Proudly Jewish, proudly South African: ‘A walk to the rugby match I won’t forget’

In August, over 60 observant Jews in Johannesburg undertook a three-hour, 10-kilometer walk to a Springboks rugby match, allowing them to attend the game without violating Shabbat. The group, including men in kippahs and wearing Springbok scarves, walked down Louis Botha Avenue and through the historic Yeoville neighborhood, a former center of Jewish life. This public display of both Jewish and South African identity was met with widespread solidarity and warmth from other South Africans. A key moment was a stop at the Lions Shul, Johannesburg's oldest operational synagogue, for Mincha prayers, where "being Jewish and being South African weren’t two separate parts of who we are. They were exactly the same thing." The experience, according to Sheri Hansen, deputy chair of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies, fostered a deep sense of communal pride and continuity.