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NED Revolution - Annual Breakfast

The Academy invites you to join our annual breakfast, marking our latest initiative - the National Educators Development Programme (NED) - which has jumpstarted a revolution in Jewish Education and Educational Leadership in the Jewish community in South Africa.

Guest Speaker: Rabbi Dr. Raphael Zarum, Dean of the London School of Jewish Studies
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NED II

NED is the ﬁrst project in South Africa to drive 21st century Jewish Educational Leadership, Training and Enrichment. The Academy has created a host of options for Jewish educational professionals — from Adult Educators to School Educators and Rabbis and Rebbetzins to Leaders in these areas. We have courses to provide knowledge and skills, enabling access to programmes all the way to the Bachelors and Masters level with degrees in Jewish education provided by LSJS. Depending on your personal circumstances, experience and previous educational qualifications, NED will offer you a number of different options.
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Poland Tour 2019

In 2011 Rabbi Widmonte led the first Journey to life, with a survivor. In 2019, 13th – 16th May we will journey once again to reconnect with the Life of Jewish Poland and to bear witness to the Holocaust: Warsaw, Treblinka, Lublin, Majdanek, Krakow, Auschwitz-Birkenau. The trip will utilise great hotels, all land expenses and meals included. More…

Lithuania Tour

Lithuania, Lita, the Heim. Join the Academy and Rabbi Ramon Widmonte on an unforgettable journey into the legacy of Lithuania. More…

Chanukah Fest

Why, amongst all our tribulations, did our sages choose to dedicate an entire 8-day festival to the Chanukah victory? How did Chanukah and its symbols become so central to the imagery and ideology of Zionism and the modern State of Israel? And most importantly of all – why do we eat latkes and doughnuts?

Join the Academy, its faculty and guest speaker, Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum, in partnership with Sydenham Shul and CAJE to explore Chanukah as it should be done. Because, with apologies to Adam Sandler, it’s much more than just a time for a harmonicah, or even a gin and tonicah… More…

Taste of Chanukah - R'Rafi

The Hollywood Chanukah: Lessons from the Silver Screen
- Rabbi Dr Rafi Zarum

Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum is an internationally renowned, ground-breaking rocket scientist and Jewish educator. More…

The Academy Urban Jungle Walk

Join the Academy and Ilana Stein as we take that time – an hour, close to dawn – to stroll through our very own urban jungle (that’s Glenhazel and environs), learning about the birds, trees, bees and flowers that live around us, and count our blessings. More…

Mindfulness in the Park

Join the Academy, Yochi Ress and Jonathan Moch for a silent walk in nature, followed by an exploration of how ‘Hineni!’ – ‘Here I am!’ is a profound declaration of the Soul of Jewish life and practise: presence, vulnerability and whole-hearted living! More…

Jonah in Depth

Join the Academy and Ilana Stein on a textual, personal, communal, national and spiritual voyage 20,000 leagues into the murky depths as we delve into the language and concepts of this most fascinating book with works and words across the breadth of the Tanach. Discover the value of teshuvah, return, reinvigoration, repentance and revolution encapsulated in the belly of this powerful book.
Because the voyage is sometimes more powerful than the destination! More…

Kohelet in Depth

Join the Academy and Rony Sklar, as we grapple with the big questions and the contradictions, and explore the important and timeless messages contained in Kohelet. We will delve into the text, examine the unique literary features of Kohelet, and explore the elements of Kohelet that concerned our Rabbinic sages.

Finally, we will explore the eternal meaning of Kohelet that ultimately earned it a place in the Biblical canon, and a regular annual reading in Ashkenazi shuls on Sukkot. More…

What Makes a Good Life?

Join the Academy and Batya Bricker in partnership with Sydenham Shul & CAJE on a voyage of exploration through the vision presented by 18 different authors on this topic, and reflected through the prism of Jewish thought. Do we agree with these ideas? Do we like them? What resonates with us more? There are books which lend 21st language to ancient Torah wisdom, and there are books which challenge preconceived thoughts and beliefs.
Because an examithegoodlife life is really worth living! More…

Chanukah Fest along with Siyum

Why, amongst all our tribulations, did our sages choose to dedicate an entire 8-day festival to the Chanukah victory? How did Chanukah and its symbols become so central to the imagery and ideology of Zionism and the modern State of Israel? And most importantly of all – why do we eat latkes and doughnuts?

Join the Academy, its faculty and guest speaker, Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum to explore Chanukah as it should be done. Because, with apologies to Adam Sandler, it’s much more than just a time for a harmonicah, or even a gin and tonicah… More…

Taste of Chanukah - R'Rafi

The Hollywood Chanukah: Lessons from the Silver Screen
- Rabbi Dr Rafi Zarum

Rabbi Dr Raphael Zarum is an internationally renowned, ground-breaking rocket scientist and Jewish educator. More…

Siyum along with Chanukah Fest

Join The Academy as we honour our students who have completed an amazing achievement - our full Tanach course.
Join us for a celebratory evening as we honour them and more! More…

Prime Ministers

Join the Academy and Rabbi Ramon Widmonte in partnership with Sephardi Hebrew Congregation of Cape Town as we leap into the minds, diaries, writings, hearts, hopes, stories and lives of the 4 longest serving Herut/Likud Prime Minsters of the State of Israel: Menachem Begin, Yitzchak Shamir, Ariel Sharon and Benjamin Netanyahu. More…

Visionaries: Part 1

Join the Academy and Rabbi Ramon Widmonte in partnership with Camps Bay Shul & Phyllis Jowell for an exploration of the writings and lives of the Visionaries of Modern Zionism. Dive into the passion, rationale, rhetoric, despair and hope of Hess, Pinsker, Herzl, Nordau, Zangwill, Jabotinsky, Gordon and Rabbi Kook – each appealing to a different part of the Jewish world, each a visionary whose sight telescoped beyond the ordinary and reached so far into our own future.

For only if we know the dreams of the past can we learn how much further we ourselves could learn to see. More…