Both E Fishmans..this ones for you!

Shavua Tov! So far my one of the most exciting souvenirs that I may be bringing back with me to America is rhythm. This past Tuesday in the African Dance class that I am attending for fun, both the old and new dances were especially difficult to master which made me feel rather dejected and incapable. The worst part was that the class is very social which is quite nice but then in my mind it creates this sense of superiority among the people who are functional members of this microcosm of the world (aka the class) and those who are inferior bottom feeders devoid of any rhythm and thus purpose (aka me.. yea I know I am being dramatic, but hey I was in a pay last semester). So the next day, me and the three friends who I am taking the class with, determined to work our way up the social ladder, devoted two and half hours to practicing and perfecting the dances. Sure enough, when we had class once again on Thursday, we were awesome (at least awesome enough to blend in with those who sit atop the class hierarchy) and for the first time I felt as though I felt the steps instead of counting them; we were all so happy afterwards, the accomplishment was even physically present in the soarness of our bodies. While being in this class is miles away from my comfort zone (or should I say meters? Uch Americacentrism.. down with the isolating system of measurement that is untranslatable in the rest of the world), I am really proud of myself for taking on (or at least trying to) a new skill, for entering a new world and allowing the uncomfortable to become comfortable.

So this past Shabbat was wonderful. I ended up going on Bnei Akiva shabbaton in this beautiful beach town with a small Jewish community called Camps Bay. It happens to be right on the beach and is one of the most expensive areas in all of Cape Town. About 30 middle-school/high school aged kids and a bunch of madrichim counselors)..oh and two random Americans, slept in this gorgeous school that is attached to the community shul. The school, which I think is the only elementary school for “frum” kids, has around 60 students from nursery school to 6^th grade. There are around six kids in each class and the school itself is beautiful and in the most amazing location (there is clear view of the ocean). Cape Town Jewry continues to simultaneously baffle, amaze and make me overcome with joy. I have no idea how this property fell into the hands of the Jews of Camps Bay, but it was really spectacular. The Shabbaton itself was quite fun. I felt rather old since the people in charge were my age which for some reason I found strange. Singing the official song of Bnei Akiva, Yad Achim (which I was surprisingly capable of after not having sung it in 7 years), roused memories of my brief time spent in the youth group. While it was at times overwhelming, it was nice to spend Shabbat amidst younger people taking the initiate to revive the community since most of the attempts I have come across thus far have been those of adults. The necessity to constantly inspire seems to be a present force in multiple generations of this unique community. It was beautiful.

On Friday night, both Rabbis of the shul discussed the tragic terrorist attack that took place at Mircaz Harav in Jerusalem on Thursday night. There heavy, emotional words forced me to think about the event much more than I had when I initially heard of the attack. For me, the painful emotions sparked by terrorist attacks that take place in Israel feel very personal because, as a Jew, I feel connected to the people, the history, the land and the home that it represents. When that connection is threatened by acts of hatred, I feel as though this place that acts as a home (temporary as well as permanent) for so many Jews does not seem as safe as a home should. But attacking a yeshiva with hate hits a deeper part of our hearts. Regardless of what you practice or believe, if you feel connected to the Torah in some way and allow it to govern your life in some sense, your way of life was attacked on Thursday night. And as one of the Rabbis said, the very thing that so many Jews perceive as their shield in the world, learning Torah, was the setting of this devastation, of this cruelty. There was something different about this one. There is a pain that travels below where previous ones have landed.

Thinking about this reminded me of an interesting challenge that was posed to me after my last post. So upon special request, I have decided to somehow clarify the connections that I previously hinted to that I have to Israel, South Africa and America. As it was brought to my attention, issues that I have constantly been discussing exist in South Africa are clearly present in the other two (though they clearly materialize in different ways and this is in no way a comparison but rather a collection of related ideas).

Keep in mind the rest of this post is one big I-statement….Specifically, the racial segregation that I constantly return to that exists in South Africa is also something that is present in the U.S.. The difference is that in America, while we all have access to different resources and opportunities, we are all a part of the same system, the same culture that cultivates similar goals of success and financial stability. In South Africa, different groups of people do not seem to all function within the same framework and do not seem to strive for all of the same goals. For more than four decades (and unofficially for centuries), the fate of people with skin that was not white was determined for them by an oppressive, manipulative regime that subtly and at times more conspicuously dismantled the humanity, the agency, of a disproportionate majority of the population of South Africa. The Nationalist government classified the way of life of Africans as primitive, unworthy of development and rights and forced them to abide by rules that they had no part on creating (though through the creation of Bantustans, small territories set aside for blacks, a false sense of power was allocated to African leaders who were used as pawns of the apartheid system). Black life (along with that of other minority groups) was dictated by whites and in many ways, in the second decade after the disassembling of apartheid, its remnants prove that this fate still manifests itself in the dangerous, under-accommodating, littered townships. This continuing reality has strongly obstructed the togetherness, the rich culture of these people forcing them to judge themselves against a people and a culture that they don’t seem to feel connected to but must strive to be a part of as a means to attain the desired resources and respect.

It does not seem to me that this institutionalized, internalized hierarchy is not as present in America. To me, it seems that economics tend to dictate ideology in the U.S., whereas here ideology dictates economics. While I am not weighing them against each other, I think there is something deeper that lies at the foundation of the problems in South Africa (which is understandable considering America has had centuries to continue its process if recovering from institutionalized hatred and South Africa has had less than 15 years.) Perhaps I have been desensitized to the racial issues that exist in America, but I think that… I hope that when I go back, this newfound awareness and interest will allow me to understand American racial relations in a new, more informed way.

At the same time as I say this, I am reading the writings of Steve Biko, the father of the Black Consciousness Movement (an ideology created by black youth in the late 60’s to empower blacks to determine their own fate instead of waiting for the whites to do it for them). Sidebar: Keep in mind as you read this that the UCT student union is named after Biko…right, so no offense to Carl and Ruth, but how do you compare the Shapiro Campus Center to that? His beliefs strongly cast aside people who are white as fighters of the struggle since their efforts often suppress those of people who are black who actually experience inequality first hand. In the sixties and seventies, many attempts were made in South Africa to form non-racial groups that were essentially run by whites who allowed blacks to join. As a result, black liberation was dependant upon whites in this framework and defined by their standards. Steve Biko believed that in order for black people to be liberated, they needed to release themselves of their own internal oppressions that conformed to these set standards. They needed to learn to take pride in the color of their skin and the connections to their black brothers and sisters as a result. He believed that the opposite of Apartheid, an oppressive, elitist, racist regime was not non-racialism but rather a profound solidarity and pride in black identity. As a result, the place of someone who was white in the struggle was to educate other white people about their own mistakes instead of trying to monopolize the mission of the struggle.

Amidst the inevitable white ignorance and guilt that will forever keep me at a distance from both the struggle of racial minorities in South Africa as well as America, I feel as though inequality has become the foundation upon which I build my connections to locations. While there are so many cultural differences, inequality and hierarchical institutions are unfortunately one of the forces that link different countries and societies of the world together. I think that I have learned this lesson on a personal level through being Jewish. As a Jew, our history is sodden with oppression, with terror and while I personally have led a privileged life in which I have undeservingly not had to experience any direct acts of this oppression and hatred, I feel as though I have developed a hyperawareness of those who have; because I will, as a Jew, forever be vulnerable. I suppose this is where the discussion of Israel is relevant. Politics aside, while this vulnerability at times challenges the safety one can feel in this homeland (as was the case on Thursday night), the remarkable atmosphere of profound connection that exists there demonstrates the importance of having a place where the controlled can be provided with a sense of control over their lives. Physical spaces where people feel validated for being what they are through connection to others like them are so necessary to developing the type of pride that the Black Consciousness Movement promoted. I guess I would call this way of thinking Human Consciousness. The tenets of this way of thinking would surround understanding the inequalities experienced by others through whatever personal experiences one may have with oppression, in whatever form.

In the end, I am aware that South Africa, America and Israel all have oppression entangled in their identities (a bunch of which I acknowledge I have not touched upon at all [especially in Israel]). The connection to some of these places may be more developed for different reasons, but ultimately I hope that I can feel links to different places and people through the shared right that we all have to live a safe existence that instills a sense of worth and equality.

So Emily and Ezra, let me know if this is a sufficient reply to your challenge. If any other of you 12 readers want to know anything specific let me know and I would be glad to address it.

Instead of South African Ulpan, I think I would prefer to take an excerpt from a recent assignment for my Liberation in Southern Africa class regarding key events in the period from 1960 – 1994 within the liberation struggle.

December 20, 1991 – After more than a year of planning, the Convention for a Democratic South Africa (CODESA) met for the first time at the World Trade Center in Johannesburg representing the beginning of negotiations between the Nationalist government, the African National Congress and various other parties. The objective of the convention was to hopefully address various societal inequalities and create change in the form of a new South Africa that would potentially grant equal rights and resources to all its inhabitants.

Cheers!