The appointment of Rabbi Warren Goldstein as the new Chief
Rabbi of South Africa has been greeted with general acclaim
in the Jewish community. Rabbi Goldstein, who is 32 years
old, is not only by far the youngest person to have been
appointed to this traditionally demanding position, but will
also be the first South African-born rabbi to hold it. His
appointment, which he will officially take up at the
beginning of 2005, has been interpreted as a gesture of
confidence in the future of South Africa and its 80,000-
strong Jewish community.
Previous South African Chief Rabbis have hailed from the
United Kingdom. The present incumbent, Rabbi Cyril Harris who
replaced Rabbi Bernard Casper at the end of 1988, was born
and raised in Scotland. He has been widely acknowledged as an
inspiring and majestic presence on the Jewish communal stage
throughout his tenure, particularly during the difficult
years of transition from white minority rule to democracy.
The decision to appoint a Chief Rabbi who is both young and
South African-born was a carefully considered one. The
current Jewish communal leadership has long recognized the
need to encourage younger members of the community to remain
in South Africa and to embrace the new political reality,
particularly given the ongoing process of emigration that has
seen the community decline by more than one-third over the
past quarter of a century.
In addition, Rabbi Goldstein has made a name for himself as a
passionate advocate of Jews striving to make a meaningful
contribution to the nation- building process. Last year saw
the publication of his book African Soul Talk, co-
written with Dumani Mandela, grandson of the legendary anti-
apartheid leader Nelson Mandela. The book takes the form of a
dialogue between a black and Jewish South African who share
their respective visions for the country.
Rabbi Goldstein is currently rav of the Sunny Road shul in
Johannesburg, a branch of Ohr Somayach. In addition to his
rabbinical training, he is a qualified lawyer and recently
obtained his Ph.D. on Jewish law's relevance to human rights
and modern constitutional law.
Rabbi Goldstein's appointment evoked considerable interest in
the mainstream press, with several lengthy interviews with
him being published in leading newspapers. The probing,
sometimes aggressive nature of many of the questions put to
him, particularly those relating to the Middle East conflict,
underlined the challenging nature of his position in a
society that is both hostile to Israel and also considerably
less favorably-inclined towards conservative religious values
than was the case under the old white minority regime.
On one occasion it was demanded of him why he had not lent
his support to the much-publicized "Not in My Name"
initiative, a campaign promoted by left-wing Jews with the
aim of mobilizing local Jewish opposition to the policies of
the Sharon government. In the course of responding, Rabbi
Goldstein condemned the disproportionate focus on the alleged
wrongdoings of the State of Israel whilst persistently
ignoring the far more serious instances of conflict and human
rights violations in other parts of the world, including in
Africa.
