Over 250 former Zimbabweans turned up at the Ndaba – “a great sitting down” – the largest such gathering for a very long time. It was held at the Raanana Bowling Club. There were even visitors who came from Denmark, California and Zimbabwe, and closer to home from Eilat, from kibbutzim, moshavim and cities all over Israel, including former youth movement emissaries who played an important role in the aliyah of Zimbabweans, and the Governor of the Bank of Israel, Stanley Fischer and his wife Rhoda, both former Zimbabweans.

Said Dave Bloom, Chair of Telfed, South African Zionist Federation, and himself a former Zimbabwean: “This is not just a get-together of former members of the Zimbabwe Jewish Community, but more like a family reunion. It’s that warm and fuzzy feeling of sharing a common past, a familiarity with wonderful shared experiences. I must add my pride for those of us who chose to make Israel our home. It is nothing short of a miracle that from a tiny community in the depth of Africa so many of us chose to come on aliyah and fulfill our Zionistic aspirations that were born and nurtured in what was then Rhodesia.

“I look around this hall and see so many faces which take me back to days when we smelt the first African summer rain, when 28 degrees centigrade was considered suicide month, when the Dairy Den choc 99 cost 12 cents, the unique flavor of Mazoe orange juice in a plastic bottle at school, the streets lined with exploding colors from mauve jacarandas and red flamboyants, the institution of the Sunday drive, the green leather seating in the rail compartments, the endless weekends at Wingate and Park Sports club, the youth movement camps and seminars, the bowler hats at school…I could go on and on…

“But just like any family reunion we must also remember that some of our own are not with us and are still left in Zimbabwe and battle to maintain themselves in a country which has all but collapsed economically and politically. Zimbabwe has gone from being a regional economic powerhouse to an international pauper where a small legion of corrupt and power hungry individuals are ignoring the will of their own people to maintain their wealth and control – at whatever cost – including starvation, intimidation, stealing elections and, more seriously killing over 100 opposition supporters in recent months. Your presence here today is also an expression of the heartfelt concern we have for all Zimbabweans.

“I would like to highlight the precarious situation of the few remaining Jews in Zimbabwe and tell  you a bit about what has been done to date: For the last several years funds have been raised around the world through organizations like the Joint Distribution Committee, World Jewish Relief, Chai South Africa and some generous individuals mainly to support the Savyon Lodge Old Age Home and over USD 300,000 has been collected. Besides the funding of food and medicine, which is trucked in from Johannesburg every month, a large generator was purchased, security fencing put up and the entrance road repaired. However, there is an ongoing need for funding Savyon’s operations.

“In the last year – due to the horrific inflation – many of the community who retired comfortably and considered themselves financially secure have found themselves seeking financial and welfare support. Through the good offices of the African Jewish Congress and its spiritual leader Rabbi Moshe Silberhaft – additional funds have been raised to fund food, medicinal and welfare support to members of the community.  Today we have people in Harare receiving monthly support and in Bulawayo some are taking their meals at Savyon Lodge because they struggle to locate and purchase food for themselves.

“I am holding in my hand a bearer check for 500 million Zimbabwean dollars. At my last calculation this note was worth  US 5 cents or about 16 agorot. Tomorrow it will be worth a lot less. I received an email this week from Harare telling that a weekly newspaper costs ZW$ 2 billion, a bar of soap costs ZW$ 55 billion…can you believe  that this note cannot buy a single egg.

“The Bulawayo Hebrew Congregation has sent us an appeal to help fund their activities which includes the only Rabbi in Zimbabwe. Rabbi Alima and his wife are doing amazing work in holding the Bulawayo community together and maintaining the vestiges of Jewish life – with daily minyan, shchita of chickens, funerals, chaggim and help with Carmel school.

“Despite all these challenges, the Jewish communities of Harare and Bulawayo are still involved in trying to help the wider Zimbabwean crisis – whether it is a school in Matopos, an AIDS program, handicapped children or displaced persons.

Marvyn Hatchuel, chairperson of CAZO – Central African Zionist Organization, said of the Zimbabwean Jewish community: “We look with pride that one of the earliest Zionist societies, the Chovevei Zion, was established in Bulawayo in 1897, even before the first Zionist Congress. Zionist societies were subsequently established alongside wherever Jewish communities sprung up in what was then Rhodesia. The women too formed their own Zionist groups culminating in their becoming an important branch of world WIZO.

In education also, from the days of the afternoon cheder to the days of the Jewish day schools in Bulawayo and Salisbury and the growth of the youth movements, the input of Zionisim was manifest.

“From these early beginnings, the Central Africa Zionist Organization can claim to have had the highest per capita aliyah from any western free country. There are 700 Zimbabweans living in Israel which is 10% of the entire Jewish community in its heyday. This is even reflected in the fact that seven out of its last eight national Presidents made aliyah during or after their terms of office. The bonds that were made by our immigrants have continued and are reflected here by this show of solidarity at this gathering.”