I have just returned from an exhilarating few days in Jerusalem the 37th World Zionist Congress. Since Theodore Herzl convened the first Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland on March 29, 1897, the gathering of world Jewry has been the forum to move forward the Zionist enterprise, the national liberation of the Jewish people. While the […]
21 Cheshvan 5776 3 November 2015 The 2015 Annual Desmond Tutu Peace Lecture held at St Joseph’s Church hall in Durban on the evening of Thursday, 29 October featured Rabbi Hillel Avidan, Cardinal Wilfred Napier and Sheik Saleem Banda addressing two Vatican statements, “Nostra Aetate” (from Pope Paul VI in October 1965) and “Laudato Si” […]
Muslim scholar talks on progressive Islam The South African Centre for Religious Equality and Diversity (SACRED) recently hosted Professor Taj Hargey (pictured at left), a distinguished Oxford-based academic on Islam and the Middle East, at Bet David in Johannesburg, with a lecture on “Progressive Islam: Tolerant or Intolerant?” by OWN CORRESPONDENT | Jul 07, 2015 […]
In his immediate response to this court decision their president, Barack Obama, proudly declared to the world, “This ruling is a victory for America. This decision affirms what millions of Americans already believe in their hearts…when all Americans are treated as equal, we are all more free.” We wholeheartedly agree and as a worldwide movement […]
On May 27, Beit Emanuel Progressive Synagogue in Johannesburg hosted a talk by the South African Centre for Religious Equality and Diversity (SACRED) entitled ‘SACRED geometry’. This was the first event held under SACRED’s new Chair, Rabbi Julia Margolis, and was very well attended. SACRED Geometry was the first in a series of monthly ‘Evenings […]
The South African Association of Progressive Rabbis (SAAPR) has reacted with dismay to the alleged arson attack on the Church of the Multiplication of the Loaves and Fishes (attached to the Benedictine Monastery Tabgha) at the Sea of Galilee, Israel. The monastery has been the target of repeated attacks by radical religious Israelis in recent […]
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 […]