Communal kuiering (visiting):

Passover and the High Holidays – Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur were the apex of the Vryburg communal experience. They were also an opportunity for the boarders to come home from School and be with our parents and enjoy family and community. Communal seders were a highlight till the end. Retelling a version of his visit to Vryburg and our mother on the farm, Kimberley born author, Dan Jacobson mentions the communal seders in the Electronic Elephant. Please note that my brother Wanye and I are listed as girls and Simon Lieberthal has become Alfred Liebenthal. Poetic license!

 

According to Maurice Joffe, there were at least two large seders when he was growing up in the late 1950s. His family seder included 40 people. Mike Cohen recalls his mother Leah hosting a seder for 30 people. There was also the Lieberthal seder and the Allen seder. Lorna Toube recalls that Leah Lieberthal, matriarch of the Jewish community, “prepared packed boxes of goodies which we kids delivered to various [Jewish] families on our bicycles.” Her sister, Helen Kristeller fondly recalls the seder:

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My strongest and fondest memory of all is Pesach time at my Granny’s house when the furniture from the lounge and dining rooms was removed and loooong tables with white table cloths were put out and decorated with various “Pesach” plates, dishes, silverware, etc.  I think there were sometimes 36 people around the tables for Seder,  For 10 days before Seder Granny, Mom and her sister Helen Toube and Elizabeth, Granny’s maid would all stand in the kitchen, over the AGA stove making ingberlach, kneidlach, pletzlach and everything Pesach. I loved it all.  Do people even remember what those things are?

 

Keith Brodovcky recounts the family tradition of first and second night seders at the Allen’s.

 

Mike Allen, my dad’s partner in the hotel stayed in a flat which was part of the hotel. Every Pesach, we would go to the seder at their place. Attendees were usually Mike and Minnie (Allen), Mr. Chien, Mickey Folb, Mr. Edelstein (all three were residents at the hotel), my parents, Max and Rose, Charles Allen and myself. Charles was a year older than me and in the earlier years my brother. The agonizing wait before we could eat felt like a lifetime to Charles and myself and it took all our energy to endure the boredom whilst the adults made their way through the Haggadah. The only highlight was the looking for the afikoman and the monetary reward that came with finding it.

 

Lauren Rohloff also reminisces: "The little I do remember and my fondest memories were around our seder tables, eating roast potatoes from the stoep at auntie Esme, the love we all felt as community. I even loved going to shul in those days." 

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In the 1970s and 1980s our single communal seder was led by Victor Resman and Harold Sheckter. in the 1980s by Harold alone. He was the elder statesman and the most knowledgeable of the parents on matters Jewish. One year we all drove out to the Jocum's for a lovely seder. It was only then that we appreciated their tremendous commitment to come to Vryburg two nights in a row. These gatherings took place against the backdrop of a dwindling community, the State of Emergency and vibrant debates over politics. Janice Sheckter challenged our parents on Apartheid and the status quo. It was the first time I developed an awareness of wider social issues and linked fuller questions raised by Passover and freedom from oppression. Janice reflects: “I remember mostly from my teens - I was at school and my humanitarian conscience started finding a voice. This resulted in many arguments over the communal dinners which were only exacerbated when I got to [Rhodes] university and started studying politics and journalism.”

 

Another wonderful Passover custom was our parents gifting local friends, clients, business partners and teachers with Matza bread. Steven Scheckter notes: “Every Pesach we used to give people like the bank manager a box of Matzah.” In a dialogue with Gita Franco (Gertrud Wald), I realized that this tradition was an old one. She also put it in a wider sociological context. Gita recalls that in her childhood, Matzah and other Pesadeck supplies were bought from Joburg. “As kids we looked forward to the provisions arriving. We used to take Matza to our teachers as a gift, Our teachers looked forward to receiving it. This way, through the gift, they understood it was Pesach." In retrospect, I realize that this gifting tradition was our way of celebrating our unique identity.

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