The Jews of Johannesburg: South Africa’s Thriving Jewish Community

Jewish Geography

October 30, 2022

8 min read

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South Africa is home to over 50,000 Jews - mostly in Johannesburg and Capetown - making it the 12th largest Jewish community in the world.

The vast majority of South Africa’s Jewish population can trace their heritage back to immigrants from Lithuania who arrived in South Africa at the close of the 19th and the dawn of the 20th centuries. As the Jewish community of Lithuania was almost entirely destroyed in the Holocaust, South African’s Jews are, in many ways, the strongest living link to this particular piece of pre-war eastern European Jewry.

The Early History of Jews in South Africa

Although the Dutch began colonizing and settling in what is now known as South Africa - initially around the Cape of Good Hope - in the 17th century, there was no notable or official Jewish presence until the beginning of the 19th century. It was not until that time that the Dutch and British established freedom of religion in their South African colonies. (Prior to this, the Dutch required that all employees of the Dutch East India Company be Protestant.) Almost as soon as Jews were able to practice their religion in these colonies, emigration began - primarily from Great Britain and Germany.

The first official Jewish congregation was founded in Capetown in 1841. Eight years later, these same settlers built the first synagogue, Tikvat Israel, in Capetown, which today is used as a museum. Over the next few decades, British emigrants began to establish a Jewish infrastructure in Capetown and became prominent in the retail trade as well banking, shipping, trading and fishing.

Diamonds and Jewish Population Explosion

A important milestone in the history of Jews in South Africa occurred in the 1860’s when diamonds and gold were discovered near the town of Kimberley. Because the existing Jewish settlers were already involved in trade, they were able to establish themselves quickly in the burgeoning diamond and gold industry. At this time, many of the Jews in Capetown moved to Johannesburg to be closer to the center of the diamond business. By 1880, the Jewish population in South Africa was estimated at 4000. This population would explode, however, in the coming decades as the result of a huge influx of Jewish immigrants.

The Jeppestown Synagogue was built in 1926.

At the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, Jews from the Baltic region, namely Lithuania and to a lesser extent Latvia, began emigrating to South Africa for a combination of two reasons. First, the conditions for Jews in Lithuania at that time were harsh - both economically and due to persecution. Tracy Ann Klass, a caterer and stand-up comedian living in Capetown, traces her roots back to a shtetl in Lithuania called Abel. Klass puts it bluntly: “Life in Abel was hard: it was cold, violent and poor.”

Second, this period was when the South African diamond industry exploded, providing plenty of economic opportunity for the Jewish immigrants.

As a result of this wave of immigration, the Jewish population grew tenfold in just 30 years - from 4000 in 1880 to 40,000 by 1910. Many of these eastern European Jews quickly assimilated and adopted the customs of the existing Anglo-Jewish population. But they also were influential in their own right - bringing with them a strong Zionist sentiment and attachment to Israel which grew and flourished among South Africa’s Jewish population. Indeed, the year 1898 saw the foundation of the South African Zionist Federation.

The Boer War

At the beginning of the 20th century, the tensions between the descendants of the original Dutch settlers in South Africa, known as the Boers, and the British - whose numbers had skyrocketed following the discovery of gold - escalated into the Boer War. After three years of fighting, the much larger British force prevailed, thereby ending the existence of the Boer free republics in South Africa. In 1910, the Union of South Africa was established as a dominion of the British Empire. The British gave the Jewish settlers in South Africa equal status with other white Europeans in the colony, thus continuing the appeal of South Africa as a destination for Jews from Europe.

Joburg’s Holocaust and Genocide Centre

In 1912, the Jewish settlers from all over South Africa created a community organization to advocate for their interests, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, which exists to this day. The SAJBD promotes the safety and welfare of South African Jewry, including combatting antisemitism in all its forms, and build bridges of friendship and understanding between Jews and the broader South African population.

Strong lobbying efforts from the SAJBD and the existing Jewish population rebuffed any attempts to restrict Jewish immigration during these early years of the 20th century. As a result, between 1920 and 1930 an additional 20,000 Jewish immigrants arrived in South Africa - again mostly from Lithuania and the Baltic regions.

Antisemitism in the 1930’s

South Africa was not immune from the global rise of antisemitism and the influence of Nazism in the 1930’s. In 1930, the government restricted immigration from Russia, eastern Europe and Palestine, which had the intended effect of greatly reducing the number of Jews entering the territory. However, because immigration from Germany was still permitted, an additional 6000 German Jews were able to find refuge from the Nazis in South Africa until that too was prohibited in 1937.

Not only did the South African Jewish community face antisemitism in the 1930’s and 40’s, they also had to deal with the knowledge, once the war ended, that the communities from which most of them came had been completely destroyed during the Holocaust. As an example, Klass points out that it was incredibly fortunate that her grandfather left Lithuania because his town of Abel “was liquidated by the Nazis in 1942.”

The Apartheid Regime

Following WWII, in 1948, South Africa’s National Party implemented the white supremacist system of apartheid, which designated where citizens could live and work based on their race. Under apartheid, the different races in South Africa were physically separated and there were very limited educational and economic opportunities for nonwhite citizens. Black South Africans were excluded from the political process and stripped of their basic human rights. South Africa became a pariah in the international community during the latter half of the 20th century due to apartheid.

The relationship of South Africa’s Jewish community to the apartheid regime is complicated. Many Jews who were able to do so left South Africa during this time. Among the small number of white South Africans who spoke out against apartheid, there were many Jews. For example, Nelson Mandela’s defense attorney, Isie Maisels, was Jewish as was Helen Suzman, a left-leaning member of the South African Parliament, who was a vociferous opponent of the National Party and apartheid.

Helen Suzman

Jewish university students, in particular, participated in anti-apartheid protests and activities and were frequently arrested for these activities. Jewish philanthropic organizations also sought to work with black South Africans to alleviate their poor living conditions and create opportunity.

Chief Rabbi of South Africa, Rabbi Warren Goldstein

However, it is important to acknowledge that during the years of apartheid, many Jewish families prospered economically, as did other white citizens. Moreover, the South African Board of Deputies did not formally condemn apartheid until 1985 - a painful subject to this day. And during the years when many countries cut off diplomatic ties to South Africa due to apartheid, Israel maintained these ties and even sold arms to the South African government. This has led to a tense relationship to this day between the current South African government, which has expressed support for the Palestinian cause over the years, and the state of Israel.

The Jewish Community Today

Today, the Jewish community of South Africa is still significant but it is much smaller than it was at its height of 120,000 in the 1970’s. During apartheid, many South African Jews emigrated to other countries, including Canada, Australia, the United States and Israel. Indeed, between 1970 and 1992, nearly 40,000 Jews left South Africa.

In some ways, amidst the large Jewish diaspora around the world, there is a smaller diaspora specific to South African Jews. Dean Jankelowitz, co-owner (with his wife) of a beloved New York restaurant - who is himself South African - notes that whenever he meets other South African ex-pats in the States or elsewhere, they are almost always Jewish and he often finds that they know people in common.

Concerns about crime, the economy and infrastructure problems in contemporary South Africa have continued to cause some Jews to leave the country, although these days the numbers are much smaller and most of those who do leave go to Israel.

The South African Jewish community today remains largely of Ashkenazi descent and mainly fairly observant with the vast majority belonging to Orthodox congregations. The community, centered around Johannesburg and Capetown, is well-organized and cohesive, with a comprehensive network of welfare, educational, political and Zionist institutions, including day schools, camps, Jewish media outlets, philanthropic organizations, and numerous kosher stores and eateries.

The wide availability of kosher food and kosher safaris in South Africa has made it an appealing tourist destination for Jews from around the world.

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