Flags of countries competing in the football World Cup are visible throughout South Africa as excitement mounts during the final countdown. Soccer theme parties abound and the sounds of the vuvuzela (trumpets blown by local fans during matches) are audible from office blocks to children's playgrounds.
Jewish SA looks forward to welcoming you to this sporting festival. Jewish 2010 events continue to appear on the website, www.jewish2010.com, showing the diversity and range of our Jewish community.
From a religious perspective, Chabad South Africa will provide various services required during World Cup month, including minyanim and Shabbat hospitality. Welcome centres are based in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban. In addition to this, individuals are offering home hospitality and meals in all three areas. Cape Town's Astra Centre will host special buffet lunches with a football theme on or close to matches played in the city.
Interested in sightseeing with a difference? You could trace your family roots with the Country Communities Travelling Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft, or visit a township development programme with former CNN and current South African sports journalist, Graeme Joffe.
The century-old Lions Synagogue is located a mere few hundred metres away from the central World Cup stadium - Ellis Park. Services, a tour and other features will be held there on match days prior to the games.
Check out "Art Fortnight-Football and Africa" at 144 Jan Smuts Avenue. A contemporary and traditional art experience, it features works by such top South African artists as William Kentridge, Thomas Kgope and Susan Woolf
Jewish Schools are hosting reunions for alumni émigrés back in the country for the occasion. The King David Schools Foundation is hosting fetes, day trips, and accommodation for former Davidians.
SA Jewry is also using the World Cup as an opportunity to put back into society and the environment. The Jewish National Fund (JNF), in partnership with other organisations, is raising funds for the Twinned Peace Sport Schools project run by the Peres Center and Al Quds Association in Israel and the Palestinian Authority. The JNF project "One Tree One Goal" allow locals and visitors to replace their carbon footprint by purchasing a tree.
For further details, as well as practical information, security contact numbers and a variety of services available to Jewish visitors contact Jenni Fearnley on +27 11 645 2521/jenni@beyachad.co.za or visit www.jewish2010.com.
