In 1972, a group of four prominent American rabbis based in Israel identified the growing phenomenon of secular American Jews who were visiting the Jewish State with the desire to discover more about their religious heritage. Hoping to cater to this population, they established a Yeshiva in Jerusalem specifically tailored for Baaley Teshuva. Ranging from
quickly.” In contradistinction today’s Baal Teshuva, the world over, especially those who became observant through the popular Aish Hatorah organization, may call themselves Haredi and dress the part but many lead a very modern and fairly materialistic lifestyle. See for example: rabbi Moshe Lichtenstein, “Rethinking Contemporary Modern Orthodoxy” (audio presentation),Yeshiva University, New York, 9 January, 2011, https://www.yutorah.org/sidebar/lecture.cfm/755064/rabbi-mosheh-lichtenstein/rethinking-contemporary- modern-orthodoxy/ accessed on 12 December 2021,.
3 Indeed, pockets of Johannesburg Jewry may be found in London, Manchester, Telz-Stone, and Har Nof, to name a few.
4 See Tatz, interview, where Tatz made anecdotal reference to his nephews, who feel equally comfortable attending Bnei Akiva, as they do Ohr Somayach communities. But see also Salzer, interview, where the current rabbi of Adath Yeshurun bemoans the fact that the various congregations have not set up “parameters,” which would make it more difficult to wander between communities.
5 This phenomenon will be discussed in more detail in the next chapter.
6 See Ziskind, interview. These sentiments were also expressed in private conversations with other former members of the Kollel.
7 See Tatz, interview with author, where Tatz insinuated that the undemanding mentality of the average South African Jew, while promoting unity and acceptance, has come at the cost of religious and scholastic excellence.
8 Larry Shain, interview conducted by author, (Bet Shemesh, Israel, February, 2017). Shain felt the Kollel faculty were too intense for the average South African.
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their early to late thirties, all four had been trained in reputable, non-Hassidic Ultra-Orthodox yeshivas in the United States and Israel, with some hailing from rabbinic dynasties. They recognized the instruction level they would provide would have to be lower than that
provided to those born religious. At the same time, they believed the returnees should receive a solid Torah education with a heavy emphasis on Talmud study.9 Their ultimate aim was to prepare the students so they could enter the premier ultra-Orthodox Yeshivas. Originally they called their institution Shema Yisrael [Hear O Israel], but later changed its name to Ohr Somayach [lit.: The Joyous Light], after receiving criticism for appropriating a sacred
phrase.10 Though not the only or even first institution of its kind, its reputation for providing the uninitiated with a thorough immersion in the Talmud spread far and wide.11
Students in Johannesburg who encountered the Kollel at its Monday night shiurim or on campus and who wished to study further were often advised by Rabbi Shakovitzky to go to Israel and study at Ohr Somayach.12 Upon taking leave of the Kollel community in 1977, Shakovitzky announced that he would be assuming an educational role at Ohr Somayach.13 That same year, Ohr Somayach decided to set up its first branch outside of Jerusalem in Yonkers, New York.14 The success of this venture encouraged Ohr Somayach to develop an international section which would establish branches across the world. In 1980,
notwithstanding the establishment’s wariness of the innovator movements, the South African Zionist Federation, looking for new avenues to inspire love of Israel invited Ohr Somayach representatives to present its Jerusalem Echoes seminar to King David high school students.15
9 Nota Schiller, “Teaching The Men: Studying Gemora-The Means and the Ends of the Teshuva Process,”
Jewish Observer, June, 1980:13.
10 See https://ohr.edu/ohr_somayach/did_you_know_that/713 accessed on 12 December 2021. See also Dana Evan Kaplan, Contemporary American Judaism – Transformation and Renewal, New York: Columbia University Press, 2009, 295. The original name Shema Yisrael [Hear O Israel] are words taken from a Biblical passage (Deuteronomy 6:4) that have been part of the daily liturgy for thousands of years. They express absolute faith in G-d and have long been associated with acts of martyrdom, etc. The name Ohr Somayach [Joyous Light], is taken from the title of a fairly well know commentary on Maimonides, written by Rabbi Simcha Meir of Dvinsk, whose commentary was favoured by the founders of the institution. Since Dvinsk died childless, the founders thought it would honour his memory if students of the yeshiva became Dvinsk’s adopted disciples (see Shlomo Simon,
“History of Ohr Somayach & The Kiruv Movement,” (video presentation), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kpm4clEyvZI, accessed on 12 December 2021) . It was probably also chosen to broadcast a message of joy in religious life.
11 See Yechiel Sever, “News: Harav Mendel Weinbach Zt” l”, Deiah Vedibbur, 13 December, 2012, http://chareidi.org/archives5773/mikeitz/arweinbachmkz73.htm, accessed on 12 December 2021.
12 See Hassan, interview. In fact, many of the South Africans who would later establish a local branch of Ohr Somayach only heard about the institution because of their direct or indirect connection with the Kollel (see Tatz, interview; see also Shain, interview). By 1987, it was reported that 500 South African had studied at Ohr Somayach in Jerusalem, (see “Dynamic new leaders head new venture”, Herald Times, 27 March 1987).
13 See “Rosh Ha-Kollel on Aliyah,” Zionist Record, 3 October 1977.
14 See note 1 above.
15 See https://ohr.edu/ohr_somayach/worldwide_branches/south_africa/1051, accessed on 12 December 2021.
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A year later, in 1981, Rabbi Chaim Budlender, the Durban-born former Kollel fellow who was then head of the intermediate program at Ohr Somayach, was invited by SAUJS to lead a group of young adult professionals at a weekend seminar.16 The fact that it attracted over 100 attendants, who grappled with the issue of “Discovering Judaism,” could only have pleased the main branch in Jerusalem.17 It probably also motivated the latter to expedite its plans to establish an independent branch in Johannesburg.
Before establishing a branch in any country, Ohr Somayach International sent a shaliach to introduce that country to its various programs and to recruit students for the Ohr Somayach Yeshiva in Jerusalem. To that end, in the early 1980s, the organization despatched Florida-native Rabbi Avraham Union as their shaliach.18 After spending a short time in Johannesburg, he left to Cape Town where he was appointed rabbi of the Constantia Hebrew Congregation. At this point, Ohr Somayach approached South African-born Jeremy
Abramov, one of its prominent teachers, to devise a plan to establish a permanent branch in Johannesburg. Abramov had left South Africa for Israel in the mid-1960s where he attended prominent secondary and tertiary level Yeshivas before returning to South Africa for a few years in the mid-1970s. It was then that he served as youth director at the Oxford Synagogue while studying part time at the Kollel.
Coming back to South Africa in 1984, he noticed the Kollel had ceased to attract crowds and that other smaller kiruv communities were similarly cultivating their own congregations. He realised there was a potential to reignite the wave of revival that had been witnessed in the 1970s, especially among the youth. To achieve this aim, he recruited five South African-born students who had been studying and were living in Israel; most had attended Ohr Somayach. He secured them part-time employment as youth directors across Johannesburg’s congregations. For their part, these synagogues were grateful to be hiring directors of such a high calibre, and so both parties benefitted from the relationship. This arrangement allowed these young men to use their mornings to study at the Kollel, leaving their afternoons to concentrate on educational work at their respective communities.
Abramov and his recruits also opened an Ohr Somayach office at the premises of the Pedagogic Centre in Johannesburg.19 It was there that they ran their various educational
16, “100 students at seminar,” Zionist Record, 7 August 1981.
17 Ibid
18 “Dynamic new leaders head new venture.”
19 See Reporter, “A New Magazine”, SAJT, 25 April, 1986. For more information of this Pedagogic Centre, see previous chapter.
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activities and established their presence as a key actor among the innovator movements. This choice of venue is intriguing, especially since it was closely associated with Chief Rabbi Casper. As shall be noted below, from its beginnings Ohr Somayach enjoyed a warm relationship with the then Chief Rabbi, as well as with his successors. Unlike the other innovator movements, it succeeded in sustaining this relationship.
After living in Johannesburg with his family for eleven months, a satisfied Abramov decided to return to Israel. He had been busy after setting up many educational ventures including shiurim for businessmen that also served as fundraisers for Ohr Somayach’s activities.20 He handed the reins to his two most outstanding protégés, Rabbis Shmuel (Stanley) Moffson and Larry Shain, who were then working at Sydenham and Cyrildene synagogues, respectively. Moffson, who came from a Sabbath-observant home, matriculated from King David Victory Park where he served as a prefect. After completing school, he went to Israel where he studied at various Yeshivas and was ordained as a rabbi. Though never a student at Ohr Somayach Jerusalem, he would often visit that institution during the holidays and established a warm association with the senior staff. Upon his return to South Africa, he established himself as a very popular youth director.21 He was careful to nurture the relationships he had established which gained him a reputation as warm and sincere. His co-leader, Larry Shain, was raised in a non-observant home. After matriculating, he spent a year in the United States and then moved to Israel where he enrolled at Ohr Somayach and continued to study for a number of years before becoming a rabbi.22 Originally interested in pursuing a career involving kiruv and education, he became adept at managing the nascent movement and it was he who assumed the organization’s financial responsibilities. From 1985 to 1986, while still employed at their various communities, these two rabbis were active in arranging lecture series, bringing out international guests who drew crowds of over 500 attendants, arranging study tours to Israel, and publishing a popular magazine.23 Gradually, Ohr Somayach was establishing itself as an important player on the Orthodox scene.
20 See Abramov, interview. The businessman’s shiur was initiated by the Kollel as mentioned in the previous chapter, and like in that case the businessman’s association with this budding independent group presumably gave them a sense that they were responsible for building something new and exciting.
21 See “New Director,” SAJT 9 August 1985. See also Rabbi Shmuel Moffson, interview by author, May 2017, Johannesburg.
22 See Shain, interview.
23 For its lecture series see “Education Launch,” SAJT, 14 June, 1985; “Ohr Somayach Educational Activities,”
Jewish Herald, 16 July, 1985; For overseas guest speakers, see for example, “Ohr Somayach’s Rabbi Dr. Gottlieb Mesmerizes,” SAJT 6 June, 1986. Since Gottlieb was a permanent member of staff at Ohr Somayach Jerusalem, he came to Johannesburg as part of his teaching duties and only received travel and accommodation expenses (see Shain, interview); For Israel tours, see “Chief Rabbi meets Ohr Somayach tour members,” SAJT, 6 December,
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