Sweet Spot in a War

We are two weeks and two days in since the tragic events of October 7th, which preceded the Hamas - Israel war. By the time this podcast is published, or at least listened to, everything may have changed in ways too dramatic to imagine, at least for this South African immigrant. So, for now, here is an outline of my Israeli reality.

In today’s podcast I speak with Nik Rabinowitz, a well-known and much-loved South African comedian, actor, and author. Nik was here in Israel for the King David School’s Foundation global roadshow fundraiser. We cover a range of topics, from Hadeda conspiracies to the late Archbishop Tutu’s ultimate strategy for peace in the Middle East, from his views on Israel to life in SA, from his sold out shows to the world’s best jazz clubs, from the semigration of Jo’burg to Cape Town. We also speak about the soon to be released South African Jewish coming of age comedy, Just Now Jeffrey, in which Nik performs as the former Israeli military man now Jewish day school PE coach, Moshik. (That last line alone should make you laugh.)   You can find Nik on Instagram @nikrabinowitz and his Facebook public page https://m.facebook.com/people/Nik-Rabinowitz/100044406190240/  

Sandton born Cherie Albucher is a great example of a South African who has really dived into a full and proactive life in Israel, and has for years worked on building her community in order to grow a city. She is now at the early stages of launching a career in politics. Cherie is also an avowed Zionist, which is not a simple place to be. We explore that term and everything it was intended to stand for.

As per his LinkedIn tagline, Howard Sackstein is a lawyer by training and entrepreneur by profession, but Howie is also the self-proclaimed King of social media, explosive political activist, ringmaster of Zoom and official photographer of life itself. Howie founded the Jewish anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa, Jews for Social Justice, and fought actively against the apartheid regime. He consulted to a number of companies looking to invest in South Africa during the transition to democracy and took Nelson Mandela to Brussels to introduce him to key business and political leaders in Europe. He was Executive Director of South Africa’s Independent Electoral Commission, the IEC, in its transition to democracy and served there from 1994 to 2000, responsible for much of the 1994 and 1999 elections. Howie is non-executive chairperson of the SA Jewish Report Newspaper & chair of the Jewish Achiever Awards.

What is life really like for South African Jews who have made Aliyah to Israel? This introduction of The Hadeda by host Guy Lieberman, sets the tone for his personal story, and how it relates to the interviewees and subjects that future podcasts are going to address. If you like what you hear, hit the subscribe button and keep your ear out for one podcast dropping every week.