I know I said I wouldn't be writing for a while, but this article pissed me off and I wanted a distraction from work.
The grandson of Judge Richard Goldstone - who wrote the Goldstone report on the recent Gaza conflict - is due to have his Bar Mitzvah soon. A Bar Mitzvah is meant to be a happy family event, but this one has become a political event, hijacked by the South-African Zionist Federation (SAZF).
According to reports cited in the article, the SAZF reached an agreement with the synagogue in which the Bar Mitzvah is due to take place whereby Goldsone would be banned from attending the Bar Mitzvah. The Rosh Bet Din (head of the religious court) in South Africa, Rabbi Moshe Kurtstag, was reported as saying he had heard the SAZF had also made plans to organize a protest at the shul to stop Goldstone from attending.
Clearly, the SAZF and many others feel that Goldstone delegitimized Israel. But to attack him by spoiling his grandson's Bar-Mitzvah is a disgrace. Politics and Bar-Mitzvahs just shouldn't mix - if you feel the same, why not tell the SAZF yourself: sazf@beyachad.co.za
