Desmond Sweke, Chairman of Bet David Sandton had a very constructive lunch meeting with Dr Hargey from the Open Mosque on 23 April. Desmond and his wife Ashley also attended Friday services in the Mosque on 24 April, and found that the egalitarian and other principles of the Open Mosque are remarkably similar to ours.
Last weekend, Bet David Progressive Jewish congregation in Sandton, Johannesburg joined thousands of Jewish communities around the world in celebrating Pesach, the festival of Freedom. Celebrations included Festival Services and a family Seder on the first night. More than 100 members and guests followed the invitation of Rabbi Schell and Rabbi Margolis to join the […]
Rabbi Shaked delivered a public lecture at St Augustine College of South Africa, one of the prominent catholic institutions of higher education. Looking at the ‘Paschal Lamb of God’ as a shared theological category, Rabbi discussed a number of parallels between Jewish Pesach and Christian Easter, and how the two traditions mutually influenced one another […]
On Sunday, 8 March 2015 our various Synagogues countrywide and Women of Progressive Judaism came together to exhibit under the auspices of the South African Union for Progressive Judaism at the recent South African for Zionist Federation Conference and Expo, which took place at the Sandton Convention Centre. There were multiple exhibitors, attendees and delegates […]
Parsha in this week’s Jewish Report: Rabbi Adrian M Schell: Parashat Vayakhel-Pekudei 5775 / 13-14.3.2015 Bet David Morningside With this Shabbat’s Torah reading, we end the series about the building of the Mishkan, the Tabernacle. In the last weeks, Jews all over the world have studied these instructions and have discussed the meaning of the […]
The unveiling of the Heritage Site Plaque awarded to Temple Israel took place on 22 November 2014. It was a truly auspicious occasion. They were honored by the presence of Rabbi Julia Margolis, with Rabbis Jacobs and Shaked coming after their own services. Steve Lurie, Honorary Life President SAUPJ, Giddy Lief, Chairperson WPJ, Steve Cohn past […]
Women in religious leadership came under the loupe in a panel discussion towards the end of last year at Hillbrow’s historical Women’s Jail, hosted by the SA Centre for Religious Equality and Diversity (SACRED). Community stalwart and deputy chairman of the SAZF Reeva Forman (pictured left), was MC. It featured Zaakirah Akram of Cape Town’s […]