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South African Jewish Chronicle
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The South African Jewish Chronicle clippings, "Page 1062"

Newspaper clipping depicting page 1062 in Volume IV - Issue 65 of the New Series in The SAJC newspaper circulated on 29 December, 1911. This is the first page in the Collection of 20 consecutive pages preserved from an early Issue of the SAJC. This page contains mostly administrative information and is the cover page.

There is a Publishers' Notice in the top right corner, quite certainly a first-page occurrence. This Notice details the publisher of the SAJC (the Proprietors), and the publication day and time in the large cities of South Africa. This includes 9am on Friday in the town of Johannesburg, the Reef, Pretoria, and "elsewhere"; 9am on Saturday in Durban; and at 9am on Monday in Cape Town. This order of publication makes sense given the increasing distance from the publication house that was situated in Johannesburg. This notice also indicates that this newspaper was widely circulated at all major distributors and agencies, and at all railway stations, suggesting wide readership.
Below the Publishers' Notice, there is information about the London Office, reinforcing that this newspaper is an offshoot of the London Jewish Chronicle.

A practice unique to Jewish culture and religiosity is the presence of a particular kind of calendar in a weekly newspaper such as this one. The upcoming week is catalogued in a table consisting of a column titled from left to right as: Day of the week, Hebrew date, Civil date, Portion, and Haphtorah. We also see that Sabbath is declared to commence at 6pm, which provides a standard time across South African Jews to observe the Sabbath. If each column were unpacked in turn, we would find that the self-explanatory date remains constant regardless of the other columns. The Hebrew versus Civil date is an interesting indicator of Jewishness in this newspaper, where the Civil date refers to the Gregorian calendar date. In contrast, but in sync with, the Hebrew date refers to the Jewish calendar date, determined by a lunisolar system that relies on cycles of the moon and sun to determine day, month and year at any particular time. These dates determined by the Hebrew calendar are kept track of for religious observances, holidays, celebrations, and coming-of-age decisions (e.g. Bar- or Bat-mitzvahs). The month of this particular extract is called Tebeth. This kind of Hebrew calendar is distributed in the newspaper for cultural Jews as much as for religious Jews, since it details both when to celebrate a festive holiday and when to read what extract from the scripture. This refers to the next column, the Portion column details what part of the Torah is prescribed to be read for that week. Jews traditionally read the entire Torah throughout the year, which usually takes place on the Sabbath aloud in Shul services, but can also be a private affair. The calendar in the newspaper, nowadays transmit online or at synagogue, directs readers who are following this religious practice what they should read in the upcoming week. In the week depicted here, the reading comes from Genesis. The final column, Haphtorah, translating directly to mean "taking leave", refers to the section from a selection of scriptire from the books of Nevi'im (Prophets) in the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) that is read on each weekly Sabbath and on Jewish festivals or holy days. With the note that the 31st of December 1911 aligns with the Fast of the Tebeth (Tebeth 10th) – a Jewish observation of the tenth day of the tenth month in the Hebrew calendar – this particular week requires a Haphtorah column, since there is a fast/holy day to observe. In the week depicted here, the Haphtorah reading comes from Ezekiel.

'The Chronicle Cake' Award feature in this newspaper is noted on this page, which refers to an award for a person or organisation who has warranted celebration, named and celebrated in the SAJC Issue of that week. A literal cake is made, and is even noted to be on display at a confectioner, with the inscription of the event/person being awarded. In this case, the SAJC is celebrating and awarding Mr Driver for being the pilot of the first South African aerial post plane, marking a historical milestone for post delivery. The column for this award describes the event in more detail, and explains why it is worthy of the 'Chronicle Cake Award'. This suggests a strong community attitude, which is characteristic of Jewishness.

Other adminstrative details on this page include a bus timetable, an advertisment for a resort not far out of the Johannesburg region, and an announcement of new ownership of the Ascot Bar.

The last two pieces on this front page are the beginning of the articles section of the newspaper, with two opinion pieces: "The Battle of Monotheism" and "Incitement to Vanity". The first article is a Jewish pride piece in favour of Judaism about other religion's failed attempts – particularly Christianity – to convince polytheists of monotheisms. This article argues that the trinity of Christianity is a particular failure in advocating for monotheism, since this anonymous writer ("Jewish Exponent") cites the holy trinity as a contradictory argument for monotheism, leaving Judaism as the only 'true' force for monotheism. The second article is an opinion piece by an anonymous writer who is cited as "Reform Advocate", written about how stereotypical and prejudiced assumptions about Jewish folk as conceited and guilty of 'racial pride' encourages these stereotypes into truth, since being persecuted in such ways by others only leads to the belief that they are worthy of such pride for enduring and overcoming this.

South African Jewish Chronicle

The South African Jewish Chronicle clippings, "Page 1068"

Newspaper clipping depicting page 1068 in Volume IV - Issue 65 of the New Series in The SAJC newspaper circulated on 29 December, 1911. This is the seventh page in the Collection of 20 consecutive pages preserved from an early Issue of the SAJC.
This page consists of a continuation of the Jewish Diaspora section of this Issue of the SAJC, with an article being continued at the top. With this Issue of the newspaper being the final one of the year, this section is a Special Issue as it summarizes the work of the Anglo-Jewish Association, which reports on the position of Jews throughout the diaspora, particularly in Eastern Europe and the "Oriental countries". This is specifically a forty year celebration since the beginning of the Association, which is being praised for vigilance and raising awareness, and for the "benevolent" British Government. The article claims that the scenario for Jews in the areas in question has greatly improved, with acknowledgement of Russia and Rumania as exceptions.

The first subsection of this Diaspora Special Issue is titled "Jews in Eastern Europe", which began on the previous page and continues here with subheadings for Russian Jewry and Rumanian Jewry. Unfortunately, the news in both these subsections of Eastern European Jewry is ominous and worsening. Each subsection emotively describes the situation of oppression and starvation, with a shrinking Jewish population and increasing hopelessness.

The following subheading of the Diaspora section refers to "Chinese Jews", and details what the scenario for Jewish people in China is. This begins with a description of the origins of this community, and how their customs and beliefs are different to Jews in most other countries, where the latter is considered the mainstream version of Jewishness as it incorporates Hebrew and Jewish literature. There is some news of rebuilding of previously destroyed synagogues, and rights/freedoms given to Chinese Jews, indicating progress in the treatment of Jews there.

South African Jewish Chronicle

The South African Jewish Chronicle clippings, "Page 1069"

Newspaper clipping depicting page 1069 in Volume IV - Issue 65 of the New Series in The SAJC newspaper circulated on 29 December, 1911. This is the eighth page in the Collection of 20 consecutive pages preserved from an early Issue of the SAJC.
This page consists of a continuation of the Jewish Diaspora section of this Issue of the SAJC. With this Issue of the newspaper being the final one of the year, this section is a Special Issue as it summarizes the work of the Anglo-Jewish Association, which reports on the position of Jews throughout the diaspora. This is specifically a forty year celebration since the beginning of the Association, which is being praised for vigilance and raising awareness, and for the "benevolent" British Government. The article claims that the scenario for Jews in the areas in question has greatly improved, with acknowledgement of Russia and Rumania as exceptions.

This page begins with "Provincial News", referring to news of Jewish folk within South Africa in two other major cities of the country: Port Elizabeth and Durban. The Port Elizabeth report provides the name of the winner of a beauty paegant of sorts for "the finenst boy between one and two years of age", named Hymy Schauder. The Durban report details the unveiling of some memorial tablets by the President of the Durban Hebrew Congregation (Mr F. C. Hollander).

The Diaspora Special Edition section continues with a miscellaneous subheading for Jews "In Other Lands". Two countries included here are India and Austria. Both reports for these two countries speak of influencial Jewish people, or people who were sympathetic or who advocated for Jewishness when faced with adversity/anti-Semitism.

South African Jewish Chronicle

The South African Jewish Chronicle clippings, "Page 1071"

Newspaper clipping depicting page 1071 in Volume IV - Issue 65 of the New Series in The SAJC newspaper circulated on 29 December, 1911. This is the tenth page in the Collection of 20 consecutive pages preserved from an early Issue of the SAJC.
The content at the beginning of this page is a continuation of the previous page, under the column heading of "Stage, Song, & Show", which is a column in the SAJC that details culture, art, theatre and performative news of interest to Jewish folk. Here we see articles about a comedian, an opera singer, a theatre renovation, the plot to an action piece, a review of an acting performance, and a biscope review.
The next large heading indicating a new column in the paper is titled "The Amalgamation of Talmud Torahs". This refers to a collective of committees in Johannesburg, who plan to amalgamate their forces so that Hebrew High School curricula are standardized. This is promised to be rediscussed at the annual meeting set for the 28th of January in 1912 (approximately one month from when this Issue was distributed).

South African Jewish Chronicle

The South African Jewish Chronicle clippings, "Page 1063"

Newspaper clipping depicting page 1063 in Volume IV - Issue 65 of the New Series in The SAJC newspaper circulated on 29 December, 1911. This is the second page in the Collection of 20 consecutive pages preserved from an early Issue of the SAJC.
This page includes the official header of the Jewish Chronicle, with Hebrew writing around the heading/title, and official information regarding the Editor's name (Percy Cowen), description of the newspaper, and the date in both Gregorian and Hebrew terms.

The Editorial is also included here as a motto formatted as a short poem: "Here shall the Press the Jewish rights maintain / Unaw'd by influence, and unbribed by gain. / Here patriot Truth her glorius percepts draw, / Pledged to Religion, Liberty, and Law." This provides insight into what is valued by this newspaper's editorial team, where they claim an unbiased and non-profit driven agenda, aiming to deliver truth and news aligned with Jewish values including Jewish religion, liberty and law.

Of the three articles on this page, the first is titled "Another Dreyfus Case". The title refers to the Dreyfus Affair whereby the Jewish-French artillery officer Alfred Dreyfus was wrongly accused and imprisoned for treason, understood to have occurred on grounds of Anti-Semitic intent rather than based on evidence. [Source: http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/dreyfuslinks.html]. The current article describes a similarly unjust imprisonment of two Jewish clerks in Silesia (then a Polish province) for perjury, with detail of roleplayers and witnesses in this case. The conclusion drawn is that Anti-Semitism is rife and unaccounted for, still then, despite hopes and promises of amelioration. The theme here is bringing the reader's attention to Anti-Semitism.

The second article is titled "An Enemy of Israel Removed". This suggests a Jewish nationalist theme in this article, as enemies of Israel can be understood as those who are not in agreement regarding the establishment of the State of Israel, at this time not yet formed. The newspaper article describes a triumph for Jews all over the world, following the dismissal of an Anti-Semitic Major-General in Odessa, a province of the Russian Empire. This Major-General Tolmatcheff has been documented in other sources as enacting various orders and proclamations that limited the rights and freedoms of Jewish folk in Odessa, including restrictions on Jewish religious practice, and unfair taxing of Jews to pay for oppressive policies against their own people. The article celebrates the trimph of this Major-General being dismissed, with conclusions that are optimistic about the future for Jewish folk in this region. This was unfortunately false hope, as Jews were only treated with increasing hostility in Russia and Eastern Europe following 1911. [Source: https://www.jstor.org/stable/23600634]. This article shows the global reach of overseas triumphs in expected improvements for Jewish folk, indicating a global community awareness among Jews.

The third article, titled "A Fact for Anti-Semites", is the first page of an article that summarizes some of the conspiracies that are ciruclating about Jewish world domination plans. The article's aim is to highlight an event of particular generosity of a Jew in a donation to the British Empire and the Indian Government, which was done in the hopes of improving the lives of those in this colony. Sharing this information is done so in order to show the lack of truth value in the Anti-Semitic assumptions and prejudices, providing a reinterpretation recommendation for Anti-Semites, with this event in mind. There is also a clear nod to the Anglicized nature of the newspaper, since a charity in one of the British colonies is chosen to represent this idea. It is additionally interesting to note that this article is addressed to Anti-Semites, although the newspaper is intended for a Jewish readership.

South African Jewish Chronicle

The South African Jewish Chronicle clippings, "Page 1066"

Newspaper clipping depicting page 1066 in Volume IV - Issue 65 of the New Series in The SAJC newspaper circulated on 29 December, 1911. This is the fifth page in the Collection of 20 consecutive pages preserved from an early Issue of the SAJC.
This page of the Issue is the second of almost three pages dedicated to the "Social and Fashionable" section. Here, the "Social Editress" shares what is considered noteworthy social occurrences such as weddings/engagements, etc., the latest fashions and subjects related to marriage and womanhood (according to the description, suggesting conservative gendered assumptions). Among the letter-like writing of this section, this page also includes an advertisment for cigarettes. More noteworthy is a particular portion which discusses the hardship of being a working woman, women (rightfully) demanding equal pay, and taking part in the women's movement. These issues stand pertinent today, with additional complexities of intersectionality. As early as 1911, in a newspaper aimed at Jewish readership, we see women acknowledging discontent with the status quo.

South African Jewish Chronicle

The South African Jewish Chronicle clippings, "Page 1067"

Newspaper clipping depicting page 1067 in Volume IV - Issue 65 of the New Series in The SAJC newspaper circulated on 29 December, 1911. This is the sixth page in the collection of 20 consecutive pages preserved from an early issue of the SAJC.
This page of the Issue is the last of almost three pages dedicated to the "Social and Fashionable" section. Here, the "Social Editress" shares what is considered noteworthy social occurrences such as weddings/engagements, etc., the latest fashions and subjects related to marriage and womanhood (according to the description, suggesting conservative gendered assumptions). This section ends with a declaration of love from the "Social Editress" named Lena.

Following the Social section of the newspaper, there is a section dedicated to the Jewish Diaspora. With this Issue of the newspaper being the final one of the year, this section is a Special Issue as it summarizes the work of the Anglo-Jewish Association, which reports on the position of Jews throughout the diaspora, particular in Eastern Europe and the "Oriental countries". This is specifically a forty year celebration since the beginning of the Association, which is being praised for vigilance and raising awareness, and for the "benevolent" British Government. The article claims that the scenario for Jews in the areas in question has greatly improved, with acknowledgement of Russia and Rumania as exceptions. The first subsection of this Diaspora Special Issue is titled "Jews in Eastern Europe", which begins at the bottom of this page and continues to the next page.

South African Jewish Chronicle

The South African Jewish Chronicle clippings, "Page 1072"

Newspaper clipping depicting page 1072 in Volume IV - Issue 65 of the New Series in The SAJC newspaper circulated on 29 December, 1911. This is the eleventh page in the Collection of 20 consecutive pages preserved from an early Issue of the SAJC.
The main article on this page, a longer article than most in this Issue if the subsections on other pages are to be counted as individual articles, is about Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881). The question is posed whether he was a representative Jew, making reference to the fact that he has been considered the first Jewish Prime Minister of Britain and was also the Earl of Beaconsfield, but this is contentious for many reasons. One of the most clear reasons why it is contested that he was “a representative Jew” is because, although born to Jewish parents, he was baptised into Christianity at age 13, thus making him non-Jewish in religious terms. This fact is however disputed, stating some of the more modern arguments that are currently being questioned, such as whether one is Jewish by birth or by religion or by culture, or by any other characteristic? This argument is paraded throughout the article showing the various ways in which Disraeli demonstrated Jewishness, using examples of character traits that Disraeli possessed that were claimed as characteristically Jewish, citing religious training from his grandfather when he was younger, using instances that could be interpreted as religious declarations of Judaism, using scientific arguments of Sir Francis Galton and Professor Karl Pearson regarding genetics and heredity Jewishness and IQ, and using instances where Disraeli seemingly advocated for Jewish rights (e.g. at the Berlin Conference of 1878). The conclusion for this piece is that the set question cannot be answered with simply yes or no (“cannot be answered by a straight affirmation or negation”). The largest proportion of the article describes, with various examples, how “in personal qualities, both those from heredity and those derived from training, Benjamin Disraeli was characteristically Jewish” and “might be regarded as a representative Jew”. There is however also note of how Disraeli (in most cases) “kept outside the highest interests of Jews”. [Source: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/benjamin-disraeli; https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A167778791/AONE?u=unict&sid=AONE&xid=1081fe73].

Besides the main feature about Disraeli, there are two other pieces on this page: An opinion piece that declares digust and shock at the atrocities in China at the time, and a reminder about a calendar desk pad that is on sale and needs to be ordered in time for the New Year (1912).

South African Jewish Chronicle

The South African Jewish Chronicle clippings, "Page 1064"

Newspaper clipping depicting page 1064 in Volume IV - Issue 65 of the New Series in The SAJC newspaper circulated on 29 December, 1911. This is the third page in the Collection of 20 consecutive pages preserved from an early Issue of the SAJC.
The first article in the top left hand corner is a continuation of the beginning of the article on the previous page in this Issue, and is titled "A Fact for Anti-Semites". This portion of the article describes how the charitible act of a Jew in favour of improving the lives of those in the British colony of India is proof against the Anti-Semitic beliefs held about intentions of personal gain of Jews. This article details some pride at being involved in this charitible act, and promotes a positive valuation of Jewishness, as opposed to the assumptions lacking truth that are upheld by Anti-Semites. It is interesting that this article is addressed to Anti-Semites, although the newspaper is intended for a Jewish readership.

Secondly, underneath the continuation and conclusion of the previous article, a poem titled "When a Sage of Israel Goes The Way of Life" is included on this page.
Thirdly, an article titled "Modern Jewish Charity" defends the Jews at the time from accusations of being less charitable than their descendants. Comparisons were often made stating that Jews are becoming less and less charitible and generous, but this article disputes these claims with vehement insistence upon continued generosity, stating that Jews never been as charitible as they were at that time. The explanation given for the misinformed assumption of decreased charity is a rather critical claim that those giving "worn-out advice" are "ignorant of the real problems" of the time. This is another example of portraying Jews in a positive light, defending against criticism from both the in-group (other Jews, usually older), and the out-group (non-Jews). This links to other articles in this Issue which detail assumptions of lack of generosity and obesssion with self-gain, which are countered by articles in this Issue in various ways.

The fourth article is titled "Jewish Apostacy and The Holydays". This piece is a critical acclamation against those who "desert" the religion of Judaism, citing an increase in 'deserters' around holy days. There is also some evident concern about 'deserting' rising when it is most necessary for the community to strenghthen, especially referencing the aging population and an increase in intermarriage. This 1911 article is quite similar to some concerns of the Jewish community today, who are facing seemingly similar decreases in religious identification and a perceived increase in denial of Jewish identity.

The final section on this page is an opinion piece by an anonymous writer ("Jewish Comment"), with a comment titled "The Future Race". This is an optimistic prophetic piece which claims that the community is due and expectant of a new democracy that is less tolerant of the tyranny seen before.

South African Jewish Chronicle

The South African Jewish Chronicle clippings, "Page 1065"

Newspaper clipping depicting page 1065 in Volume IV - Issue 65 of the New Series in The SAJC newspaper circulated on 29 December, 1911. This is the fourth page in the Collection of 20 consecutive pages preserved from an early Issue of the SAJC.
This page of the Issue is the start of the "Social and Fashionable" section, where the "Social Editress" shares what is considered noteworthy social occurrences such as weddings/engagements, etc., the latest fashions and subjects related to marriage and womanhood (according to the description, suggesting conservative gendered assumptions). This is the first of almost three entire pages dedicated to this topic.
Of note, among the ongoing section written as a letter to the reader, this page has two advertisments at the bottom, one for Yorkshire Relish and another for a suitmaker.

South African Jewish Chronicle

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