Bibliography: p. 230-244. / This study was conducted through systematic participant-observation from July 1994 to December 1996. Basic socio-demographic data were recorded and revealed considerable ·heterogeneity within the population. Formal and informal interviews, three focus group interviews and (selected) informants' diaries provided additional material. The study examines the construction of identity in diaspora and explores the relationships of individuals to places, groups and nation-states. Jews are shown to be the most salient local social category and language, cultural style and a sense of transience are shown to be the most significant boundary markers. The migrants' sharpest differentiation from local Jews is manifested in attitudes towards, and practice of, religion. Whether a partner is South African or Israeli was shown to be the single most important factor influencing patterns of interaction. Most studies treat Israelis abroad as immigrants while noting their insistence on transiency. Such studies also emphasize ambivalence and discomfort. In a South Africa still deeply divided by race and class, the migrants' status as middle-class whites greatly facilitates their integration. Their strong and self-confident identification as Israeli and their ongoing connectedness to Israeli society underlines distinctiveness. The combination of engagement with the local while maintaining distinctiveness, as well as past familiarity with multicultural and multilingual reality is utilized to negotiate the present, and results in a lived reality of 'comfortable contradiction' in the present. This condition accommodates multi-locality, multiple identifications and allegiances, and a simultaneous sense of both permanence and transience. The migrants' conflation of ethnic-religious and 'national' dimensions of identification (Jewishness and Israeliness), born in a particular societal context, leads, paradoxically, to distinguishing between membership of a nation and citizenship of a state. This distinction, it is argued, together with the migrants' middle-class status, further facilitates the comfortable contradiction of their transmigrant position. It is argued that while their instrumental engagement with diaspora and their understanding of responsible citizenship resembles past patterns of Jewish migration and adaptation, the absence of specifically Israeli (ethnic) communal structures suggests a departure from past patterns. The migrants' confidence in a sovereign independent nation-state and in their own identity, removes the sense of vulnerability that permeates most diaspora Jewish communities. These processes enable the migrants to live as 'normalized' Jews in a post-Zionist, post-modern, globalized world characterized by increasing electronic connectedness, mobility and hybridity. The ways in which the migrants in this study have negotiated and defined their place in the world suggests that a strong national identity is compatible with a cosmopolitan orientation to multicultural reality.

Family is widely expected to be the main source of support for Senior Citizens and, like many religions and cultures, the Jewish tradition has expectations of filial obligations of care. South Africa and its Jewish community have experienced increased emigration over the last decade resulting in many Senior Citizens remaining in South Africa after all their children have emigrated. A phenomenological methodology was used in this study, with the aim of gaining more understanding, firstly about what is experienced by Senior Citizens as beneficial and not beneficial in regards to support in general and secondly about the challenges of later stages of life from Senior Citizens&rsquo / perspective, especially without expected support of offspring. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight Jewish women, aged over 75, who find themselves in such a position. Their experiences are described in terms of social, practical, emotional and spiritual support as well as in terms of the contextual experiences that necessitate support. The overall experience was found to be one of managing aloneness and dealing with the loss of family and its accompanying sense of belonging. It includes constantly missing one&rsquo / s family, trying to keep in satisfyingly regular contact and trying to comprehend, justify and accept their emigration in terms of expected intergenerational roles. It demands adjusting to constant changes in supports and in one&rsquo / s independence and identity and finding the motivation to strive to remain alive and discover meaning in the painful situation. In the face of all this, there is also a discovery of previously unsuspected new strengths in being able to cope with these difficulties and an exciting new sense of liberation in catering only for oneself. A model of perceived Ideal Support was uncovered comprising a hierarchy of needs within such support, including / Consistency, Reliability, Role Fulfilment, Desire to Support, Respect, Dignity, Enabled Independence, Affection, Like-Mindedness and Belonging.

Family is widely expected to be the main source of support for Senior Citizens and, like many religions and cultures, the Jewish tradition has expectations of filial obligations of care. South Africa and its Jewish community have experienced increased emigration over the last decade resulting in many Senior Citizens remaining in South Africa after all their children have emigrated. A phenomenological methodology was used in this study, with the aim of gaining more understanding, firstly about what is experienced by Senior Citizens as beneficial and not beneficial in regards to support in general and secondly about the challenges of later stages of life from Senior Citizens&rsquo / perspective, especially without expected support of offspring. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight Jewish women, aged over 75, who find themselves in such a position. Their experiences are described in terms of social, practical, emotional and spiritual support as well as in terms of the contextual experiences that necessitate support. The overall experience was found to be one of managing aloneness and dealing with the loss of family and its accompanying sense of belonging. It includes constantly missing one&rsquo / s family, trying to keep in satisfyingly regular contact and trying to comprehend, justify and accept their emigration in terms of expected intergenerational roles. It demands adjusting to constant changes in supports and in one&rsquo / s independence and identity and finding the motivation to strive to remain alive and discover meaning in the painful situation. In the face of all this, there is also a discovery of previously unsuspected new strengths in being able to cope with these difficulties and an exciting new sense of liberation in catering only for oneself. A model of perceived Ideal Support was uncovered comprising a hierarchy of needs within such support, including / Consistency, Reliability, Role Fulfilment, Desire to Support, Respect, Dignity, Enabled Independence, Affection, Like-Mindedness and Belonging.

The pivot around which the controversy over the Board's political policy revolved was the question whether a collective Jewish attitude towards the government's racial policies should be formulated, or whether this was the province of individual Jewish protest. Stemming from this was the question of the extent of communal responsibility towards the individual who had fallen afoul with the law in expressing his protest. The complexity of formulating policy was exacerbated by the trauma of the 1930's and 1940's where the National Party and its leadership espoused a radical anti-Semitic ideology and a pro-Nazism policy. Added to this was the very real sympathy felt for the aspirations of survival of the Afrikaner People, conflated by a revulsion and antipathy towards the measures the nationalist Government took to attain this end. The solution hit upon by the Board was a policy of 'neutrality' in the political area. This dissertation is an attempt to highlight the problems with which the Board grappled and its central concerns in formulating policy vis-a-vis the political issues that were at the centre of the political life of South Africa. The study follows the evolvement of the policy of collective non-involvement from the 1950s and the gradual evolution it underwent in the 1970s and 1980s towards a commitment and a responsibility to openly and publicly speak out on the moral aspects of Apartheid. In view of the above, the thesis begins in 1930 with the promulgation of the Quota Act, which initiated the new antisemitic policies of the National Party, until 1978. The epilogue ends 1985 when the Board of Deputies abandoned its policy of neutrality towards the political arena, when the 33rd National congress of the Jewish Board of Deputies, passed a resolution condemning the Policy of Apartheid, thus adopting a collective stance towards the government's racial policies. Although this stance was in line with the views prevalent in the white community, it signalled a giant step in the Board of Deputies' drive to abandon its policy of accommodation towards the NP government and Nationalist forces. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.

Bibliography: pages 366-388. / Historians of South African Jewry have depicted antisemitism in the 1930s and early 1940s as essentially an alien phenomenon, a product of Nazi propaganda at a time of great social and economic trauma. This thesis argues that antisemitism was an important element in South African society long before 1930 and that the roots of anti-Jewish outbursts in the 1930s and early 1940s are to be found in a widely-shared negative stereotype of the Jew that had developed out of an ambivalent image dating back to the 1880s. By then two embryonic but nevertheless distinctive images of the Jew had evolved: the gentleman - characterised by sobriety, enterprise and loyalty - and the knave, characterised by dishonesty and cunning. The influx of eastern European 'Peruvians' in the 1890s and the emergence of the cosmopolitan financier at the turn of the century further contributed towards the evolution of an anti-Jewish stereotype. By 1914, favourable perceptions of the Jew, associated mainly with the acculturated Anglo-German pioneer Jews, had eroded substantially and the eastern European Jew by and large defined the essence and nature of 'Jewishness'. Even those who separated the acculturated and urbane Jew from the eastern European newcomer exaggerated Jewish power and influence. Herein lay the convergence between the philosemitic and the antisemitic view. War-time accusations of avoiding military service, followed by the association of Jews with Bolshevism, consolidated the anti-Jewish stereotype. In the context of the post-war economic depression and burgeoning black radicalism, the eastern European Jew emerged as the archetypical subversive. Thus the Rand Rebellion of 1922 could be construed as a Bolshevik revolt. As eugenist and nativist arguments penetrated South African discourse, eastern European immigrants were increasingly perceived as a threat to the 'Nordic' character of South African society as well as a challenge to the hegemony of the English mercantile establishment. Nevertheless antisemitism in the crude and programmatic sense was rejected. The 1930 Quota Act ushered in a change and heralded the transformation of 'private' antisemitism into 'public' antisemitism. While this transformation was clearly related to specific contingencies of the 1930s, this thesis argues that there is a connection and a continuity between anti-Jewish sentiment, as manifested in the image of the Jew prior to 1930, and anti-Jewish outbursts and programmes of the 1930s and early 1940s. In short, anti-Jewish rhetoric at this time resonated precisely because a negative Jewish stereotype had been elaborated and diffused for decades.

The present study is an investigation of the nature and extent of Jewish identification and commitment in the Johannesburg Jewish Community. Jewish identification is defined as the attitudes and behaviour through which Jews express their identity with each other and with the Jewish group. It is conceived as comprising several dimensions - structural, cultural, religious, etc . - each of which may be assessed in terms of attitudes and/or behaviour. The aim of the study is, in the first place to describe the various dimensions of Jewish identification and to discover relations between them, and between them and other variables. Fieldwork consisted in the administration of a schedule, lasting about an hour, by trained interviewers to a quota sample of Johannesburg Jews. The schedule comprised questions relating to behaviour, attitudes and personal particulars. These data were augmented by several intensive interviews and by interviewers' observations. The final sample consisted of 286 men and women, in almost equal proportions, who had answered affirmatively the initial question, "Are you Jewish?" Five hypotheses were postulated, mainly on the basis of the findings of several previous studies in the United States. Briefly, it was postulated: firstly, that Jews would tend to identify through their attitudes to a greater extent than through actual behaviour; secondly that the area in which identification on the behavioural level was most likely to be manifested, was in patterns of social relations; thirdly, that observance of religious rituals was primarily a manifestation of identification rather than religious commitment ; fourthly; that there was some conflict between the desire to maintain the group and the feeling that barriers between ethnic groups should be minimal; and, finally , that the boundaries of the .Jewish community could be defined most adequately in terms of the relevance to community membership to the allocation of roles rather than in cultural terms. The first hypothesis had to be partially rejected; the remaining four were confirmed by the data. The study comprises eleven Chapters: in the first four, the problem is defined, hypotheses stated and research and sampling methods discussed; in Chapter Five, the demographic background is described, and in Chapters Six to Ten the findings relating to the various dimensions are presented and the hypotheses tested. In the final Chapter, the hypotheses and various specific findings are discussed in relation to their wider theoretical implications, as well as to their possibilities for further research and practical applications.

Please read the abstract (Summary) in the section 00front of this document / Thesis (D Phil (Cultural History))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Historical and Heritage Studies / DPhil / unrestricted

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: After 1880 more and more Jews (mostly of East European descent) moved into the rural areas of South Africa. Initially they travelled across the country as hawkers but later settled permanently in many of the smaller towns. In most cases they opened shops or started businesses of another kind. Due to the nature of their work the Jews mostly came into contact with the Afrikaans speaking community. Although these two groups differed considerably in many ways, especially as regards language and religion, the Jews adapted and integrated fairly quickly. They became involved with the Afrikaans speaking community in various ways and made a substantial contribution. Although their involvement in and contribution to the economy can be considered as the most important, they also played a considerable role in other areas such as politics, education, language, sport and recreation. The presence of the Jews in rural South Africa was important not only because of their integration with the Afrikaans speaking community and the contribution they made as a group, but also because of the extent to which the two groups influenced each other. Both groups were culturally enriched and the South African country town developed a unique character due to the presence or the Jews and their involvement in the life and activities of the townspeople. Although the Jews were influenced by the Afrikaans speaking community and thus acquired new cultural assets, they still to a large extent retained their Jewish identity. On the whole there was a very good relationship between the Afrikaans speaking rural population and the Jews. After 1950 an increasingly large number of Jews moved to the cities. The depopulation of the rural areas, as regards to Jews, took place to such an extent that today only a few Jewish families remain in rural areas. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Na 1880 is Jode (hoofsaaklik van Oos-Europese afkoms) toenemend op die Suid- Afrikaanse platteland aangetref. Aanvanklik het hulle as smouse die landelike gebiede deurkruis. Later het hulle hulle egter permanent op die plattelandse dorpe gevestig - in die meeste gevalle het hulle 'n winkel of ander soort besigheid begin. Die Jode het uit die aard van hulle werk oorwegend met die Afrikaanssprekende gemeenskap in aanraking gekom. Alhoewel daar definitiewe verskille tussen dié twee groepe was, veral ten opsigte van godsdiens en taal, het die Jode redelik gou aangepas en ingeskakel. Hulle het op verskillende terreine by die Afrikaanssprekende gemeenskap betrokke geraak en 'n substansiële bydrae gelewer. Hoewel hulle betrokkenheid en bydrae tot die ekonomiese terrein as die belangrikste beskou kan word, het hulle ook op baie ander gebiede soos byvoorbeeld politiek, opvoeding, taal, sport en ontspanning belangrike bydraes gelewer. Die Jode se teenwoordigheid op die Suid-Afrikaanse platteland was nie slegs belangrik as gevolg van hulle inskakeling by die Afrikaanssprekende gemeenskap of die bydrae wat hulle as groep gelewer het nie, maar ook as gevolg van die mate waarin albei groepe mekaar beïnvloed het. Die Jode se aanwesigheid en hulle betrokkenheid by die dorp se bedrywighede en mense het meegebring dat albei groepe kultureel verryk is en dat die Suid-Afrikaanse platteland 'n unieke karakter verkry het. Hoewel die Jode deur die Afrikaanssprekende gemeenskap beïnvloed is en hulle as groep nuwe kultuurgoedere bygekry het, het hulle steeds in 'n groot mate hulle Joodse identiteit behou. Daar was oor die algemeen 'n baie goeie verhouding tussen die Afrikaanssprekende plattelanders en die Jode. Na ongeveer 1950 het daar geleidelik 'n toenemende getal Jode na die stede verhuis. Die ontvolking van die platteland met betrekking tot die Jode het in so 'n mate plaasgevind dat daar vandag slegs enkele Joodse gesinne op die meeste plattelandse dorpe oor is.

Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Faculty of Arts, Department of Media, Music, and Cultural Studies, 2009. / Thesis contains the novel "Waterval" by Phyllis Sakinofsky. Bibliography: p. 128-138.

Thesis contains the novel "Waterval" by Phyllis Sakinofsky. / Thesis (PhD)--Macquarie University, Faculty of Arts, Department of Media, Music, and Cultural Studies, 2009. / Bibliography: p. 128-138. / PART ONE -- Introduction -- Section One -- Early history -- The apartheid years - two realities -- Post-apartheid South Africa -- The creative response of Jews to apartheid -- Section Two -- Our relationship with the past: placing narrative in the context of history -- Rememory and representation -- Telling the truth through stories -- Section Three -- Imprints of memories, shadows and silences: shaping the Jewish South African story -- PART TWO -- Waterval: a work of fiction by Phyllis Sakinofsky / This is a non-traditional thesis which comprises a work of fiction and a dissertation. -- The novel is set in South Africa and provides an account of events that took place among three families, Jewish, Coloured and Afrikaans, over three generations. -- The dissertation is constructed in three sections. The first section describes the settlement of South Africa's Jewish community, its divergent responses to apartheid and how this is mirrored in its literary output. -- In the second section, the relationship between history and fiction since the advent of postmodernism is discussed, how there has been a demand for historical truthfulness through multiple points of view and how consequently there has been an upsurge in memories and memorials for those previously denigrated as the defeated or victims. -- Fiction has been re-valued because it is through the novel that these once-submerged stories are being told. The novel has the capacity to explore uncomfortable or silenced episodes in our history, tell important truths and record stories and losses in a meaningful and relevant way. A novel might be shaped by history but it is through the writer's insights and interpretations that messages or meanings can reach many. -- South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission report is an example of how the written word can expose the relationship between the re-telling of history and finding an alternate truth. By recording the many conflicting stories of its peoples, it has linked truth and literature, ensuring an indelible imprint on the country's future writing. The past cannot be changed, but how the nation deals with it in the future will be determined by language and narrative. -- The final section is self-reflexive and illustrates the symbiotic bond between the research and creative components, citing examples from the dissertation of how the two streams influenced one another. / Mode of access: World Wide Web. / 145 p