisted, and it is understood that a number of the difficulties are being gradually overcome—Editor, S.A. Jewish Year Book.]

Jews in Public Offices.

In 1914 Gwelo became a Municipality, and Mr. Max Danziger was returned at the head of the poll. While he declined the Mayorship, he was prominently associated with every phase of life in Gwelo, and for many years has ably represented that town in Parliament. For many years past Mr. M. Jacobson has been the most active of Mayors in Gwelo and has rendered that place conspicuous service. In this work he has been mostly ably supported by Mrs. Jacobson. Other gentlemen who have done good work in Gwelo were Messrs. Joe Granger and M. L. Price. In Bulawayo, Mr. G. Sessel was the Founder and first Honorary Secretary of the Rhodesian Eisteddfod, which has since become an important institution. Mr. H. Charles has done some useful work on the music section of the Eisteddfod, and Mr. Cohen on the literary side. Mr. Charles has also been prominently associated with the musical and dramatic life of the city and the Guild in other ways.

In various parts of the country Jews have served on the Sanitary Boards or Village Management Boards. Thus Messrs. Zankstein and Baldachin have served in Que Que, Mr. H. Shapiro and others in Gatooma, Mr. N. Wolffe in Umvuma, Messrs. Krikler, Rosenthal and Blackman in Shabani, and in general Jews have played their due part in the public life of the country. Jewish children took full advantage of improved educational facilities. Very many have won Beit scholarships and two also Rhodes scholarships. They have also done fairly well in sport and at the various Eisteddfod competitions.

During the War over 100 Rhodesian Jews served at the front, many winning distinctions and making the supreme sacrifice. The first man to be killed in German West was Ben Rabinson, a famous athlete. He and his two brothers were the finest Rugby players in Rhodesia and did very much to raise the standard of play in this game. Ben captained the Matabele team against Mashonaland, and the three brothers participated in the Currie Cup trial games for selecting the Springbok team for England, and all acquitted themselves highly. Mr. Cohen, from the start, kept statistics of Jews going to the front, and when a member of Parliament publicly attacked the Jews for not serving he was forced to withdraw and apologise.

In February, 1915, Rev. Cohen was instrumental in calling a general meeting which founded the Rhodesian Jewish War Victims' Fund. This institution, from that date, continued to work uninterruptedly till the very end of 1927. During this period the enormous sum of £16,857 12s. 7d. was raised, at a total expenditure of £53. As £33 was obtained as premiums for sending the money to England, the total amount of the income not actually applied was £20, and we shall make good this amount so that every penny paid in will have gone to its proper cause. This must surely be a record for a community of a few hundred souls. Every part of Southern and Northern Rhodesia was canvassed and organised for this work, various places being either written to or directly visited. Salisbury and Mashonaland raised their funds separately, though they were incited and helped in the organisation of the work by the direct and indirect influence of Bulawayo. The Bulawayo totals, of course, represent the amounts collected in Matabeleland and Northern Rhodesia, but not those raised in Mashonaland.

Mr. Cohen had noticed the slips used by the Red Cross for their war collections, and introduced them into our war relief work. They were later employed for our Zionist collections, and Rhodesia was the first part of South Africa to utilise this method which afterwards became general. Later, this method was adopted as far as possible by all our local communal institutions. During the last few years we used our war relief funds for K'far Yeladim. We entered into correspondence with Palestine authorities with a view to bringing some Ukraine orphans over to that country, but finding that Durban was similarly at work, we were prepared to join them in common action. It was decided, however, that South Africa as a whole should act in unity, and we joined the general scheme which led to the foundation of K'far Yeladim. There were never more than a hundred and twenty children at this institution, and of these twenty-five were maintained by Bulawayo and its allied local societies, and ten by Salisbury and other parts of Mashonaland. We also contributed in the same totally disproportionate manner to the capital expenditure involved. One of the cottages at K'far Yeladim is named Durban Cottage. The South African War Fund Committee promised us repeatedly that Rhodesia should be similarly associated with the orphanage, but this promise has never been fulfilled, and our committee have always felt that Rhodesia has not been given due credit for its essential work in connection with the establishment and maintenance of K'far Yeladim.

The very important South African Conference which was held at Johannesburg during the war, and which demanded equal rights for Jews in all parts of the world, and the fulfilment of our aims in Palestine, was the outcome of a discussion at Muizenberg, in which Messrs. A. M. Abrahams, Benzion Hirsch, I. Schwartz. Rev. Cohen and one or two others participated. Mr. Cohen moved one of the resolutions at the Conference, and later interviewed Mr. F. S. Malan (acting on behalf of General Botha, then indisposed), and secured his promise of Government support for the resolutions. Mr. Cohen also suggested that General Smuts, who was then returning from German East, should be seen prior to his departure for England. This was carried out by Mr. N. Levi, and it was also arranged that Mr. Morris Alexander, K.С., M.L.A., and the Jewish members of Parliament should represent the Zionist Federation and Board of Deputies at Cape Town and should see that official Cabinet support be given to the promise of Mr. Malan. In this way Generals Botha and Smuts promised us their support and nobly redeemed their pledges. From this it was but one step further to the official Union Declaration of support for Zionism which was forthcoming during the visit of Mr. Sokolow.

The War.

The War had a great effect on the Jewish community in Rhodesia, for not only did it remove many of the able-bodied men, but practically stopped all immigration for ten years, for while the Jewish population of Southern Rhodesia totalled 1,283 in 1911, it only amounted to 1,289 in 1921. In the latter year the Jewish population of Northern Rhodesia totalled 110. Before the war, large numbers of Jews were naturalised, but this process has been stopped till the present time, when naturalisation has been resumed, though on a much smaller scale, and with added difficulties and increased expense. This absence of fresh population, however, enabled the older population to establish itself firmly from an economic standpoint. They were now an old established body, English had replaced Yiddish as the medium of conversation and the younger generation was fast coming to the front. They had been educated in Rhodesian schools, and had done well in sport as well as in their general education. They had grown into an established community, which conducted its affairs with great smoothness and lack of friction. In matters of charity, Mr. C. Salomon would always head the list with great generosity, and he was followed by Messrs. Landau and others with equal heartiness. From 1921 the Jewish population began to increase once more. The old restrictions against immigration gradually passed away, and to-day we are met in this respect with the finest possible spirit. Thus by 1926 our population in Southern Rhodesia had increased to 1,546, and to-day probably numbers over 1,700. During this period the population of Northern Rhodesia has also steadily increased, and though no official figures are available, we may estimate the number at some 200.

Meanwhile the Congo territory very rapidly developed. In 1925 the Rev. L. Wolk was appointed minister at Elisabethville, and has done valuable pioneer work in organising the Jewish life of the Congo Belge. The number of Jews to-day in the Congo is probably not far short of 400. There are scarcely any Jews in Portuguese Territory, or Nyasaland or Tanganyika, the first real Jewish community north of Elisabethville being found at Nairobi, which was visited some years ago by Dr. Alexander Goldstein. In 1920 there was a great railway strike in Bulawayo. Rev. Cohen intervened in this strike and helped materially to bring it to an early conclusion. He similarly intervened during the recent railway strike, when he helped to bring the various parties together. In 1922 our handsome new Jewish Memorial Hall was opened by Mr. Louis Landau, who had also laid the foundation stone.

Since the War, Rhodesia has been open to the outside world and has been successively visited by Dr. A. Goldstein, Dr. Olsvanger, Nahum Sokolow, Colonel Kisch, Rabbi Zlotnik, Messrs. Shein and Rybko, as well as by Chief Rabbi Dr. J. H. Hertz. Rhodesia holds, I believe, the world record for its pro capita contributions to the Keren Hayesod. In his contributions to Palestine, Mr. C. Salomon has been particularly generous.

A few months ago the first Synagogue in Northern Rhodesia was opened. The foundation stone was laid by Mr. Ely Susman, President of the Livingstone Hebrew Congregation, and the building was consecrated by Revs. Cohen and Weinberg, of Bulawayo. The new Synagogue is a very handsome structure and an adornment of Livingstone. The small community at Livingstone, consisting of some 70 souls, has always been distinguished by its wonderful generosity in all Jewish causes. It is expected that a permanent Synagogue will be speedily erected in Elisabethville. In 1900 there was but one Jewish centre in Rhodesia. To-day there are large centres in Bulawayo, Salisbury and Elisabethville, with many smaller growing centres. The totál Jewish population in Rhodesia and the Congo is now over 2,000. The favourable immigration conditions have enabled us to absorb many newcomers during the last few years, and this has been of great importance to our community in the Union.

Long before General Smuts had spoken of an African standpoint, we Jews in Rhodesia had not only recognised it, but, from the first, acted upon it. We have freely co-operated with all Jewish communities whether South or North of Bulawayo. We knew that Central Africa must develop with great rapidity in the coming years, and that we must keep open the road to the North. We have acted not from a Bulawayo standpoint, but merely as local representatives of the Jewish people. Since the days of the pioneers we have been intimately associated with all phases of Rhodesian life. We have furnished no poor whites and our criminal figures are very creditable. We have taken in our fair share in the public life of the country. During the last two years Mr. H. B. Ellenbogen has worthily upheld that record by his fine work as Mayor of Bulawayo, after serving on the Council for many years with distinction. It is no coincidence that, like other Mayors before him, he has been, and now is, also President of the Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation, and has been identified in the closest possible way with the Jewish community of this country. Indeed, Mr. Ellenbogen revived an old practice by appointing an official Chaplain, and by having a Mayoral service in the Synagogue, which proved an impressive function.

In Salisbury, Mr. L. Braude has acted as President of the Congregation and as leader of Jewish matters for a number of years, while also serving on the Town Council. In this he has proved a worthy successor to Mr. Jack Goldberg and other good men before him. Incidentally, Mr. Jack Goldberg is a pioneer in the mica industry of this country.

Industry.

In mining many Jews have taken part, Mr. Palca being the discoverer of the famous Lonely Mine, Mr. Singer being one of the first owners of the Shamva Mine, and Mr. A. Granger a pioneer in platinum mining. In agriculture, Mr. M. Pevsner was the greatest tobacco expert in Rhodesia, and has done more than any man in the establishment of this great industry. Jews have played a large part in the cattle and produce business, and were the first to open the Rand Market for Rhodesian cattle. We have seen that they were pioneers in the cattle market of Northern Rhodesia, and at this moment Mr. B. Smith is the leading figure in the cattle trade of the Congo.

In Southern Rhodesia Mrs. Greta Bloomhill has played an important part in the political life of the women of this country. She has also written largely both in verse and prose. Mrs. Ellenbogen is proving a most capable Mayoress. Messrs. Harris Bros, have been pioneers in the milling industry of the country. Mr. Z. Rabinowitz has written several volumes dealing with Rabbinic Literature, but has not yet found a publisher. He has also established a Hebrew reference library at the Synagogue. During the last few years we have begun to enter into the professions, and to-day there are a number of Jewish lawyers and doctors in Southern Rhodesia.

There is no community in Rhodesia which approaches our own in its charitable work or its efforts on behalf of the younger generation. In the old days the Jews were disliked and despised. To-day they are not liked but they have earned respect. They are welcomed into Council and Parliament and on most public bodies. It is recognised that the Jew lives well, that he is a good employer, a generous giver and often a good public worker. Culturally we have not yet made good. Our study circle is only inadequately supported, and all our literary activities. Some of the old hands are still working, and even doing the lion's part of the work, but the pioneers are now fast disappearing. A generation has passed in the work of creation, and a new generation is with us. During that time a revolution has been wrought. The old battles of young and old are gone, and the community is united and homogeneous. Most of the immigrants are young men looking for jobs. They, in the nature of things, can take but small part yet in our communal life, and most of them go out to isolated places or to the smaller centres in the country, which will thus be transformed in the coming years. These small country communities are not organised and have no officials of their own. Thus a large part of our community in the country districts of Southern and Northern Rhodesia are spiritually unfed. In few places are there representative men who can voice our aspirations and express our ideals. Most of our community come from Lithuania, Roumania and Kurland, but during recent years a large number of Jews have entered Rhodesia and the Congo who have come from. Rhodes Island. These stand on an altogether different plane to the rest of the Jewish population, and unless they are going to adopt our standards their influence may be unfortunate.

When Sir John Chancellor came to Rhodesia we interviewed him and gave him a brief history of the achievements of our community in this country. Needless to say, he always proved himself above Anti-Semitism. This is also true of the Premiers and the Cabinet Ministers in this country. We have always found the Government most fair and ready to meet us in a reasonable manner. Only lately, they have agreed that children are to have an effective choice in taking up Hebrew as one of the subjects at public examinations. We hold, then, that the Jew has made good in Rhodesia as a whore. We came as strangers, without resources or external help, and we have become an important and respected community. We have been long established and have proved ourselves in life. We have kept the country open and are more welcome to-day than ever we have been. At this moment the greatest centre of activity in Rhodesia consists in the Copper Fields of Northern Rhodesia. The most influential of the men controlling this great centre are Sir Edmund Davis, Solly Joel and Sir Ernest Oppenheimer, who are bound to play a very important part in the further development of Rhodesia. The opening up of Northern Rhodesia, the Congo Territory, of Angola, and of Central and East Africa will give opportunities for further Jewish immigration. In this connection it is of interest to know that when the Jewish Territorial Organisation was formed, the Rev. Cohen wrote to Mr. Israel Zangwill, strongly recommending Angola as his field of operations. Mr. Zangwill could not see his way to carry out this idea, but the real importance of Angola will only be realised in the coming years. I have drawn the attention of our emigration bodies to the new lands to the North, but it is clear that their Jewish population will come from South Africa.

The real importance of the Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation perhaps consists just in this, that it has served and will serve as a feeder of these growing territories. Of course, in the process of time the forces of assimilation have grown and must grow. Yet we have created a community with a strong Jewish spirit as the foundation of our future. All our people are members of the community, none are isolated from their fellows. In time we hope to effect close relations with the little communities scattered over these immense areas. We need immigrants who will raise our cultural level and give us new leaders and workers. Rhodesia and the Union may be politically divided, but there are no barriers between our Jewish communities. We are a self-created and self-supporting community, but we have played the game with our neighbours in the Union, as they will be the first to acknowledge. In Bulawayo we have contributed so heavily to outside causes that we have not been able to reduce the heavy debt on our public buildings or to develop our local Jewish education as we should have liked, and this constitutes a serious problem. We have tried both to be good Jews and to be good Rhodesians and we have still to find solutions to the difficult problems involved in this connection. When Rabbi Zlotnik was here a few years ago he took part in our Yom Kippur celebrations and saw all our activities. I asked him what he thought of such a community at the back of beyond, and he replied, "Nezach Yisrael lo Yeshakker." That was indeed a fine compliment, and with that tribute I will conclude this brief history of the youngest Jewish community in South Africa. Our young people are with us and of us. On our foundation they and newcomers will build. We have told the story of the last generation. The next generation will reveal an epic still more wonderful, when the South African Jewish community stretching from the Cape to the distant interior will meet the expanding Jewish communities of North Africa in their advance to the South, and the foundation will be laid of the Great African Jewry of the future.

The Educational Value of South African Jewish History by Dr. J. H. HERTZ, Chief Rabbi of the United Synagogues of the British Empire

WHEN I was asked to contribute a few lines for the South African Jewish Year Book, I was in doubt whether it would be possible for me to accede to the courteous request. Many and overwhelming indeed are the calls upon my time and energy, but I felt in duty bound to welcome the appearance of a Jewish Year Book for South African Jewry, in whose service I spent such a large portion of the best years of my life. I could not bring myself to refuse sending a contribution, even if only these jottings on "The Educational Value of South African Jewish History” to a publication appearing under the auspices of a body like the South African Jewish Board of Deputies. Twenty-six years ago, I was the prime mover in the establishment of the Board. And as for the Year Book's other god-parent, the South African Jewish Historical Society, its beginnings really go back to the paper, “The Jew in South Africa," which I read at the first Zionist Conference at Johannesburg in July, 1905. That paper was the result of years of careful search and unwearied collection of every historical item with any bearing on the story of the Jew on the South African Sub-Continent. It appeared in the Proceedings of the Conference; it was reprinted in pamphlet form and, in substance, was republished in The Jewish Encyclopædia. It has been plagiarised more than anything else I have ever written. Nearly every subsequent writer on the subject of the Jew in South Africa has freely drawn upon it for his facts usually without acknowledgment of the source whence he derived his information. As mine was the first attempt to present the story of the Jew in all the South African colonies, I invited additions and corrections to be embodied in a future survey of South African Jewry. Some corrections duly reached me from several quarters, but they were not very helpful. Few people seem to understand how valueless is an unsupported assertion or denial in regard to facts that are otherwise authenticated. It is one of the main functions of a historical society to rule out everything subjective in historical evidence. It teaches the difficult art of seeing historical facts as they are, and not as we should have liked them to have been. In this way, the South African Jewish Historical Society will gradually gather together the building stones for the construction of the history of the Jew in South Africa.

The importance of such an authoritative presentation of Jewish life in South Africa, both for the Jew and the non-Jew, cannot be overestimated. As I have repeatedly urged in and out of South Africa, such self-knowledge is vital for the Jew's self-defence. In all newer countries the Jew is, according to popular fallacy, a late-comer who reaps in ease what others have sown in tears and travail. The Jew, it is declared, has not undergone the hardships of the pioneer, and has had no share in the building of any paths for the civilisation of the younger lands he inhabits. As these insidious suggestions usually go unchallenged, they end in becoming the general opinion voiced from the platform and in the Press. Is it a wonder, then, that the Jew's admission to these new countries is looked upon as a matter of grace and bounty; that the gates are often barred against the Jewish immigrant; that the rights of even the Jewish citizen are in many quarters held to be inferior both in antiquity and in kind, to those of the population who have other racial and religious affiliations?

The Jews of America saw the serious danger of leaving this ignorant prejudice undisturbed. It was my privilege to attend the constituent meeting when the American Jewish Historical Society was organised on 7th June, 1892. During the 37 years of its existence it has brought to light the romance of the early Jewish settlements in the New World, as well as the wonderful story of Jewish participation in every avenue of American life. The value of the historical material it has collected, for the cause of peace and goodwill between Jew and non-Jew in America, is incalculable. Over and over again have I pleaded that it were well if the Jews in the Overseas Dominions—in Australia and Canada no less than in South Africa—were to imitate the American example. Thus, only self-delusion can blind us to the fact that, as a consequence of the ignorant assumption that the first Jews did not arrive in South Africa before the discovery of the Diamond Fields, the respect enjoyed by South African Jewry is not always commensurate with its services and sacrifices to the country. In this case, as in so many, ignorance is the great enemy. What is wanted is Knowledge, and this knowledge to be broadcast, or at any rate to be thoroughly assimilated by members of our own community. It is quite true that the anti-Semite remains as unconvinced by history as he is by logic or justice, yet it is essential that Jews at least should be taught the truth, that we ourselves should not plead guilty off-hand to any fantastic failings that hireling scribblers or fanatic reactionaries choose to fasten upon us. It is essential that Jews, at any rate, should no longer look upon themselves as interlopers, as exploiters in the lands of their birth, but rather as active co-partners in the upbuilding of the new democracies of which they are members.

From what has so far been said, it is evident that the organised attempt of any Jewry to know itself is far more than a question of self-defence. It invariably leads to self-respect. It strengthens the Jewish consciousness of that Jewry and helps it to realise its place among the other Jewries of the world. It is to the eternal glory of South African Jewry that, though 8,000 miles away from the main currents of Jewish endeavour, it has to its credit an enviable share in the task of the resurrection of the Holy Land. An even greater achievement is the luminous example of Jewish Brotherhood it has set to other and larger Jewries, in readiness of sacrifice for alleviating the misery of our tortured brethren in the hate and hunger zones of Eastern Europe.

Self-knowledge thus leads to a heightened self-consciousness. But it does more. For wherever there is a true Jewish communal consciousness there arises in time a Jewish communal conscience, a divine awakening to that Jewry's spiritual needs of to-day and to-morrow. Such Jewry begins to see things in the light of Jewish history. Charity, it realises, is only one of the three pillars of Religion. No religious community can endure, as the late Mr. Israel Zangwill once bitterly exclaimed, if it depends upon schnorrers or pogroms to keep it alive. In a living Jewry, Charity is accompanied by Worship and by Religious Knowledge. There is little need to stress the importance of Worship to South African Jews, as its array of beautiful synagogues amply testifies. Not so in regard to Religious Knowledge. Great and eternal truths have been entrusted to Israel at its very birth. There can, therefore, be no compromise for Jews who desire to remain Jews on the question as to the foundation of all Jewish education. That must be religious. In the course of my Pastoral Visit to the Overseas Communities,

I found schools in which the children were not taught the Shema, the Prayers or any of the Blessings; in which they were not taught Bible History or even the Festivals of the Jewish faith! If the Principals had been members of the Yevsektzia, pledged to fight all religion like true Bolsheviks, they could not as thoroughly have eliminated all trace of Judaism as they had done. In such communities I insisted that it was their sacred and unshirkable duty to end such appalling and disgraceful conditions; and pointed out to them that anyone who was colour-blind to the religious side of Israel's life and had nothing but contempt for Orthodoxy and ridicule for the immemorial rites, customs and prayers of Israel, could only cremate the souls of the children who were unfortunate enough to come under his influence. It is my earnest hope that in South Africa at any rate there is general understanding that Jewish education is the training of the Jewish child for Judaism, by filling his soul with reverence to his Maker, and preparing him for a life of loyalty and beneficence unto Israel and Humanity.

Let this be my concluding word: Religion is the very life of the Jew. “There is no community anywhere," says Prof. Haffkine, "which has relinquished the Torah for even one generation and has survived that separation." Such is the uniform teaching of Jewish history; and is it not also the teaching of South African Jewish History? South African Jewry has, I trust, thoroughly learned this uniform lesson of all Jewish history. As in philanthropy, as in Jewish national endeavour, it will take the large, the eternal, the pan-Jewish view, in the matter of Jewish education. It has it in its power to become a pattern to other Jewries in rearing its children as God-fearing Jews and Jewesses, in whose souls resound both the thunders of Sinai and the glad tidings of Israel's rebirth amid the hills and valleys of the Holy Land. With the help of God, South African Jewry will rise to the full level of its spiritual possibilities.

London, Erev Shavuos, 5689. 

The Jewish Board of Deputies in South Africa by Percy Cowan

THIS article will deal with three Boards of Deputies, namely, the “Jewish Board of Deputies for the Transvaal and Natal," formed on 15th April, 1903, "the Jewish Board of Deputies for the Cape Colony," formed on 4th September, 1904, and the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, formed on 7th August, 1912, by the amalgamation of the two first-named bodies at a conference of delegates from Jewish institutions held at Bloemfontein on 7th August, 1912. Until their amalgamation the two first-named bodies led a separate existence, each dealing with the interests of the Jewish communities in the geographical sphere designated by its name, as above. With the establishment of Union in 1910, both Boards realised the necessity of establishing one Board for the whole of South Africa, and this was accomplished at the Bloemfontein Conference mentioned.

TRANSVAAL JEWISH BOARD OF DEPUTIES.

The first official mention of the formation of a Board of Deputies in the Transvaal occurs in a report of a meeting held on Sunday, 29th March, 1903, in the former Jewish School attached to the late Park Station Synagogue, called by the Hon. Max Langerman for the purpose of forming a branch of the Anglo-Jewish Association of London. It was felt that such an institution would be useless here in South Africa, and the following resolution was unanimously carried:-

“That this meeting, while thanking Mr. Langerman for giving those present an opportunity of forming a branch of the Anglo-Jewish Association, considers the formation of such would not meet local requirements and decides to abstain from forming the proposed institution. This meeting further decides to call a meeting two weeks hence for the purpose of deciding upon the formation of a Board of Deputies."

Accordingly, the first minutes of the former Board of Deputies record the proceedings of a "meeting of the representatives of the Jewish institutions of Johannesburg held on Wednesday, 15th April, 1903, in the Schoolroom, De Villiers Street, Johannesburg." The "Schoolroom, De Villiers Street," was the Jewish Government School attached to the former Park Station Synagogue. At this meeting it was resolved-by 20 votes against 5, for there were discussions and amendments—that a "Transvaal Jewish Board of Deputies be formed." There was no opposition to the formation of a Board of Deputies but the amendments and the discussion concerned themselves with the wording of the resolution.

In view of the historic importance of this meeting, it is essential to give the names of those present. Five institutions were represented as follows:-

Johannesburg Hebrew Congregation: H. Freeman-Cohen, H. Goodman, J. L. Ginsberg, D. Lavine, A. J. Cohen, B. Danziger, J. Klisser, A. S. Goldberg, J. Frenkel, I. Broude and J. Ratzker.

Orthodox Hebrew Congregation: S. Kooper, B. Osrin, J. Blieden, M. Said, B. L. Loon and M. Goldberg.

South African Zionist Federation: I. H. Guinsberg, Dr. A. Abelheim, A. Osrin, A. M. Glasser, A. Getz and Harry Solomon.

Transvaal Zionist Association: S. Abelheim and J. Z. Josephson.

Witwatersrand Hebrew Benevolent Association: Mr. A. Rogaly.

Witwatersrand Jewish Helping Hand and Burial Society: S. Shapiro, A. Guerine, W. Dember, J. Kark and J. Schlyer.

Witwatersrand Old Hebrew Congregation: H. Simpson, M. A. Lyons, J. Stone, J. Rosen, Manfred Nathan, J. Freundlich, S. Goldreich, Rev. Dr. J. H. Hertz, E. M. Davis-Marks and B. Alexander.

Unattached: Max Langerman and S. Bebrow.

Mr. Langerman was elected to the chair, and Messrs. E. M. Davis-Marks and A. J. Cohen hon, secretaries pro tem. The resolution to form the Board of Deputies was proposed by Dr. Hertz and seconded by Dr. A. Abelheim. A provisional committee of five was elected to draft the Constitution. The provisional committee met on 23rd April and reported to a further meeting of delegates of institutions held on 2nd May, at which Mr. Harry Solomon was voted to the chair. At this meeting the name was altered to "The Jewish Board of Deputies for the Transvaal and Natal,” which it bore until its absorption in the present South African Board. The copies of the draft of the Constitution agreed upon at this meeting were sent to the Jewish institutions in the Transvaal and Natal, and they were asked to elect delegates to the Board in accordance with the terms of the Constitution, the same circular giving notice of a meeting of the Board to be held on 13th June, 1903. Thus the first duly constituted meeting of the Jewish Board of Deputies, or as the official records have it, "Meeting of the Delegates of the Board of Deputies," was held on Saturday, 13th June, 1903, in the "Schoolroom, De Villiers Street, Johannesburg." The first list of elected Delegates comprising the Board, who were all present at this historic meeting, was as follows:-

Witwatersrand Old Hebrew Congregation: Max Cohn, Julius Rosen, Max Langerman and Manfred Nathan.

Johannesburg Hebrew Congregation: J. Ratzker, H. Goodman, B. Danziger and H. Freeman-Cohen.

Orthodox Hebrew Congregation: Ch. Kuper and A. M. Glasser.

South African Zionist Federation: I. H. Guinsberg, H. Solomon, J. Kaplan, Dr. A. Abelheim, B. Alexander and S. Bebro.

Witwatersrand Jewish Helping Hand and Burial Society: D. Treesman, J. Freundlich, S. Shapiro and H. Simpson.

Durban Hebrew Congregation: Rev. Dr. J. H. Hertz.

Durban Zionist Association: Mr. B. S. Ginsberg.

Mr. H. Freeman-Cohen was elected chairman for this meeting, at which the Board of Deputies was declared duly constituted.

The first Executive of the Board, elected at this meeting, were as follows: President, Mr. Max Langerman; Vice-Presidents, Messrs. H. Freeman-Cohen and S. Bebro; Hon. Treasurer, Mr. B. Danziger; Hon. Secretary, Rev. Dr. J. H. Hertz (the present Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the British Empire).

It is a remarkable and significant fact that the first business to be transacted by the newly formed Board of Deputies was to decide to issue an appeal for the sufferers by the pogroms in Kishineff. Although the Board was formed only to “watch and take action with reference to all matters affecting the welfare of Transvaal and Natal Jews as a Community," it is typical of the spirit and broad-mindedness that have always ruled the interpretation of the clauses in the Constitution defining its objects and sphere of activities that the founders of the Board deemed the relief of their

co-religionists in Kishineff to come within the region of the Board's work, just as in 1914 the Board considered it right not only that it should take a leading part in the work of the Jewish War Victims Fund but also that it should control that huge organisation.

Lord Milner was advised of the formation of the Board of Deputies, and expressed to his satisfaction thereat. It was decided to arrange for a public meeting “to inaugurate the formation of the Board at which His Excellency would be present."

The first Constitution was considered at a meeting on 2nd July, 1903, and the resolution adopting it was passed at the meeting held on 11th July. Thus the heading in the printed copies of this Constitution is incorrect in describing it as having been adopted on 2nd July, 1903. There was quite a heated discussion on some of the clauses; in fact, with regard to the one dealing with the institutions entitled to membership one of the hon. officers threatened to resign.

This first Constitution gave the name as mentioned, and provided, somewhat prophetically as it happens, that if deemed advisable to give representation on the Board to Jews of other South African Colonies, such representation could be extended and the name altered accordingly. The objects were defined as being:-

"(a) To watch and take action with reference to all matters affecting the welfare of Transvaal and Natal Jews as a community.

"(b) The Board shall make observation of all proceedings relative to legislative and municipal enactments, and shall use such means as they may deem requisite in order that no infraction of the religious rights, customs and privileges of the Jewish community may ensue therefrom; they shall also watch over the interests of the Jews in these Colonies and take such action as may be deemed by the Board to be conducive to their welfare and calculated to improve their general condition.

"(e) For the purposes aforesaid the Board may adopt such measures as they may think proper and call to their aid, co-operate with, and obtain the advice of, any persons, bodies or institutions.

The Executive consisted of a president, two vice-presidents, a hon. treasurer, a hon, secretary and two deputies specially elected by the board. The deputies sitting on the Board held office from Shevuoth to Shevuoth, and the annual meetings of the Board were to be held in the month of Sivan. Finally, it is noteworthy that, with the different scales of membership fees prevailing at different periods, the minimum membership fee now prevailing, namely £5 5s. per annum, is the membership fee laid down in this first Constitution.

Mr. E. M. Davis-Marks was elected assistant secretary at the meeting of 11th July.

Address by Lord Milner.

The now historic public meeting at the Wanderers on Tuesday, 28th July, 1903, at which Lord Milner, the then High Commissioner, gave a remarkable address, was a great success in every way. The official records of the Board claim for it that by this meeting the Board had gained a successful advancement of Judaism "in this Colony and throughout South Africa," the approval of the public of the formation of the Board, and the recognition of the Government. Mr. Max Langerman, President of the Board, presided. He and the following speaker, Rev. Dr. J. H. Hertz, the hon. secretary of the Board, refuted the charge that was made in certain quarters that the Board was formed as a Jewish political body for electioneering purposes. Dr. Hertz also put in a plea for the acceptance of Yiddish as a European language.

It was, however, Lord Milner's speech at this meeting that will ever make this one of the most, if not the most, memorable occasions in South African Jewish history. After what he had heard from Dr. Hertz, he said, he was quite prepared to believe that Yiddish was a European language. Referring to the opposition in certain quarters to the formation of a Jewish Board of Deputies, dealt with by the previous speakers, he asked why people should attribute a bad motive to a movement which to him seemed so natural, so above board, and so calculated to serve many useful purposes. The Jewish community of the Colony was a large and influential one, not so large as certain newspapers—not altogether friendly to the Jews would lead one to suppose, namely, that the whole of the community consisted exclusively of Jews, but still it was a very important factor. It had its own religion, its own race traditions. There was nothing incompatible in this with the most thorough British patriotism. It was oppression which made the denationalised Jew. Why, then, should they look askance at an organisation intended to protect special Jewish interests and to voice Jewish opinion when they did not look askance at similar organisations abounding in every part of the British Empire whose object it was to look after the interests of other sections of the community, whether their bond be religion, as in the case of the Christian churches, racial as in the case of the Australian, Irish or Caledonian Associations, or industrial and commercial, as in the case of the Chambers of Mines or Commerce. Such sectional organisations are not inimical to the State; on the contrary, they are calculated to render benefit to the community. What concerned him most was that the Board was calculated to be of great assistance to those who were concerned in the business of Government. There were many occasions when he had been anxious for information on questions especially affecting the Jewish population, and he would naturally have liked to go for guidance to some Jewish authority. But his difficulty had been that whilst he had a variety of advisers each claiming to represent Jewish feeling, the advice they gave was not always identical; in fact, in some cases, it was diametrically opposed. And that alone was a reason why he should welcome a representative body which on questions especially affecting Jewish interest could speak with one voice. Lord Milner went on to refer to an additional reason why a body like the Board could render very exceptional services in that Colony at that time, namely, with regard to the Jewish alien immigrants who came from countries where they had been oppressed, who had no intention of returning there and who had not yet had time to acquire the sentiments of loyalty and devotion to the country of their adoption. Their natural protectors and guides were the Jews who had already acquired the devotion to South Africa as their home, and they alone could create the bond between these newcomers and their non-Jewish fellow citizens. "It is for you, gentlemen," said Lord Milner, "who are bound to them by community of race and religion, but who are British citizens of long standing, to take them by the hand and draw them into fellowship with us in language, in sentiments, and in ideas."

Naturally, only a brief—a very brief—idea of the High Commissioner's historic address is given here, but I have given enough to make it clear that no better or more comprehensive exposition of the necessity, the justification, the true aims and objects of the existence of the Board of Deputies could be made than that stated by this great non-Jew at this historic and unique meeting.

At the first meeting after the historic Wanderers function, the omission of electing two deputies to complete the first Executive Committee above-mentioned was rectified by the appointment of Dr. Manfred Nathan and Mr. Sigmund Shapiro.

It is interesting to record that at that same meeting an application from the Delagoa Bay community for membership of the Board was refused on the grounds that it was outside British South Africa.

At that time Natal refused to recognise Yiddish as a European language, despite the fact that the Transvaal, the Free State and the Cape Colony gave it that recognition, and moreover that the High Commissioner had written to the Governor of Natal in favour of the latter granting Yiddish that recognition. The Colonial Secretary in Maritzburg and the Governor of Natal were, however, subsequently interviewed by representatives of the Board, with the satisfactory result that instructions were given to the landing officers that Yiddish was not a “non-European language."

The Board and Politics.

On 30th January, 1907, a special meeting was held with regard to references to Jews in the speeches of Parliamentary candidates, at which a resolution was carried that it is not part of the Board's functions to take any part in politics, and it considers that all voters of the Jewish faith should exercise their electoral privileges as citizens of the country only, and not upon any religious basis. This declaration was a most important one, and it would serve a very good purpose if as a reminder it were repeated and published every time a political election was being held.

A meeting of representatives of Jewish bodies on the Rand was held on 6th March, 1907, under the auspices of the S.A. Zionist Federation (Mr. Hyman Morris in the chair) to discuss the advisability of taking steps to counteract the wave of anti-Semitism which it was alleged then prevailed in South Africa. It was decided not to call a mass meeting, but the following resolution was passed: "That this meeting of representatives of various Jewish bodies, finding that the Jewish Board of Deputies is not a sufficiently representative institution, hereby requests that body to take steps to become more representative." At the Board meeting at which this resolution was discussed, it was decided to write to Mr. Hyman Morris that the Board would continue to do whatever it could in the interests of Jews as in the past, and any representations he wished to make the Board would consider. At this meeting the chairman (Mr. E. Friedlander) stated there was no wave of anti-Semitism, although there were certainly instances of it. It may be mentioned that at the time the Board was dealing with instances of anti-Semitism in the Johannesburg Tramways Department, so much so that a Tramways Sub-committee had to be appointed, and Mr. (now Sir) Harry Graumann was acting thereon, with the use of the word "Peruvian" in the Sunday Times, concerning which another member, Mr. Jack Andrew Cohen, saw the Editor, with the use of the word "Jew" in the charge sheets and in the press reports of criminal cases, etc. It may also be mentioned that in all these instances the Board was successful in putting a stop to these practices, although, with regard to the tramways allegations of anti-Semitic practices have since occurred from time to time, but not of recent years.

In May, 1907, it was decided to present Sir Mathew Nathan with an illuminated address of welcome on behalf of the Board on his appointment as Governor of Natal.

The same year the threat of a new Jewish disability in the Education Bill, namely, a clause making the conscientious teaching of both the Old and New Testaments compulsory, thereby excluding Jewish teachers, was removed as a result of representations by the Board; also, because of the Board, the new Immigration Law recognised Yiddish as a European language.

A Jewish Newspaper.

The same year also the Board considered the matter of establishing a Jewish newspaper. The project was gone into, but eventually nothing came of it.

At a special meeting of the Board in October of the same year, it was decided to nominate two Jews for election to the then newly formed Witwatersrand School Board under the new Education Act. Of the two nominated, Mr. Manfred Nathan was successful at the election.

Naturalisation and Immigration.

The large number of refusals of naturalisation certificates began to occupy the attention of the Board in August, 1909, when it was stated that Major Mavrogordato, the then head of the local C.I.D., refused the applicants "simply because he did not like the look of their faces." The Chairman (Mr. Alfred Rogaly) stated that naturalisation was an act of grace and granted entirely at the Government's discretion. At the following month's meeting, it was reported that Major Mavrogordato showed that 40 per cent. of Jewish applicants had been refused by him, and that he would be only too pleased to have the co-operation of the Board in the matter.

On Union being attained in 1910, the Board sent appropriate messages to General Botha, the first Prime Minister, and to Lord Gladstone, the Governor-General.

At a meeting of the Board on 19th July, 1910, it was reported with regard to the use of the word “Jew" in summonses, that “the Minister of Justice, General Hertzog, had given instructions removing any possibility of stigma in the treatment by the State officers of an important and law-abiding section of the community." General Hertzog said that Jews themselves were to blame because when asked their nationality they answered "Jews."

The number of cases of prohibited Jewish immigrants was now beginning to grow in volume and importance, so much so that in September, 1910, it was resolved “to give the question of immigration the Board's special attention." Thereafter, at almost every meeting there was reported a number of immigration cases having been dealt with.

At the 1910 annual meeting it was stated that six gentlemen (a self-constituted deputation) had gone to Pretoria to see the Prime Minister in order to get a Jew appointed as Senator, and it was resolved that in future no delegates of the Board approach the authorities on any Jewish matter without the Board's consent.

In May, 1911, a sub-committee was appointed to deal with the new Immigration Bill. The following October, General Smuts was interviewed regarding the Bill, and in November (the annual meeting having taken place in August) another sub-committee was appointed to deal with the Bill. A special meeting was held in February, 1912, at which the various clauses of the Bill were fully discussed and decisions come to with regard to them. A few months afterwards (August, 1912), the Transvaal Board ceased to exist, having been merged in the South African Board.

Other Matters.

Among other happenings of interest may be mentioned the following:-

A Mohelim Board was formed in December, 1903, consisting of Drs. Hertz and Landau, Rabbi M. Freedman, Dr. Abelheim and Mr. S. Shapiro to examine Mohelim and issue certificates to qualified Mohelim. Later, Dr. H. Goodman and Revs. S. Manne and W. Woolf were added to the Board.

It was reported at a meeting in 1904 that nine Russian Jews had been appointed as special plague inspectors by the Johannesburg Town Council.

In 1904, Lord Milner agreed that all Jews who had no permits to stay here could apply for them through the Board of Deputies, who would make the recommendation. A sub-committee was appointed to deal with these applications, and shortly after their appointment, so strenuously had they worked, it was reported that 300 applications had been recommended.

At the first annual meeting in 1904 a sub-committee was appointed to deal with cases of compensations for war losses.

In connection with the question of providing children attending the Government Schools with Hebrew education, it is interesting to note that when in August, 1904, a deputation from the Board interviewed the head of the Education Department on the subject to ascertain how far the Government was prepared to assist in this matter, they were met by the extraordinary complaint by that gentleman that "the Fordsburg Jews refused to send their children to any school at all!" Why just the "Fordsburg Jews" is wrapped in mystery.

In November, 1904, a sub-committee was appointed to assist Jewish aliens to become naturalised, and later the Board was actively engaged in endeavouring to obtain better conditions than were then in force for the franchise of aliens.

From 1911 onwards, increasing correspondence was noted with the London Jewish Association for the Protection of Girls and Women regarding cases of girls and women coming to this country, and with regard to White Slave Traffic questions.

Personnel.

As a historical record, it is essential to give here the personnel of the different Executives that held office. The first Executive has already been mentioned.

At the first annual meeting held on 12th June, 1904, with Mr. Max Langerman, President, in the chair, the following Executive was elected: President, Mr. Harry Solomon, M.L.C.; Vice-Presidents, Messrs. Max Langerman and David Holt; Hon. Treasurer, Mr. B. Danziger; Hon. Secretary, Mr. W. Saphra; two deputies on Executive, Messrs. A. Epler and S. Shapiro. Dr. Manfred Nathan was elected Hon. Counsel, and Messrs. B. Alexander and M. Lichtenstein Hon. Solicitors.

At the first ordinary meeting thereafter, it was decided that the Hon. Counsel and Hon. Solicitors have seats on the Executive, and that no Rabbi of a Congregation be eligible for election as a delegate but shall have a seat on the Board in an ex officio capacity.

In November, 1904, Mr. J. M. Patlansky was elected Hon. Secretary in place of Mr. Saphra, resigned.

At the 1905 annual meeting. Mr. Manfred Nathan was elected President, Messrs. B. Danziger and L. J. Reyersbach Vice-Presidents, Mr. Alfred Rogaly Hon. Secretary. It was decided to dispense with a paid secretary for the time being. A few months afterwards Mr. Rogaly resigned, and in April, 1906, Mr. Richard Rosenthal was elected Hon. Secretary. Mr. Danziger carried on as Hon. Treasurer till May, 1906, when Mr. Max Langerman was elected to this office. Messrs. E. Friedlander and S. Shapiro were elected the two deputies on the Executive.

At the 1906 annual meeting, Mr. E. Friedlander was elected President, Messrs. Manfred Nathan and Hyman Morris Vice-Presidents, Mr. Max Langerman Hon. Treasurer, Mr. Richard Rosenthal Hon. Secretary, Messrs. B. I. Bloom and J. Pencharz the two deputies on the Executive. The following January Mr. Langerman resigned as treasurer and Mr. Julius Vogl was elected in his stead.

In 1907 the annual meeting elected Advocate Manfred Nathan President, Messrs. E. Friedlander and Alfred Rogaly Vice-Presidents, Mr. J. Vogl Hon. Treasurer Messrs. A. Levy and M. Melzer the two deputies on the Executive, and the rest as before.

In 1908, Mr. A. Rogaly was elected President, Messrs. A. Sprinz and S. Raphaely Vice-Presidents, Messrs. B. I. Bloom and Emile Nathan the two deputies on the Executive, and the rest as before.

In June, 1909, Rabbi M. Freedman, of the Johannesburg Orthodox Hebrew Congregation, was appointed an honorary member of the Board, the others being Drs. Hertz and Landau,

The annual meeting of 1909 elected Mr. S. Raphaely President, Messrs. B. Alexander and A. Sprinz Vice-Presidents, Advocate Emile Nathan Hon. Counsel, and the others as before.

In 1910, Mr. S. Raphaely was re-elected President, Messrs. A. Sprinz and A. Rogaly were elected Vice-Presidents, Mr. I. M. Goodman Hon. Treasurer; Drs. Hertz and Landau the two members of the Executive. Mr. Richard Rosenthal, after four and a half years' service, resigned as Hon. Secretary, and the office was temporarily filled by Mr. I. M. Goodman till the following December, when Mr. S. Friendly was appointed Hon. Secretary.

At the 1911 annual meeting Mr. Bernard Alexander was elected President, Mr. S. Friendly Hon. Secretary, and the other hon. officers were re-elected. These held office till the Board was merged into the South African Board.

The question of the union of the two Boards of Deputies began to come to the fore in 1909, and in the December of that year the President (Mr. S. Raphaely) stated he was going to Cape Town and would discuss the matter with Rev. Bender and Mr. Morris Alexander, the Chairman of the Cape Town Board.

In 1910, Mr. E. Cotton, of Port Elizabeth, circularised the Jewish institutions in the Eastern Province with a view to amalgamation with the Board.

In December, 1911, Mr. S. Raphaely proposed, Mr. Emile Nathan seconded, and it was carried, “that the Chairman of the Board (Mr. Bernard Alexander) be requested to co-operate with and assist Mr. Ehrlich, of Bloemfontein, with the view of holding a Conference of South African Jewish institutions in Bloemfontein for the formation of a Jewish Board of Deputies for the Union of South Africa, and that he be requested to do everything in his power to bring such a conference to a successful issue."

Before the Board meeting on 16th July, 1912, there was reported the receipt of the notice from Mr. W. Ehrlich-then Mayor of Bloemfontein and President of the Bloemfontein Congregation of the conference for the union of the Boards of Deputies to be held on August 6th and 7th, 1912, at Bloemfontein.

The last meeting of the Transvaal and Natal Board was held on 20th August, 1912, with Mr. B. Alexander in the chair, and the minutes record that "Mr. S. Raphaely proposed, Mr. I. M. Goodman seconded, that in accordance with the resolution of Congress to form a Board of Deputies for the Union, the present Board of Deputies for the Transvaal and Natal be dissolved, and all papers and assets be handed over to the new Board." After a lengthy discussion, the resolution was carried unanimously.

JEWISH BOARD OF DEPUTIES FOR THE CAPE COLONY.

This was the official title of the Cape Jewish Board of Deputies.

Just as the decision to form the Transvaal and Natal Board of Deputies was come to at a meeting called for another purpose, so was the formation of the Cape Board the outcome of a gathering that had been called together for another purpose. On 28th May, 1903, Advocate Morris Alexander introduced a deputation of delegates from 23 Jewish institutions to Mr. Justice Graham, the Attorney General in the Sprigg Ministry, in connection with the Immigration Act of 1902, with the result that Yiddish was definitely recognised as a European language by the Government under that Act, and a promise was given that this recognition would be confirmed by legislative enactment at the earliest possible date. Owing to the difficulty experienced by Mr. Alexander in arranging for the election of these Jewish delegates throughout the Colony, a meeting was called for Sunday, 4th September, 1904, with a view to establishing a body on the lines of the London Board of Deputies.

The meeting was held in Savings Bank Buildings, 117 St. George's Street. Mr. Alexander was elected to the chair, and, according to the official records, the following was the resolution formally establishing the Cape Board:

“That the delegates here assembled, together with the delegate representing the Ahavath Zion Association, Maitland, hereby constitute themselves into a Jewish Board of Deputies for the Cape Colony with power to add to their number the names of those who may be duly elected hereafter to represent the remaining Jewish Congregations and organisations throughout the Cape Colony."

Mr. Morris Alexander was elected President and Mr. S. Alexander Hon. Secretary.

The Board for the Cape Colony from its inception worked incessantly in the direction of having Yiddish recognised as a European language by Statute and not merely by Government Regulation, and this object was attained during the 1906 session of the Cape Parliament under Act 30 of 1906. The Board also succeeded in incorporating into this Act the provisions of the English Aliens Act of 1905 regarding the right of asylum, an inestimable boon to persecuted Jews coming from Eastern Europe.

The Board considered that the Half-Holiday Bill of 1905 injuriously affected the orthodox members of our community who kept their shops closed on Sabbaths, and endeavoured to have such members excluded from the operation of the Act. Parliament, however, would only agree to the privilege being granted to such Jewish butchers as had their shops closed on the Jewish Sabbath, and an amendment to that effect was introduced into the Bill and passed.

In 1904, the Colonial Secretary asked the Board to report on Jewish applicants for naturalisation in connection with which the Government experienced great difficulty in obtaining reports. The Board agreed to do so, and in this way it was the means of securing the naturalisation of close on 1,500 Jewish applicants.

Incidentally, it is recorded that the relations between the Government and the Board were always of the most cordial description.

The Board dealt with a number of immigration cases, with the result that many deserving immigrants were allowed to land who would otherwise have been sent back to the countries whence they came.

The Board also had occasion from time to time to deal with anti-Semitic attacks on the Jewish community.

The Board held 19 meetings from its inception to April 2nd, 1907, when the President left for Europe. There are apparently no records of any meetings held from then till August 1st, 1912, when among other resolutions it was resolved that "on a South African Jewish Board of Deputies being formed, this Board be dissolved," and that the President, Mr. Advocate M. Alexander, represent the Board at the Bloemfontein Conference."

Another and final meeting was held on Wednesday, September 18th, 1912, at which Mr. Alexander reported the results of the Bloemfontein Conference, and it was resolved “to dissolve the existing Board and to carry out the other resolutions of the Bloemfontein Conference."

The Historic Union Conference.

Bloemfontein, mainly by reason of its geographical position the city of conferences and congresses of every description, has witnessed many historic gatherings whose decisions have been fraught with the most important consequences either to South Africa as a whole or to important sections of its people. But rarely has there been held within its confines a conference of such important significance, upon the success of which depended so much of the future welfare of an important section of the population of South Africa in particular, and of countless thousands of overseas people in general, and which, nevertheless, in spite of these important considerations, was at one time during its proceedings so dangerously far from attaining success as to make imminent a failure which would have set back the clock of progress of South African Jewry for very many years. Indeed, the failure would have rendered worse than meaningless the very term “South African Jewry," denoting as it does to-day a cohesive whole composed of the organised Jewish population of this sub-continent, its component and well-defined parts organised and correlated to each other even more efficiently than is the case with the Jewries of some of the much older countries.

This momentous and historic conference was convened by the late Senator W. Ehrlich, then President of the Bloemfontein Hebrew Congregation, at the request of the two Boards of Deputies, and was held at the Town Hall, Bloemfontein, on Tuesday, 6th August, and Wednesday, 7th August, 1912, under his chairmanship. The letter convening the Congress stated that the object was “to form a Board of Deputies for the Union of South Africa (including Rhodesia)," and there was a splendid response from all parts of South Africa. The Mayor of Bloemfontein, Mr. I. H. Haarburger, welcomed the delegates, Messrs. J. Harris and A. S. Levenstein were elected joint hon, secretaries for the Congress, and Mr. B. S. Hersch official interpreter for Yiddish for the congress.

The great difficulty was the framing of a constitution acceptable to all parties, and the success of the Congress therefore depended on the work of the sub-committee to whom this task was entrusted. Therefore, after the usual preliminaries had been disposed of, the congress passed a resolution deciding to form a Board of Deputies “subject to the rules and constitution to be adopted hereafter." This important sub-committee consisted of the following: Messrs. B. Alexander, Morris Alexander, W. Ehrlich, A. Rogaly, Max Langermann, W. Sagar, S. Raphaely, I. M. Goodman, J. Seelig, Dr. H. Goodman and A. Sprinz.

The difficulty was to come to an agreement regarding the Executive of the Board, its composition and locale, and eventually three alternative proposals were submitted to Congress by the sub-committee. These proposals were submitted to Congress and discussed in a spirit of compromise that fortunately made itself more and more evident, so that ultimately Mr. Ehrlich's proposition was carried unanimously. This provided for an Executive Council consisting of one president, four vice-presidents (one for each Province) and 25 members-13 for the Transvaal, 8 for the Cape, 2 for Natal and 2 for Orange Free State. The seat of the Executive Council was to be in Johannesburg. In addition, the Constitution provided for a Provincial Committee of the Board to meet in each Province, at Cape Town, Johannesburg, Bloemfontein and Durban, to deal with and to act in local provincial matters. The Provincial Committee was to consist of the Vice-President and members of the Executive of that Province, together with the deputies of the constituent bodies in that Province, with the Vice-President as the chairman.

Congress elected the following as the first Executive Council of the South African Board: President, Mr. W. Ehrlich; Vice-Presidents, Messrs. Bernard Alexander (Transvaal), Morris Alexander, M.L.A. (Cape), Ivan H. Haarburger (Orange Free State), Max Langermann (Natal); H. Friedman, J. Freundlich, H. Goodman, I. M. Goodman, B. S. Hersch, J. Kark, Manfred Nathan, S. Raphaely, A. Rogaly, S. D. Sachs, M. Simon, A. Sprinz, D. Starfield (Transvaal Members); D. Davidson, A. Ettman, C. Friedlander, J. Kadish, M. S. Lipschitz, Rabbi Ch. Mirvish, J. H. Rogaly, W. Sagar (Cape Members); Lionel Hart, F. C. Hollander (Natal Members); J. Friedman and B. Levy (O.F.S. Members).

The election of hon. treasurer and secretary was left to the Executive. The Congress was well summed up in a nutshell by the President in closing the proceedings. when he said that he had at first had serious misgivings as to the result of the Congress but that he had been encouraged by the response to the invitations and the spirit of co-operation and compromise which had dominated the proceedings. He also said that he would always remember his presidency over that meeting as one of the events of his life.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN JEWISH BOARD OF DEPUTIES.

The first meeting of the Executive Council was held on Sunday, January 12th, 1913, at the Hebrew High School. Mr. W. Ehrlich, the President, accompanied by Mr. I. H. Haarburger, the Vice-President for the Free State, came specially from Bloemfontein to attend this first meeting. Mr. Alfred Rogaly was elected Hon. Treasurer and Mr. Percy Cowen Secretary. It was decided to admit the Press to all meetings of the Board.

The first two years of the South African Board's history were chiefly concerned with matters of immigration and with consolidating the Board's position. Soon after the Executive's appointment, all known Jewish institutions in South Africa were sent copies of the Constitution and invited to make application to the Board for membership. At the time of the second Congress, held on August 4th, 1914, at Kimberley, there were 51 constituent bodies represented by 60 deputies.

As soon as the draft of the Immigrants Regulation Act of 1913 was published, the Executive went fully into it. It was found that whilst the Board's objections to the Act of 1912 had been met in so far as the education tests and the establishment of appeal boards were concerned some amendments were still required in the interests of desirable Jewish immigrants. A deputation, consisting of the President, the Vice-Presidents of the Cape and Orange Free State, together with the Jewish Members of the Legislative Assembly (Sir Lionel Phillips, Sir David Harris, Messrs. Emile Nathan and C. P. Robinson) interviewed the Minister of the Interior, the Hon. A. Fischer. The Board's suggested amendments were submitted, the President urged the advisability of appointing a Jew on the appeal boards, and Mr. Alexander recommended that the Government should grant recognition to an official to be appointed by the Board who should be stationed in Cape Town and whose duty it should be to watch the interests of Jewish immigrants. The deputation was given a favourable reception, and the Minister assured them that the Government were very sympathetic towards Jewish immigration of the right kind, such as the Board itself desired.

The suggestion that the Board appoint an immigration official at Cape Town was warmly received by the Government, and on January 1st, 1914, Mr. B. S. Hersch was appointed in that capacity. He occupied that office for some time, and during the war, when there was very little immigration, the Board lent his services to the Government as Censor of Yiddish. At first, a special Immigration Fund was established to provide the wherewithal to pay the cost of the office. This means of raising special revenue for this office was abandoned after some years, not proving the success desired, and, as will be seen below, it was decided that all the expenses of the Board's work should come from one general fund.

With regard to the appeal boards, not only was not a Jew appointed but the immigration officers at each port were placed thereon, so that they would actually hear appeals against their own actions and sit in judgment on their own decisions. This absurdity at least was remedied.

On Mr. Hersch's appointment he resigned from the Executive, and Mr. A. M. Abrahams, the President of the S.A. Zionist Federation, was elected in his stead. Mr. Rogaly resigned as treasurer in June, 1918, and Mr. D. Starfield was appointed. in his place. Mr. S. Friendly was appointed hon. solicitor to the Board on his resignation as hon. secretary when the South African Board was formed, and his firm—Messrs. S. & G. Friendly—have worthily filled that hon. office ever since.

In Johannesburg, meetings were held of the Executive Council and, less frequently, of the Transvaal Provincial Committee, both presided over by Mr. B. Alexander, as Vice-President of the Transvaal, and the Cape Provincial Committee held monthly meetings in Cape Town, presided over by Mr. Morris Alexander, M.L.A. The other Provincial Committees did not meet.

The Second Congress.

The second congress was called for August 4th and 5th, 1914, to be held in the Town Hall, Kimberley. But when the delegates came together in Kimberley, on that fateful day in August, the thunders of war were being heard on all sides, and that very day England declared war against Germany. Under those circumstances, people's minds were not attuned to the holding of congresses, no matter how important they might be, and it was the unanimous opinion of delegates that the proceedings should be as brief as possible and the congress closed, so as to enable them to leave for their homes that very day. The Congress was presided over by Mr. W. Ehrlich, the President, and was welcomed by the Mayor of Kimberley. The report and balance sheet were adopted, the Executive Council were re-elected en bloc, the resolutions on the agenda were referred to the Executive, with the exception of one resolution to alter the constitution by raising the membership fee from two to three guineas per annum, which was carried.

The World War.

During the continuation of the War, the question of holding a Congress was discussed from time to time, but the feeling that prevailed was that the time was inopportune. In 1916, when according to the Constitution the time for the third Congress was due, the summoning of the Jewish Congress by the Board, in conjunction with the S.A. Zionist Federation, on Friday, April 28th, 1916, to discuss and pass resolutions on Jewish questions arising out of the war did away with the necessity and also the advisability of another Congress being called by the Board for the same year.

The Constitution.

Nevertheless, as time went on, the trend of events was being watched very carefully, and it became more and more evident that the summoning of a Board of Deputies' Congress was an imperative necessity. One of the main reasons for this necessity was the unworkable Constitution, especially so in connection with the Provincial Committees, which experience had proved a failure. The Constitution adopted at Bloemfontein was in the nature of a compromise, having been drafted mainly with the object of bringing about a union of the two Boards. Everything else was subsidiary to that object and did not receive much attention. Consequently, the experience of seven years' working had proved that the Constitution had many faults. But the only authority for altering the Constitution was Congress. Then again, the system of Executive Councils proved too wieldy and unworkable. Members of an executive, especially of so important a body as the Board, should be able to be summoned at short notice, and should therefore live within a reasonable distance of the meeting place. Scattered all over South Africa, the members of the Executive could not be expected to attend meetings, as they were supposed to do, once every month, and so the Constitution regarding the Executive Council was found unworkable, and was nothing more nor less than a farce.

In January, 1918, it was decided to summon a Congress, to be held in May, 1918, in Johannesburg. The responses received were most satisfactory, both in number and in quality, and there was every indication of the gathering being a success in every way. But again a critical time came along, when everything else in public life had to be abandoned for the purpose of concentrating on the work of recruiting. Certain false charges against the Jews in this respect had to be and were disproved. A meeting of representatives of all Jewish institutions on the Reef was called for the purpose of advancing the recruiting movement amongst the Jewish community, and the visit of a Jewish platoon under a Jewish lieutenant was arranged with the authorities to help the Board in the work of recruiting among the Jewish eligibles. That was why the Congress had to be postponed to the following year, when hostilities had ceased, and there was every prospect of an early signing of peace.

Naturally, a great deal of the work of the Board from the second to the third Congress, held in 1919, was in connection with the war, and matters arising out of the war which affected the Jews of South Africa in particular and Jewry in general. Very soon after the outbreak of hostilities in 1914, allegations were being made on public platforms and the Press in this country that the Jews in South Africa were not responding to the call to arms in sufficient numbers. As usual, the Jews were singled out for such unfounded and damaging charges, the easiest to make and the most difficult to disprove. As early as October, 1914, the Board realised the urgent necessity for compiling a list of Jews at the various fronts, and appointed a sub-committee to deal with the matter. Urgent circulars pointing out the necessity for having a complete list of South African Jews serving at the front, and inviting lists of names and particulars of such Jews, were sent to all Jewish institutions. Notices were published in all the most important papers circulating in South Africa asking for the names of Jews who had joined up. In addition, the Board interested itself in conjunction with the Zionist Federation in the compilation and publication by the "Zionist Record" of as many names as were received in response to an appeal made through that journal, the Board paying half the cost of the work. These and other methods were repeated at various times, and the result of all these efforts, together with similar endeavours on the part of the Jewish Statistical Bureau, established during the war in Cape Town, something like 2,400 names were collected. These lists, however, were necessarily very far from being complete, as proof came along that the circulars of the Board had not reached everybody concerned in every part of South Africa, that many Jews when joining did so under assumed non-Jewish names and as members of other religions and that Jewish boys under military age had without the consent or knowledge of their parents, "joined up” under assumed common non-Jewish names, passing themselves off as years older than they actually were. Calculating all these extra Jewish soldiers as numbering all told about 600—a very modest computation for the various fronts,

German East, German West and overseas—brought the total to 3,000 names. Seeing that the total Jewish population of the Union of South Africa, according to the census, was then under 50,000, that meant that six per cent. of the total number of Jews in this country "joined up"—a larger percentage in this respect than can be boasted of by the general population of South Africa. There were 1,980 Jews serving in the German East campaign alone. As a matter of fact, Zangwill, in his book, "The War for the World," claimed that 5,000 Jews were in the South African forces, and incidentally mentioned that the first British soldier to fall in German South-West Africa was Ben Robinson, a famous athlete, and that in Bulawayo half a company of reserves was composed of Jews. Thus the Jews of South Africa had done more than their share in the fighting. and their record is one of which South African Jewry may well be proud.

Yet the South African anti-Semite did not cease, both on the platform and in the Press, from uttering the slander that the Jews in this country did not join up in sufficient numbers, although the chairman of the Johannesburg Recruiting Committee wrote to the Board testifying that the Jews in Johannesburg were responding nobly to the call.

Everything possible was done by the Board to further recruiting among the Jews. An invitation to the chairman of the Board (Mr. Bernard Alexander) to join the Recruiting Committee was accepted by him, and not only did he himself take part in the work but he also recommended some prominent members of the Jewish community to the Recruiting Committee as speakers at the recruiting meetings.

Nevertheless, things did not improve. These anti-Jewish slanders were repeated over and over again, and received the but too willing credence of their non-Jewish listeners. The consequence was that the elements of danger to the welfare of the Jewish community became more than once so pronounced that immediate and urgent steps had to be taken by the Board each time to get into touch with the Government, the local authorities, and the Jewish Members of Parliament, when Parliament was sitting, so as to ensure the safety of the community and the prevention, as far as possible, of disturbances.

Undaunted by such incidents and slanders, the Board continued its policy of encouraging and helping recruiting in every possible way. In April, 1918, it was decided to call together the chairmen of all the Jewish institutions on the Reef, from Springs to Randfontein, in connection with the recruiting movement. This meeting was held on Sunday, April 21st, 1918, over 70 institutions being directly represented. The meeting was most enthusiastic, and passed resolutions pledging all those present to assist as far as they could in obtaining the enlistment of Jewish eligibles, and that in each centre on the Reef they would call upon Jewish eligibles to “join up." At a meeting of the Board on June 11th, 1918, the chairman was in a position to report that as a result of interviews he had had with the Director of War Recruiting and with certain other military authorities, he was of the opinion that people in general had become more satisfied than they had previously been regarding the number of Jews who had “joined up." The lists of Jewish soldiers compiled by the Board have since been handed to the Johannesburg Jewish Guild War Memorial Committee.

At the time of the Rebellion, the loyalty to the Government of the large number of Jewish storekeepers and farmers in the country districts of the Free State and elsewhere, which was a well-known fact, was utilised by the Board in the following manner: It was brought to the notice of the Board that it could be of assistance to the Government by asking these storekeepers and farmers to influence those with whom they came in contact—their customers, fellow-farmers, etc.—to remain loyal to King and country. The Board accepted the suggestion with alacrity, always ready to give every assistance to the authorities in the promotion of the welfare, loyalty and patriotism of the population, and published a circular in Yiddish and English, thousands of copies of which were distributed throughout the country. This not only met with the Government's approval, but a letter was received by the Board from General Smuts expressing the Government's thanks and appreciation of the Board's action in supporting it at that crisis.

It is not generally known that it was the South African Jewish Board of Deputies that in 1915 suggested to the Conjoint Foreign Committee in England and the chief representative bodies in the overseas dominions of the Empire that, as the Prime Ministers of the various overseas dominions would in all probability be asked to take part in the Peace Conference, representative Jews in each of the dominions should interview their respective Prime Ministers in order to enlist their sympathy and support for the policy of obtaining a satisfactory settlement of the Jewish question at the time when peace proposals would be discussed. The other dominions agreed to this suggestion, and the Conjoint Foreign Committee in London also approved, and stated that they would notify us of the proper time for making such representations. When the Jewish Congress Committee was formed at the South African Jewish Congress in 1916, as above mentioned, the correspondence, which was of a most confidential nature, was handed over to it by the Board.

The Third Congress.

By the time of the third Congress, which was held in the Selborne Hall, Johannesburg, on Sunday and Monday, May 25th and 26th, 1919, the number of constituent bodies had increased to eighty. At this Congress, presided over by Mr. Bernard Alexander, the Chairman of the Executive Council, a draft of a complete revision of the Constitution was submitted. This was based on the necessity of doing away altogether with the provincial committees and the large and unwieldy Executive Council, as above-mentioned—both of which had proved a failure—and the substituting of a method whereby every constituent body of the Board throughout South Africa would, through its deputy, have a direct say in the carrying on of the Board's work. In addition, it proposed the appointment by Congress of a small Executive Committee, consisting of a President, Vice-President, Treasurer and six members, all resident in Johannesburg, and of a Cape Town Executive Committee, consisting of three members, to act during the sitting of Parliament and whenever necessary. Congress adopted this Constitution which, with the exception of a few alterations since, chiefly with regard to the membership fees payable by constituent bodies, is the one in force at the present day.

With regard to immigration during the war period, the Board's immigration office in Cape Town was closed in May, 1915, after having since its inception dealt with thousands of cases, most of which would have resulted in the Jewish immigrants being rejected had it not been for the work of the Board in this respect. The Government fully recognised the value of the Board's immigration office in Cape Town, and the Minister of the Interior in 1914 referred in Parliament during the debate on the estimates in highly appreciative terms to the Board's immigration work. The Cape Town office, however, had to be closed because of insufficient financial assistance obtained by the Board for maintaining this office, and the reason for this lack of support was undoubtedly the great falling off in the volume of Jewish immigration owing to the war, in consequence of which the Jewish public did not appreciate, as they do daily to-day, the necessity of this immigration office. During the war period and for a few years afterwards, the Board was officially connected with the Jewish War Victims Fund, that most wonderful, glorious, and far-reaching of all the achievements of South African Jewry, which this Fund first brought into the front ranks of the world's Jewries. It was the President of the Board who presided at the meeting of delegates of institutions convened by the United Hebrew Polish Society—a constituent body of the Board—and held on January 27th, 1915. At the request of the War Fund Committee, the Board agreed that the Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary of the Board shall be the Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary of the Fund. As a matter of fact, the then President of the Board (Mr. Bernard Alexander) remained Chairman of the Fund until some two years prior to its closing down, whilst the Board's Secretary occupied the same position in the Fund from its inception till its conclusion.

Mr. I. M. Goodman was elected Hon. Treasurer in February, 1915, in place of Mr. D. Starfield, and held office till October, 1917, when he resigned and was succeeded by Mr. Max Langermann.

Apart from the adoption of a new constitution, the third congress was chiefly notable for the protest against the registration of aliens clause in the Public Welfare Act then before Parliament. Mr. M. Kentridge, who moved the resolution of protest, pointed out that 85 per cent. of the aliens referred to in the Bill were Jews, and the clause was calculated to violate the self-respect of Jews. Every alien would have to carry a passport just like the native with his pass, and every Jew would strongly resent that, pointed out Dr. Manfred Nathan. An amendment by Mr. B. S. Hersch was eventually adopted, protesting against this introduction of a registration system for all aliens, as it would be a violation of the rights of a large number of Jews in South Africa and would lower the status of the Jews in this country. Congress immediately telegraphed the resolution to the Prime Minister, the Speaker, and to the Jewish Members of Parliament. The objectionable clause was ultimately deleted from the Bill. Congress elected the following Executive Committee: President, Mr. Bernard Alexander; Vice-President, Mr. Max Langermann; Hon. Treasurer, Mr. A. Sprinz; Executive, Messrs. S. Raphaely, A. M. Abrahams, J. Kark, Dr. H. Goodman, S. Shapiro and J. Ratzker. Cape Town Committee: Mr. Morris Alexander, M.L.A., Rabbi Ch. Mirvish and Rev. A. P. Bender. The last-named gentleman declined to accept the office.

After the War.

In the report to the 1921 Congress by the Executive Committee, the fact was deplored that the signing of the Peace Treaty did not bring about those blessings of peace that were looked forward to at the previous Congress. In common with the rest of the world, the Jewish community in South Africa was experiencing a severe economic depression, which rendered it more difficult than usual for the communal institutions to make both ends meet. But infinitely worse than that was the tragic effect of one of the results of the war on the millions of our co-religionists in Eastern Europe. To the horrors inflicted upon them by the war succeeded the even worse horrors of innumerable pogroms that raged with sickening repetition throughout Poland, the Ukraine, and other parts of Eastern Europe.

It is therefore not surprising to be told that the Executive, as a result of the war and its after effects, was obliged to go beyond the strict letter of the Board's objects, as laid down in its Constitution, and was called upon to deal with matters that affected the welfare of Jews overseas in addition to concerning itself with the well-being of “the Jews in the southern portion of the continent of Africa." Thus the Board greatly widened its sphere of usefulness and activities and developed an international phase of activity in connection with the work of Jewish communities and such Jewish bodies overseas as had similar objects to those of the Board. To give one instance, hundreds of all kinds of cases, such as the tracing of missing relatives, the bringing together of husbands and wives, parents and children, were referred to, and successfully dealt with by the Board, by Jewish institutions in Russia, England, America, etc.

At the 1919 congress, a resolution protesting against the pogroms in Poland and Galicia was passed and forwarded to the Governor-General for transmission to the British Government. A sympathetic reply was received, and the British Government promised to use its influence against their repetition. Further outbreaks, however, occurred subsequently. In July, 1919, the Board proclaimed a Day of Mourning throughout South African Jewry, on which day memorial services for the pogrom victims were held in the synagogues throughout South Africa, and mass meetings were also held protesting against the pogroms. This Day of Mourning and Protest was solemnised throughout the country on Sunday, August 10th, and in Johannesburg, for unavoidable reasons, on the Sunday following. In Johannesburg all the congregations united and held the Memorial Service in the morning at the Park Synagogue, and the protest mass meeting in the Town Hall in the afternoon. A special session of Parliament was sitting in connection with the Peace Treaty, and copies of the resolution passed at this and other mass meetings held by Jewish communities in all parts of the country were sent to every Member of Parliament, with a request that they should see that the resolution was acted upon when the Union Parliament dealt with the Peace Treaty. Most sympathetic replies were received from the Prime Minister and members of the Government and the leaders of the other political parties, and General Smuts also conveyed to the Board the reply from the Imperial Government, promising that the Allies would give their most careful attention to the safeguarding of the lives and property of the Jewish inhabitants of Poland and Galicia, whilst, as regards Russia, the British High Commissioner to South Russia had been instructed to investigate and report on the question of the pogroms.

At the 1921 congress, held in the Selborne Hall, Johannesburg, on Sunday, July 31st, it was reported that there were 92 constituent bodies of the Board, including one from Rhodesia.

Jointly with the S.A. Zionist Federation, the Board held a reception at the Town Hall, Johannesburg, on November 3rd, 1919, in honour of General Smuts on his return from the Peace Conference. An address, in Hebrew and English, on behalf of the Jewish community of South Africa was presented to him in appreciation of the services he had rendered to the Jewish people. A similar address to General Botha, which it was intended to present to him at the same function, was subsequently handed to his widow by the Presidents of the Board and Federation, the Prime Minister having passed away shortly after his acceptance of the invitation to the function.

In 1920 and 1921 Jewish immigration began gradually to increase in quantity, and the Board published information and issued circulars both here and overseas regarding the procedure to be adopted with regard to immigration to South Africa, and was also in frequent communication with the Government with regard to smoothing away arbitrary difficulties, mostly created by overseas British consular officials, in connection with immigrants proceeding to relatives or friends in this country, and the 1921 congress report had occasion to record the Board's grateful appreciation of the consideration shown by the High Commissioner's office in London in this respect. At the same time, the number of cases of prohibited immigrants also began to increase, making it necessary that the Cape Town office should be reopened.

In November, 1920, Chief Rabbi Dr. J. H. Hertz arrived on the Witwatersrand in the course of his tour of the British Empire, and the Board, on behalf of the different congregations on the Rand, organised the numerous functions in connection with his stay here, culminating in an historic banquet at the Carlton Hotel, at which the then Prime Minister, General Smuts, and other distinguished guests were present.

Mr. M. Reuvid was elected to the Executive in 1920. In August, 1919, the late Rabbi M. Friedman was elected an ex officio member of the Executive in addition to Dr. J. L. Landau, who was thus elected at the 1919 congress. At the 1921 congress the following Executive Committee were elected President, Mr. Bernard Alexander (re-elected); Vice-President, Mr. S. Raphaely (re-elected); Hon. Treasurer, Mr. S. Hillman; Executive, Adv. P. Millin, Messrs. M. Kentridge, A. M. Abrahams, J. Ratzker, J. Alexander and H. Kroomer. Cape Town Committee: Adv. Morris Alexander, M.L.A., Rabbi Ch. Mirvish and Rev. A. P. Bender (the latter, however, again declined to accept office); ex officio, Chief Rabbi Dr. J. L. Landau and Rabbi M. Friedman.

The 1921 Congress.

The chief matter dealt with by the 1921 congress was the protest against the raising of the fees for naturalisation, the fee being raised from 2s. 6d. to £11 by a Government Regulation published in the Gazette after Parliament rose and shortly before this congress. The resolution of protest against this action of the Minister of the Interior was carried unanimously. A deputation subsequently interviewed the Minister, but he declined to withdraw the Regulation. It was then decided that the deputation interview the Prime Minister and that Jewish communities throughout South Africa be asked to hold meetings of protest against the Regulation in the event of General Smuts's reply being unsatisfactory. This deputation was received by the Prime Minister and Minister of the Interior, and as a result the fee was reduced to £5. The institutions were notified and advised that there was now no need of holding the protest meetings.

This congress also considered the introduction of a new system of membership fees to be paid by constituent bodies, namely, 2s. 6d. payable by congregations per annum for each of their members, and a shilling by other organisations, the minimum being five guineas per annum. This was to take the place of the membership fee of three guineas per annum per deputy and contributions to the Immigration Fund payable by constituent bodies. The Board's finances were stated to be in a critical position, the Immigration Fund did not work well, and this new system proposed the establishment of one fund to pay all the expenses of the Board. No decision was taken at the congress, but the Executive Committee were empowered to bring the new system in operation should it consider it necessary. The Executive subsequently decided that it was necessary, and the new system—the one now in force was brought into operation as from October 1st, 1922.

One of the most historic controversies with the Government that the Board has had was concerned with the Government's use of Section 4 (1) (a) of the Immigrants Regulation Act No. 22 of 1913, against European immigrants, and the solemn protest by the South African Jewish community against Jewish immigrants being dealt with under this section of the Act, which was originally intended to apply to Asiatics only. When this clause was debated in Parliament in 1913, the Government gave an under-taking that it would only be used against non-Europeans, but in April, 1922, contrary to that pledge, it was being utilised to prevent Jewish immigrants from entering the country. To that injustice was the added fact that immigrants restricted under this clause could not have recourse to the Appeal Boards. Apart from a continual correspondence with the Minister of the Interior and the Prime Minister, there were deputations to the Government, letters and telegrams to all the Members of Parliament, protest meetings by all the Jewish communities in South Africa, who individually forwarded their protests to their respective Members of Parliament and to the Government, questions in Parliament, distribution by the Board of extracts in Dutch and English from Hansard containing the debate on this clause in Parliament in 1913, when the then Minister of the Interior gave the solemn assurance above mentioned, resolutions of protest passed at the Board's congress held on August 5th and 6th, 1923, at Pretoria, at which they formed the chief subject of discussion.

A concession granted by the Minister shortly after the controversy began was that he agreed that the Appeal Boards should hear appeals of immigrants stopped under Section 4 (1) (a) and act in an advisory capacity to him with regard to them. In May. 1924, the Government agreed to withdraw for a period of six months the application of Section 4 (1) (a) to European immigrants—a course of action that had been previously suggested to the Government by the Board. After the general election the new Minister of the Interior assured the Board that he would not use this section against Europeans. Thus ended this historic controversy.

The Cape Town immigration office of the Board was re-opened on June 1st, 1923, with Mr. P. Jochelson in charge. In June, 1924, the office was taken over by Mr. J. Carasov, the Board's present immigration official.

Ever since June, 1922, Mr. J. Rothstein has been acting in an honorary capacity as the Board's immigration official at the Port of Natal.

Anti-Semites in South Africa and elsewhere did their utmost in trying to utilise the March, 1922, revolt to do harm to South African Jewry. Allegations were made in the Press and elsewhere that Russian Jews were largely responsible for the outbreak on the Rand. After representations made to the Prime Minister and the Minister of Defence, it was noticeable that the attacks on Jews in the Press practically ceased. During the debate in Parliament on the Indemnity Bill, General Smuts referred to South African Jewry in highly appreciative terms, and Mr. Morris Alexander, on the same occasion, dealt in a masterly manner with the false charges made against Jews in connection with these disturbances. The above charges against Russian Jews were repeated in the London "Times," and cables passed between the London Board of Deputies and this Board, as the result of which a statement refuting them was published in the London Press, above the signature of Lord Rothschild, as the chairman of the Joint Press Committee of the London Board.

The Fifth Congress, 1923.

At the Pretoria Congress (the fifth) above mentioned, Mr. S. Raphaely, the acting President, presided in the absence overseas of Mr. B. Alexander. The following Executive Committee were elected: President, Mr. Bernard Alexander; Vice-President, Mr. S. Raphaely; Hon. Treasurer, Mr. J. Alexander; Messrs. A. M. Abrahams, B. S. Hersch, J. Ratzker, H. Kroomer, Adv. P. Millin and D. Getz. Cape Town Committee: Mr. Morris Alexander, K.C., M.L.A. (chairman), Rabbi Ch. Mirvish and Mr. Isaac Ochberg. This congress passed a resolution placing on “record its thanks to, and appreciation of, Mr. Percy Cowen for the excellent work he has done for South African Jewry in his capacity as Secretary of the S.A. Jewish Board of Deputies."

It is significant that in submitting its report to the 1925 congress, held in Durban on August 2nd and 3rd, the Executive Committee, dealing with its two years' strenuous period of office, considered it necessary, after all the years that the Board had already existed, to make the following important statement: "Your Executive has always striven to maintain the cardinal principle on which not only the success of its work but the very existence of this organisation depends. This was well and concisely put by your President at a special meeting of the deputies held on September 30th, 1923. In closing that meeting the President said, ‘There is only one body that speaks in the name of the Jews of South Africa and that is the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, and not any individual, no matter who he is’. The minutes of the Board's proceedings in the last two years bear evidence that there have been occasions—fortunately not frequent—in the period under review when necessity arose for emphasising this cardinal principle, invariably with good effect."

Special strenuous efforts were made in those two years to get constituent bodies to pay their membership fees, so much so that practically for all that time deputies of constituent bodies in arrears with their payments were requested not to attend meetings of the Board until their arrears were paid. It was pointed out by the Executive that the membership roll of the Board was sufficiently strong to enable it to pay its way if only the constituent bodies paid their subscriptions as provided for in the Constitution. This fact is equally true to-day, which makes it all the more regrettable that there are constituent bodies in arrears with their fees, as that must tend to hamper the Board in the work it is striving to do for South African Jewry. At the time of the 1925 congress there were 116 constituent bodies of the Board.

In January, 1924. the Class Areas Bill was considered by the Board. This Bill set out "to make provisions for the reservation of residential and trading areas in urban areas for persons other than natives having racial characteristics in common," and as the Jewish community was a class of persons having racial characteristics in common, on a plain interpretation of the Bill the Jewish population in any urban area would be compelled to trade and live in segregated districts within such area. The Board protested to the Government and sent copies of protest to the Jewish Members of Parliament, the latter of whom assisted the Board by taking joint action in the matter. although they belonged to different political parties. As a result of the Board's action the Bill was amended, excluding Europeans from the provisions of that measure.

Ever since February, 1924, short resumés of the proceedings are sent to the Jewish and general Press immediately after every meeting of the Deputies.

Beginning with the 1925 congress, it has been the custom of the Board to invite the Jewish Members of Parliament and of the Provincial Councils to the Congress.

Adv. P. Millin resigned from the Executive in September, 1923, and Adv. N. E. Rosenberg was elected to fill the vacancy. Mr. A. M. Abrahams resigned in February, 1924, and Mr. J. Distiller was elected in his place. The following Executive Committee was elected at the 1925 congress: President, Mr. Bernard Alexander; Vice-President, Mr. S. Raphaely; Hon. Treasurer, Mr. J. Alexander, M.A.; Committee, Messrs. B. S. Hersch, D. Getz, J. Ratzker, J. Distiller, Adv. N. E. Rosenberg and Dr. Charles Spiro. The Cape Town Committee were re-elected.

With reference to the reduction of the naturalisation fee above mentioned, the Board, not satisfied with the reduction to £5, continued to make representations to the Government, with the result that in January, 1925, the fee was reduced to £2 10s., which it is now. The Board's continued effort for a further reduction, the goal aimed at being a reversion to the original fee of 2s. 6d., has so far proved futile, the Minister maintaining the services rendered by the authorities justify the fee. (At the time of going to press, it seems probable that the fee will be reduced to £1 as a result of further representations.—EDITOR, S.A.J.Y.Β.)

At the same time that the Board obtained this further reduction, it made representations to the Government on the question of reciprocity, that is to say, that a naturalised British subject in South Africa should be recognised as such in Great Britain, and vice versa, which was then not the case, people naturalised in this country being regarded as aliens when in England. The Minister advised the Board that its representations were being considered by the Government, and that a legislative measure to bring that about was under consideration for introduction in the following Parliamentary session. The draft Bill was published shortly after, and this met the wishes of the Board as far as reciprocity was concerned. But there were serious objections to other parts of the Bill, such as giving the right to the Minister to cancel a Naturalisation Certificate already granted.

The Executive held a large number of special meetings on the subject, and with Mr. Morris Alexander went exhaustively into the matter and drew up a number of amendments that were submitted to the Minister. The Bill was not proceeded with that year, and the following year (1926) a new Bill was introduced which was free from the serious objections the Board had raised against the previous measure and was placed that year on the Statute Book. This recognises a person naturalised in South Africa as also a British subject in Great Britain and other parts of the British Empire. From the sixth to the seventh congress—from 1925 to 1927—the Board had a very strenuous time, both with regard to anti-Jewish agitation from without, as well as to important movements and happenings within the community that manifested themselves in that period.

Educational Matters.

Matters of education, secular and Hebrew, claimed more of the Board's attention in that period than usually. Deputations met the Transvaal Director of Education and the Administrator regarding difficulties experienced for some inexplicable reason by Jewish children in obtaining admission into certain Government schools in Johannesburg—a matter that is still occupying the attention of the Board, whose aim it is that the registers of the applications for admissions and of the admissions should be available to those interested, as that would be the most conclusive evidence as to whether Jewish children were really being differentiated against as far as certain schools were concerned. The attendance of Jewish children during the recital of Christian prayers, insulting remarks about Jews made in class teaching by teachers, Jewish teachers in the Free State and other parts being differentiated against with regard to their employment solely because of their being Jews, and Jewish representation on the school boards—each of these formed the subject of representations made to the authorities at one time or another during this same period.

The Board took an active part in promoting the welfare of Hebrew education. Together with the Zionist Federation it sponsored the South African Hebrew Education Conference held in Bloemfontein in 1928, which established a South African Board of Jewish Education that is doing good work; and the Board's President, Mr. S. Raphaely, took an active part in the formation of the United Talmud Torah Schools of Johannesburg, presiding at the successful mass meeting held at the Selborne Hall on February 13th, 1927, at which the amalgamation was unanimously decided upon.

In the latter part of 1925 and the first half of the following year, anti-Semitic manifestations were very much to the fore. There was the League of Gentiles campaign, to which the Board never attached very much importance and would have noticed even less were it not for the sensational publicity given to it in the Press.

More serious, however, was the huge Press campaign against Jewish immigration, led by the chief newspapers in the country, in which Jews were actually accused of being a danger to the community! So violent and virulent did this campaign become that in April, 1926, a deputation from the Board interviewed the Minister of Justice (Mr. Tielman Roos) and pointed out that this sort of thing constituted a danger to the preservation of public peace and order. A period of comparative quiet followed.

From the beginning of 1927, an epistolary controversy has been taking place between the board and the Union Government arising from a resolution of protest against the anti-Jewish atrocities in Roumania, passed by the Board in February, 1927, in which the Government were urged to make representations to the League of Nations with a view to bringing pressure to bear upon the Roumanian Government to put a stop to the excesses. The Government maintains that it has no locus standi in the matter, whereas the Board contends that as a signatory to the Minorities Treaty with Roumania and as a member of the League of Nations the Union Government can do—and has every right to do—what the Board asks of it. The Board's attitude is based on the opinion of the Joint Foreign Committee of the English Board of Deputies, of which that expert and world-renowned authority in these matters—Mr. Lucien Wolf—is the secretary. At the time of the last congress there were 125 constituent bodies, and at the time of writing there are 132, so that from this article it will be seen that the Board has made steady and continued progress in the number of its membership since its inception onwards, keeping pace with the progress made in the number of the institutions and in the size of the South African Jewish community.

There were many changes in the personnel of the Executive reported to the last congress. In March, 1927, Mr. Bernard Alexander, after a fourteen months' absence overseas, resigned the Presidency of the Board, which he had occupied since the 1919 congress. Mr. J. Alexander, the Hon. Treasurer, resigned from the Board in February, 1926, as did also Mr. J. Ratzker and Adv. N. E. Rosenberg. Mr. B. S. Hersch resigned in March, 1926, and Mr. D. Getz in February, 1927. In March, 1926, Mr. M. I. Isaacson was elected Hon. Treasurer in place of Mr. J. Alexander, and Messrs. M. J. Shindler and G. A. Friendly in place of Messrs. Ratzker and Rosenberg, whilst the following month Adv. Morris de Saxe was elected to take the place of Mr. Hersch. In February, 1927, Mr. Isaacson resigned, and Mr. Harry Carter, M.P.C., was elected Hon. Treasurer in his place; and Mr. L. Snider was elected to fill the vacancy caused by Mr. Getz's retirement.

The 1927 Congress.

The following Executive Committee were elected at the last (1927) congress held at the Johannesburg Jewish Guild on Sunday, July 31st and Monday, August 1st, which was presided over by Mr. S. Raphaely, the President: President, Mr. S. Raphaely; Vice-President, Dr. Charles Spiro; Hon. Treasurer, Mr. Harry Carter, M.P.C.; Messrs. G. A. Friendly, H. Lourie, Adv. M. de Saxe, L. Snider, I. Broude, B. Moss Morris. The Cape Town Committee were re-elected en bloc. These gentlemen all hold office at the present day.

Prior to the last congress a sub-committee was appointed to co-operate with the Witwatersrand Central Juvenile Affairs Board in an advisory capacity in order to assist in the placing of Jewish youths with Jewish employers. This was the outcome of a statement by the secretary to that Board—subsequently verified as quite correct—published in the Press, that Jewish employers usually apply to that Board for non-Jewish boys, and that it was almost impossible to place Jewish lads with Jewish employers. At the last congress, a resolution was carried that a special committee be convened to bring about the establishment of an Employment Bureau for Jewish boys and girls. In conjunction with Dr. Leon Bramson, who was present at congress, where he delivered an address on the Jewish position in Eastern Europe, a number of meetings were held under the chairmanship of Mr. S. Raphaely, the Board's President, for the purpose of establishing an Employment Bureau, which was eventually brought into existence under the name of the General Information Bureau of the S.A. Jewish Board of Deputies, and began its activities in February, 1928, with Mr. S. B. Friede as chairman and Mr. A. Ovedoff as secretary. In the short period of its existence the Bureau has done excellent work in placing over five hundred applicants in positions and, in addition, is at the present time engaged in important preparatory work for the ultimate carrying out of a scheme of Jewish land settlement in South Africa, which is already assured of prominent and popular support from all sections of the community.

Almost every congress has had on its agenda resolutions urging the Board to compile Jewish statistics, establish a Statistical Bureau, etc., as among other things it was felt that the publication of such statistics would be the best answer to anti-Semitic attacks in this country. The Executive's report presented to the last congress welcomed the then recent formation of a South African Jewish Historical Society in Johannesburg and the establishment in Cape Town of a committee for compiling the record of the early history of the Jews in the Cape, and assured both of the Board's whole-hearted support. At this congress, a resolution was unanimously carried to support the Historical Society and its programme of (a) collecting South African Jewish records, (b) establishing a Jewish Statistical Bureau, and (c) the publication in co-operation with the Board of Deputies of a South African Jewish Year Book and official Communal Directory. This volume is proof of the success of this undertaking.

A department of the Board's work that is little known to the general public is that which concerns itself with all kinds of private investigation cases received from all manner of Jewish organisations and individuals in different parts of the world. And many are the human dramas, tragedies, aye and even comedies, that could be told in connection with these cases that come to the Board's office by almost every overseas mail. In referring to this important work, one cannot refrain from mentioning the excellent and successful assistance in this connection given gratuitously in recent years by Mr. J. Kaufman, whose whole-hearted co-operation with the writer therein is greatly appreciated.