Cape Jewish Chronicle

It felt like an early Rosh Hashanah for a group of Cape Town women – and two men – when they dipped apple in honey during a Women’s Day event in Franschhoek. Organised by Mensch, the event showcased an exciting JDC beekeeping project and included a honey and wine pairing – hence the early Rosh Hashanah celebration.

JESSICA CARROL For the first time since 2023, more than 600 Jewish teenagers representing all 32 Diller Teen Fellows communities from across the globe gathered in Israel for the International Summer Seminar (ISS), a three-week journey of learning, connection, leadership and discovery. Among them was the Cape Town Diller cohort, who experienced Israel through a rich and diverse programme designed to deepen their understanding of the countryโ€™s people, culture and history.

Recommended by Matthew Berman, a World War II history enthusiast British Jewish writer and comedian David Baddiel has explored Jewish identity extensively in his work. His best-known book, Jews Don’t Count, was later adapted into a television documentary. In this entertaining episode of the WW2 Pod: We Have Ways of Making You Talk series, Baddiel shares his family’s experiences during World War II.

By JEANINE HACK In 1909 my great-grandparents, Emil and Martha Galliner, opened Kaufhaus Galliner, a department store in Finsterwalde, Germany. Twenty-five years later, in 1934, they marked the milestone by presenting commemorative ashtrays to valued customers. No one could have imagined that one of those small glass ashtrays would survive the Nazi era and, 92 years later, find its way back into the hands of their descendants in Cape Town.

By EDITOR For more than two decades, Associate Professor Simone Honikman has dedicated her career to helping women and their families navigate the mental health challenges that can accompany pregnancy and early motherhood. As Founder and Director of the Perinatal Mental Health Project (PMHP), she has worked to improve the lives of thousands of women in South Africa while helping to shape maternal mental healthcare across the African continent.

The month of August in the South African calendar provides an encouragement for us to turn our attention to the position of women in our country. While the 9th of August was chosen as the date for a public holiday – in commemoration of the 1956 women’s march against the pass laws that regulated the lives of women of colour in apartheid South Africa – there is a great deal more that deserves attention in terms of the place of women in our country.

By EDITOR In an era when artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming the creative industries, one of advertising’s most prestigious awards has gone to a commercial that achieved its remarkable visual effects the old-fashioned way – through human ingenuity, craftsmanship and meticulous filmmaking.

By KAREN MILLER Hard questions are what occupy much of Rebecca Gore’s search for solutions to humanity’s pressing predicaments. They are questions about prisons and rehabilitation, about women whose lives have been shaped by violence and poverty, and about what happens when societies stop seeing the humanity of the people on the margins.

By KAREN MILLER If there is such a thing as a ‘Book Person’, then Paige Nick may well be the gold standard. Novelist, columnist, book influencer, festival curator, radio reviewer, public speaker and founder of one of South Africa’s most active online book clubs, she has spent much of her life encouraging people to read, talk about books and, above all, enjoy them.

By KAREN MILLER Valerie (Val) Mizrahi is busier than ever, even though she was required by university regulations to retire at 65. She is now Professor Emerita at UCT; a Senior Scholar at the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Molecular Medicine, the major postgraduate research institute she once led at UCT; and remains deeply involved in research development, both here and internationally.