When we attend shul, we greet many people and wish them Shabbat Shalom and Good Yom Tov. The faces are familiar, but how well do we know our fellow congregants? Our members come from many different backgrounds and everyone has a story to tell. Each week, we would like to profile a different member of our community in our weekly newsletter.

Please complete the below questionnaire and email it back to John: temple_johne@hotmail.com in word format. In addition, please send in a photo too!

To obtain a copy of the questionnaire, please click here.


THIS WEEK, WE SAY SHALOM TO COLIN TOW!

My Family Background
Both my parents were born in Lithuania. In 1936 my Father fled from Europe to Livingstone, Northern Rhodesia, where he had an uncle. My mother endured the Holocaust. She was in the Kaunus ghetto, Stutthof Extermination Camp, and then a displaced persons camp in Munich before arriving in Israel in 1947. She served in the Israel Defence Force during the War of Independence. She met my father and migrated to Livingstone in 1951. Together they moved to Kitwe in 1956.

My Childhood Memories
The education system in colonial Northern Rhodesia collapsed when independence was granted in 1964. At that time, most Jewish scholars were sent to boarding schools in Southern Rhodesia or South Africa. My parents prioritised Jewish education, and decided to send my brother and I to the boarding hostel at King David School in Linksfield, Johannesburg. My late father insisted that my brother, who was entering high school, go to boarding school immediately. However, I was only nine and still in primary school. I was given the choice whether I wanted to go to boarding school with my brother, or wait until I commenced high school two years later. When I asked my parents how we would get to Johannesburg, I was told 'by plane'. I had never been on a plane before, and it was the excitement of flying in a plane that made me decide to go to boarding school as soon as possible!

When I was young, I was on the wild side. My parents spoke Yiddish at home and would say 'er is a vilde chaya!'. I was not interested in school, played the drums in a band, had long hair, rode a motorbike without a licence, and smoked a lot - including cigarettes! However, I desperately wanted to go to university because nobody in my family had done this before. At around 17 years old, I cleaned up my act and began to take my studies seriously.

My Jewish Journey
We belonged to a very active Jewish community in Kitwe. There were approximately 100 Jewish families out of a total population of 5 000. Our shul cantor also served as a cheder teacher and spiritual head. My late father was instrumental in building the shul, and I believe the foundation stone bearing his name is part of an exhibition on the Jews of Zambia, based in Livingstone. In 1967 my parents moved to Johannesburg. We were traditional rather than observant, and we joined the Linksfield Synagogue community. I gained a solid grounding in Judaism from my time at King David, however I became significantly more involved after my late father’s untimely passing in 1979, aged 56.

My immigration to Australia
My wife Bev also attended King David School and was brought up in a traditional South African Jewish home. Her mother, Gloria, came from Southern Rhodesia. We met through a relative of mine we both knew. Having seen what happened in Northern and Southern Rhodesia (now Zambia and Zimbabwe), we decided to leave Africa as soon as we started our family in 1985.

Australia had become a country of choice for migrants from South Africa in the mid 80s, especially for those of us in banking. The Hawke government had modernised the banking system, and there was a shortage of finance and accounting professionals so it was relatively easy to get permanent residence.

How I came to be part of Kehillat Kadimah
We joined South Head Synagogue because it resonated with us. It was similar in custom and orthodoxy to the shuls we had attended in Johannesburg. The shul was close to where we lived, and we knew many of the ex-South African migrants who had joined the kehillah.

Bev and I have been blessed with three children: Daniel, Antony and Jacqui. The boys are married and we have one 21 month old granddaughter. We are lucky to have them all living within four kilometres of us.

Below is a photo taken in January 1966. My brother Barney and I were standing in our garden in Kitwe, Zambia. We were about to leave for the airport to travel to boarding school in Johannesburg where we would commence our Jewish education.

MORNING SHIURIM
RABBI DOVY RAPOPORT
FRIDAY 26 JUNE AND SUNDAY 28 JUNE

The Friday shiur this week will discuss Tehillim. Sunday's shiur will be on next week's Parsha.

Friday: please join us through Zoom at 8.10am for 8.15am start.
Sunday: please join us through Zoom at 8.55am for 9am start.

Please click here to join the shiur.
Meeting ID: 861 2355 3420
Password: 209755

To join the Morning Shiur WhatsApp group, please click here.

MORNING MEN'S TALMUD SHIURIM
RABBI YEHOSHUA NIASOFF
MONDAYS AND WEDNESDAYS

These shiurim are a great opportunity to start learning Talmud. The shiurim will cover Tractate Sukkah.

Please join us through Zoom at 9.25am for 9.30am start.
Please click here to join the shiur.
Meeting ID: 846 3550 8861
Password: 026628